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Frances D'Souza, Baroness D'Souza

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British scientist and politician

The Right HonourableThe Baroness D'SouzaCMG PC
D'Souza in 2024
Lord Speaker of the House of Lords
In office
1 September 2011 – 31 August 2016
MonarchElizabeth II
Deputy
Preceded byThe Baroness Hayman
Succeeded byThe Lord Fowler
Convenor of the Crossbench Peers
In office
6 November 2007 – 31 August 2011
Preceded byThe Lord Williamson of Horton
Succeeded byThe Lord Laming
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Incumbent
Assumed office
15 September 2004
Life peerage
Personal details
BornFrances Gertrude Claire Russell
(1944-04-18) 18 April 1944 (age 80)
Sussex, England
Political partyCrossbench
Other political
affiliations		None (as Lord Speaker; 2011–2016)
Spouses
Stanislaus D'Souza ​ ​(m. 1959; div. 1974)​
​ ​(m. 2003; died 2011)​
Martin Griffiths ​ ​(m. 1985; div. 1994)​
Children2 (including Christa)
Alma materUniversity College London
Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford
CommitteesProcedure Committee (2005–present)
House (2007–present)
Selection; Privileges; Liaison; Administration and Works (2007–2011)

Frances Gertrude Claire D'Souza, Baroness D'Souza, CMG, PC (née Russell; born 18 April 1944) is a British scientist and politician. She held the office of Lord Speaker from 1 September 2011 to 31 August 2016.

Early life, education and early career

Frances Gertrude Claire Russell, the daughter of Robert Anthony Gilbert and Pauline (née Parmet) Russell, was educated at St Mary's School, Princethorpe, and went to University College London to read anthropology, graduating BSc in 1970. She subsequently undertook further study at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, obtaining the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (DPhil) in 1976. She worked for the Nuffield Institute of Brain Chemistry and Human Nutrition from 1973 to 1977, Oxford Polytechnic (now Oxford Brookes University) from 1977 to 1980, and was an independent research consultant for the United Nations from 1985 to 1988. From 1989 to 2002, she was the director of the human rights organization Article 19. As its representative she supported the Musa Anter peace train to Diyarbakır, which aimed for peace in Kurdistan.

Personal life

In 1959, at the age of 15, she married Stanislaus Joseph D'Souza, the son of a civil servant in the Indian government. They had two daughters and divorced in 1974. From 1985 to 1994, she was married to Martin Griffiths. She was remarried to Stanislaus from 2003 until his death in 2011. Their elder daughter is the journalist Christa D'Souza.

Honours

D'Souza was appointed a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 1999 New Year Honours for services to human rights.

House of Lords

D'Souza was created a Lord Temporal as Baroness D'Souza, of Wychwood in the County of Oxfordshire, on 1 July 2004. She sat as a crossbencher in the House of Lords, where she was the Convenor of the Crossbench Peers from 2007 to 2011 with attendance "well above average".

On 13 July 2011, D'Souza was elected Lord Speaker of the House of Lords and began her new role in September 2011.

In December 2015, the results of a Freedom of Information request revealed that D'Souza spent £230 to keep a chauffeured car waiting while she watched a performance of Benjamin Britten's Gloriana with the chairman of the Federation Council of Russia. The journey was just a mile from the Houses of Parliament. She spent £270 holding a car for four and a half hours while she had lunch with the Japanese ambassador in central London. It was also revealed that a 10-day official trip to Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan in the autumn of last year cost nearly £26,000, and that she had spent £4,000 across a five-year period on fresh flowers for her office at the taxpayer's expense.

D'Souza's term as Lord Speaker ended on 31 August 2016. After returning to the crossbenches she called for urgent action to address the growing size of the House of Lords, including limits on the Prime Minister's patronage power.

References

  1. ^ "Baroness D'Souza". UK Parliament. Retrieved 6 July 2008.
  2. Clark, William (1997). "The Musa Anter peace train" (PDF). Variant (4): 12–17.
  3. "D'souza". Who's Who. A & C Black. 2021. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U14176. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  4. ^ "Convenors of the Crossbench Peers". The office of the Convenor of the Crossbench Peers. Archived from the original on 16 May 2015. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
  5. "My parents' love affair comes full circle". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
  6. "No. 55354". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1998. p. 3.
  7. "No. 57346". The London Gazette. 6 July 2004. p. 8399.
  8. "Baroness D'Souza". They Work For You. Retrieved 6 July 2008.
  9. "Baroness D'Souza elected new Lords Speaker". BBC News. 18 July 2011. Retrieved 23 July 2011.
  10. "Lord Speaker's expenses reveal £230 bill for chauffeur to wait outside opera". The Guardian. 22 December 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2015.
  11. "The Speaker of House of Lords charged £230 taxi fare to taxpayer after a night at the opera". The Independent. 24 February 2016. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  12. Crace, John (15 April 2016). "On the niceness of Mr Nice, and the mystery of the shrinking python". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  13. "Lord Fowler elected as new Lord Speaker – News from Parliament". UK Parliament. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  14. D'Souza, Baroness (4 December 2016). "We must address the House of Lords' size, for the good of parliament". The Constitution Unit Blog. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  15. "House of Lords: Size – Hansard Online". hansard.parliament.uk. Retrieved 9 December 2016.

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded byThe Lord Williamson of Horton Convenor of the Crossbench Peers
2007–2011 		Succeeded byThe Lord Laming
Preceded byThe Baroness Hayman Lord Speaker
2011–2016 		Succeeded byThe Lord Fowler
Lord Speakers of the House of Lords
2011 Lord Speaker election
Outgoing Lord Speaker: Baroness Hayman
Convenors of the Crossbench Peers in the House of Lords
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