Lynne Featherstone
The Baroness Featherstone | |
|---|---|
Official portrait, 2022 | |
| Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Energy and Climate Change | |
| In office 29 July 2015 – 7 February 2019 | |
| Leader | Tim Farron Vince Cable |
| Preceded by | Ed Davey |
| Succeeded by | Wera Hobhouse |
| Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Home Affairs | |
| In office 7 January 2015 – 16 July 2015 | |
| Leader | Nick Clegg |
| Preceded by | Chris Huhne[a] |
| Succeeded by | Alistair Carmichael |
| Minister of State for Crime Prevention | |
| In office 4 November 2014 – 8 May 2015 | |
| Prime Minister | David Cameron |
| Preceded by | Norman Baker |
| Succeeded by | The Lord Bates |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development | |
| In office 4 September 2012 – 4 November 2014 | |
| Prime Minister | David Cameron |
| Preceded by | Stephen O'Brien |
| Succeeded by | The Baroness Northover |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equalities | |
| In office 12 May 2010 – 4 September 2012 | |
| Prime Minister | David Cameron |
| Preceded by | Maria Eagle (Minister of State) |
| Succeeded by | Helen Grant |
| Liberal Democrat Spokesman for Youth and Equality Issues | |
| In office 2 July 2007 – 12 May 2010 | |
| Leader | Menzies Campbell Nick Clegg |
| Preceded by | Susan Kramer |
| Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |
| Assumed office 26 November 2015 Life Peerage | |
| Member of Parliament for Hornsey and Wood Green | |
| In office 5 May 2005 – 30 March 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Barbara Roche |
| Succeeded by | Catherine West |
| Member of the London Assembly as the 4th Additional Member | |
| In office 4 May 2000 – 6 June 2005 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency created |
| Succeeded by | Geoff Pope |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Lynne Choona Ryness 20 December 1951 Highgate, Middlesex, England |
| Political party | Liberal Democrats |
| Spouse(s) | Stephen Featherstone 1982–96 (divorced) |
| Children | 2 |
| Residence(s) | Highgate, N6 |
| Alma mater | Oxford Polytechnic |
| Profession | Businesswoman and subsequently Politician |
| a. ^ Office vacant from 12 May 2010 to 7 January 2015. | |
Lynne Choona Featherstone, Baroness Featherstone, PC (née Ryness; born 20 December 1951) is a British politician, businesswoman and Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords.
Prior to entering politics, Featherstone was a successful businesswoman owning and running a London design company. She was also a director of the Ryness chain of lighting and electrical shops.
A Member of the London Assembly (MLA) from 2000 to 2005, she was Member of Parliament (MP) for Hornsey and Wood Green between 2005 and 2015, before being nominated for a peerage in the Dissolution Peerages List 2015. She was created Baroness Featherstone, of Highgate in the London Borough of Haringey on 20 October.
Under the Conservative – Liberal Democrat coalition in 2010 she was appointed as a Home Office Minister with responsibility for criminal information and equalities, before being promoted, in 2012, to Minister with responsibility for International Development. Previously she was Liberal Democrat spokesman for Youth and Equality issues, and chair of the Liberal Democrats technology board. As originator and architect of the same sex marriage law during the coalition, Featherstone launched the consultation by the UK Government on introducing same-sex marriage and was the first politician to take part in the Out4Marriage campaign, gaining a special Ben and Jerry's ice cream tub and flavour Lynne Honeycomb and returned to the Home Office as Minister of State in November 2014. Featherstone is a patron of Humanists UK.