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Gillian Shephard, Baroness Shephard of Northwold, PC (born January 22, 1940) is an British Conservative politician; she was the Member of Parliament for South West Norfolk, and a former Secretary of State.
Born Gillian Patricia Watts, she was educated at Oxford University after which she became a school teacher and a member of Norfolk County Council. She was elected to Parliament in 1987, and became PPS to Peter Lilley in 1988. She was made Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Department of Social Security in 1989, and then in 1990 Minister of State at HM Treasury. In 1991 she was given the additional role of Deputy Chairman of the Party.
After the 1992 general election, she was made Secretary of State for Employment, then Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food in 1993. She moved to Secretary of State for Education in 1995, and stayed at the department when the Department for Employment merged into it. She remained in this position until the 1997 general election.
After the defeat of the Conservatives, William Hague made her Shadow Leader of the House of Commons, and then Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions in 1998. She returned to the backbenches in 1999, and stepped down from the House of Commons at the 2005 general election.
On May 13, 2005, it was announced that she would be created a life peer, and on June 21, 2005, the peerage was created as Baroness Shephard of Northwold (in Norfolk).
| Preceded byMichael Howard | Secretary of State for Employment 1992–1993 |
Succeeded byDavid Hunt |
| Preceded byJohn Gummer | Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food 1993–1994 |
Succeeded byWilliam Waldegrave |
| Preceded byJohn Patten Sec. State Education Michael Portillo Sec. State Employment |
Secretary of State for Education Later Sec. State Education and Employment 1994–1997 |
Succeeded byDavid Blunkett |