Christine Crawley, Baroness Crawley
The Baroness Crawley | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the European Parliament for Birmingham East | |
| In office 17 June 1984 – 10 June 1999 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency Created |
| Succeeded by | Constituency Abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 9 January 1950 |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Labour |
| Alma mater | University of Roehampton, Digby Stuart College |
| Occupation | Teacher |
Christine Mary Crawley, Baroness Crawley FRSA (born 9 January 1950) is a British politician for the Labour Party.
Early life
[edit]Crawley was educated at the Notre Dame High School School in Plymouth before going to Digby Stuart College (University of Roehampton) to train as a teacher.[1] After graduation she began teaching children aged between 9 and 15, and also ran the local youth theatre.[2]
Political career
[edit]Her work to gain funding for the youth theatre brought her into contact with local politicians, and she became involved in politics, joining the Labour Party. Soon after joining the party she became secretary of the local branch, and then Social Secretary for the local Women's Branch. She was elected as a District Councillor for the South Oxfordshire District Council, at a time when the Labour Party was a minority party on the council.[2]
In 1983, she ran for a seat in the House of Commons but was not elected, instead spending a year working on local issues before she was elected as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Birmingham East constituency).[2] As an MEP Crawley was active on the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality and helped push their Maternity Leave Directive through, becoming Chair of that committee in 1989. She stepped down as an MEP in 1999, and is now a member of the West Midlands Regional Assembly and a sponsor of the National Women's Network. [citation needed]
She was Chair of the Women's National Commission between 1999 and 2001, and in 1998 was created Baroness Crawley, of Edgbaston in the County of West Midlands.[3] Between 2002 and 2008 she served as a Party Whip in the House of Lords. She is a member of Labour Friends of Israel.[4]
Honours
[edit]In 2013, Baroness Crawley was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Health from Plymouth University[5]
Personal life
[edit]The ancient historian Josephine Crawley Quinn is her daughter.
References
[edit]- ^ "Profile at ThePeerage.com". ThePeerage.com. 22 June 2008. p. 19117. Retrieved 2 May 2009.
- ^ a b c "Women in Decision-making". European Database. Archived from the original on 24 December 2008. Retrieved 2 May 2009.
- ^ "No. 55210". The London Gazette. 30 July 1998. p. 8287.
- ^ "LFI Supporters in Parliament". Labour Friends of Israel. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
- ^ Honorary doctorate awarded to Lady Crawley Archived 19 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine, plymouth.ac.uk; accessed 6 November 2013.
External links
[edit]- Profile at New Statesman
- "Baroness Christine M. Crawley". European Parliament. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
- 1950 births
- Living people
- Alumni of the University of Roehampton
- British people of Irish descent
- Councillors in Oxfordshire
- Labour Party (UK) Baronesses- and Lords-in-Waiting
- Labour Party (UK) life peers
- Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II
- Labour Party (UK) MEPs
- Labour Friends of Israel
- MEPs for England 1984–1989
- MEPs for England 1989–1994
- MEPs for England 1994–1999
- Politicians from Birmingham, West Midlands
- 20th-century women MEPs for England
- Women councillors in England