| The Right HonourableThe Baroness PrasharCBE PC | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2022 | |
| Chair of the Judicial Appointments Commission | |
| In office 3 April 2006 – 7 February 2011 | |
| Preceded by | Office created |
| Succeeded by | Christopher Stephens |
| Chancellor of De Montfort University | |
| In office 2000–2006 | |
| Vice-Chancellor | Philip Tasker |
| Preceded by | John White |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Alli |
| Members of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 15 July 1999 Life Peerage | |
| Director of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations | |
| In office 1986–1991 | |
| Preceded by | Bill Griffiths |
| Succeeded by | Judy Weleminsky |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Usha Kumari Prashar (1948-06-29) 29 June 1948 (age 76) |
| Nationality | British |
Usha Prashar, Baroness Prashar is a British politician and a crossbench member of the House of Lords. Since the 1970s, she has served as a director or chair of a variety of public and private sector organisations. She became the first chair of the Judicial Appointments Commission upon its creation in April 2006.
Early life and education
Born in Kenya, she came to Yorkshire with her father Naurhia Lal Prashar and family in the 1960s. She was educated at the independent Wakefield Girls' High School, becoming head girl in 1967. Prashar read Politics at Leeds University, graduating in 1970 with a Bachelor of Arts degree, after which she undertook postgraduate studies in Social Administration at the University of Glasgow.
Career
Private sector
Baroness Prashar was a non-executive director of Channel Four Television Corporation from 1992 to 1999, of UNITE Group plc from 2001 to 2004, and became a non-executive director of ITV plc in February 2005.
Public sector
Baroness Prashar was executive chair of the Parole Board of England and Wales from October 1997 to October 2000. Having been appointed a Civil Service Commissioner in 1990, she was First Civil Service Commissioner from August 2000 to 2005.
Non-governmental sector
Baroness Prashar is a trustee of Cumberland Lodge, an educational charity initiating fresh debate on the burning questions facing society.
Baroness Prashar became a governor of De Montfort University in 1996, and became its chancellor in 2001. She was chair of the National Literacy Trust from 2001 to 2005. She was appointed a trustee of the BBC World Service Trust in 2002, and was president of the Royal Commonwealth Society. She was Deputy Chair of the British Council.
Baroness Prashar was a director of the Runnymede Trust from 1976 to 1984, a Fellow with the Policy Studies Institute from 1984 to 1986, and Director of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations from 1986 to 1991. She is also a governor of the Ditchley Foundation, which organises conferences in Oxfordshire.
Iraq Inquiry
Since July 2009, Baroness Prashar has served on the Iraq Inquiry. She was sworn of the Privy Council the same year to facilitate access to the classified information related to the Iraq War.
UK Community Foundations
She previously served as the Honorary President of UK Community Foundations (UKCF), the umbrella organisation for all community foundations, providing philanthropic advice to clients and delivering UK-wide grant-making programmes.
Honours and styles
Honours
She was appointed as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1995 New Year Honours for services to community relations, and was made a life peer on 15 July 1999 as Baroness Prashar, of Runnymede, in the County of Surrey.
In 2016, she was awarded an honorary doctorate of law by the University of London. Later in 2018, was awarded an honorary doctorate of literature from Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology in India.
References
- Cumberland Lodge: Trustees Archived 4 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- "Our organisation | British Council". britishcouncil.org. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
- The Ditchley Foundation: The Governors Archived 26 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine
- "Privy Counsellors". Privy Council Office. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
- "No. 53893". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 1994. p. 10.
- "No. 55559". The London Gazette. 21 July 1999. p. 7857.
External links
- Inaugural Judicial Appointments Commission Chair (GNN announcement, 6 October 2005)
- Appointment as non-executive director of ITV plc (8 February 2005)
- Announcement of her introduction at the House of Lords House of Lords minutes of proceedings, 26 July 1999
- Baroness Prashar's profile on TheyWorkForYou.com
- Baroness Prashar's profile on official Iraq Inquiry site
- UK Community Foundations (UKCF)
| Government offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded bySir Michael Bett | First Civil Service Commissioner 2000–2005 |
Succeeded byDame Janet Paraskeva |
| Members of the Iraq Inquiry | |
|---|---|
|
- 1948 births
- Living people
- Alumni of the University of Glasgow
- Alumni of the University of Leeds
- British people of Indo-Kenyan descent
- British women chief executives
- Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
- Crossbench life peers
- English Hindus
- English people of Indian descent
- Kenyan emigrants to the United Kingdom
- Kenyan people of Indian descent
- Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II
- Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
- National Council for Voluntary Organisations chief executives
- Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom
- People associated with De Montfort University
- People of the British Council
- Social Democratic Party (UK) politicians
- British women nonprofit executives
- 20th-century Hindus
- 21st-century Hindus