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Baroness Joan Walmsley Baroness Walmsley

Baroness Joan Walmsley agreed to join us as Patron in September 2005 to help us develop and continue our work. We were all delighted as she has such an excellent record on working with children; Joan is a Board member of UNICEF UK, a Parliamentary Ambassador for the NSPCC and one of the most prolific and passionate speakers on children's issues in the House of Lords.

Baroness Walmsley hails from Liverpool where she also went to University. After graduating in Biology she went to work in the health service and after a number of years out of the workplace bringing up her children she trained as a teacher and taught in the secondary sector. Before entering the Lords, she worked as a PR consultant.

It was in 1986 that she became politically active in the Liberal Party when her late husband Chris was the candidate in the famous West Derbyshire by-election (held by the Tories by only 100 votes). Since then she has held numerous posts in the local Parties, as a constituency chair, fundraiser, press officer, agent and PPC.

In the wider Party she has served on the Federal Executive, the North West Regional Executive, on several Policy Working Groups, Federal Conference Committee, as President of Women Liberal Democrats and Vice-Chair of the Gender Balance Task Force.

She stood for Parliament in 1992 and 1997 and in the European elections of 1999. She is Spokesperson on Children, Schools and Families in the Lords. She also serves on the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology.