Leon Brittan, Baron Brittan of Spennithorne, was a British Conservative politician and barrister who served as a European Commissioner from 1989 to 1999. As a member of Parliament from 1974 to 1988, he served several ministerial roles in Margaret Thatcher's government, including Home Secretary from 1983 to 1985.
The Westland affair in 1985–86 was an episode in which Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and her Secretary of State for Defence, Michael Heseltine, went public over a cabinet dispute with questions raised about whether the conventions of cabinet government were being observed and about the integrity of senior politicians.
The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, telecommunications and postal industries of the United Kingdom.
Mary Doreen Archer, Baroness Archer of Weston-super-Mare, is a British scientist specialising in solar power conversion. She is married to Jeffrey Archer, a former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party. Archer is the current Chancellor of the University of Buckingham.
Sir Bernard Ingham was a British journalist and civil servant. He was Margaret Thatcher's chief press secretary throughout her time as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990.
Timothy David Gardam is a British journalist, media executive and educator. He was Director of Television at Channel 4 until 2003, after which he served as Principal of St Anne's College, Oxford until 2016. He now serves as Chief Executive of the Nuffield Foundation.
Cranley Gordon Douglas Onslow, Baron Onslow of Woking, was a British politician and served as the Conservative MP for Woking from 1964 to 1997, and a British Peer from 1997 until his death in 2001.
Dame Prudence Margaret Leith, is a South African restaurateur, television presenter/broadcaster, cookery writer and novelist.
Nuala Patricia O'Loan, Baroness O'Loan,, is a public figure in Northern Ireland. From 1999 to 2007, she was the first Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland. In July 2009, it was announced that she was to be appointed to the House of Lords and she was so appointed in September 2009. In December 2010, National University of Ireland, Maynooth, appointed her as the chairman of its governing authority. She is a columnist with The Irish Catholic.
Mary Ann Corinna Howard Sieghart is an English author, journalist, radio presenter and former assistant editor of The Times, where she wrote columns about politics, social affairs and life in general. She has also written a weekly political column in The Independent. Her best-selling book, The Authority Gap: Why Women Are Still Taken Less Seriously Than Men, and What We Can Do About It, was published by Transworld/Doubleday in July 2021.
Dame Julie Thérèse Mellor DBE is chair of Demos, chair of the Young Foundation, chair of the Federation of Industry Sector Skills and Standards and a trustee of Involve, Nesta and Clore Social Leadership.
Dame Deirdre Mary Hutton, is a British public servant, termed by the British media as "Queen of the Quangos" and "The great quango hopper". She was the chair of the UK's Civil Aviation Authority from 2009 to 2020.
Dame Patricia Anne Hodgson, is a British broadcasting executive, competition regulator, and academic administrator.
Dame Helen Frances Ghosh, is a former British civil servant who has been Master of Balliol College, Oxford since 2018. She was previously Director-General of the National Trust from November 2012 to April 2018.
Dame Julia Unwin was chief executive of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) and the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust(JRHT). The Guardian in 2007 described her as a "major player in the voluntary sector." In 2012 she was appointed by the Scottish Government as a member of the Expert Working Group on Welfare and Constitutional Reform.
On 8 April 2013, former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, died of a stroke at the Ritz Hotel, London, at the age of 87. On 17 April, she was honoured with a ceremonial funeral. Due to polarised opinions about her achievements and legacy, the reaction to her death was mixed across the UK, including contrasting praise, criticism, and celebrations of her life as well as celebrations of her death.
Dame Melanie Henrietta Dawes is a British economist and civil servant. Since February 2020 she has been Chief Executive of Ofcom. She was previously the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, and before that worked at HM Treasury, HM Revenue and Customs, and in the Cabinet Office. She is a Trustee of the Patchwork Foundation, founded by Harris Bokhari.
Dame Sharon Michele White, Lady Chote, is a British businesswoman. She is the current Chair of the John Lewis Partnership, having previously held a variety of roles in the Civil Service.
Dame Moira Margaret Gibb is a British public servant and social work adviser. After qualifying as a social worker, she worked for the London boroughs of Ealing, Kensington and Chelsea, and Camden, where she served as the chief executive of Camden London Borough Council from 2003 to 2011. Gibb served as a Civil Service commissioner from 2012 to 2016, and chaired the boards of City Lit and Skills for Care until 2022. She led a serious case review into safeguarding at Southbank International School, and into the Church of England's response to the case of Peter Ball.
Dame Jean Lucilla Kekedo is a Papua New Guinean activist who has held senior roles in the country's public service, including that of Ombudsman and High commissioner to the United Kingdom.
