Elizabeth Symons, Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean

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Elizabeth Symons from 2013

Elizabeth Conway Symons, Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean , PC (* 14. April 1951 ) is a British politician of the Labor Party , Life Peeress and former general secretary of the FDA Trade Union and Minister of State.

life and career

Symons was born the daughter of Ernest Symons , chairman of the HM Board of Inland Revenue , and attended Putney High School for Girls and Girton College . From 1974 to 1977 she worked as a trainee in administration at the Department of the Environment . She then worked for the Inland Revenue Staff Federation from 1977 to 1989 and from 1989 to 1997 General Secretary of the Association of First Division Civil Servants . After her appointment as a working peer , she resigned from this position.

From 1995 to 1997 she was a member of the Employment Appeal Tribunal .

Membership in the House of Lords

Symons was appointed Life Peeress on October 7, 1996 as Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean , of Vernham Dean in the County of Hampshire. She gave her inaugural address in the House of Lords on December 11, 1996.

From May 1997 to June 1999 she held her first government office, as Junior Foreign Office Minister . In 1999 she was appointed Minister of State for Defense Procurement and in 2001 Minister of State for Trade . In June 2003 she became Minister of State for the Middle East, International Security, Consular and Personnel Affairs at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office , and Deputy Leader of the House of Lords from 2001 to 2005.

She was government spokesperson for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 2001 to 2005, trade and industry from 2001 to 2005, and opposition spokesperson for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from 2010 to 2011.

From 2001 to 2010 she was a member of the Committee of the Parliamentary Labor Party .

Symon's presence on meeting days is in the medium to regular range.

Corporate career

Symons was no longer considered in the cabinet reshuffle after the 2005 general election and became a non-executive director of British Airways in 2005 .

Conflict of interest

In the January 9, 2005 issue, the Guardian alleged that Symons may have hired her office to provide "special treatment" to David Mills , the husband of Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell . Mills sought their help to circumvent the US trade embargo on Iran to sell British Aerospace jets worth $ 200 million.

On February 9, 2006, the Guardian named her as one of several past ministers to take on lucrative positions as directors and advisors. In the case of Symons, that includes British Airways , law firm DLA Piper, and Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O).

Similar allegations were made in 2009 when she took a lucrative position at the UK investment bank Merchant Bridge , which raised millions through contracts in post-war Iraq, and when she became a member of the National Economic Development Board of Libya just before Abdel Basit Ali al-Megrahi was released from custody. She resigned from this post in 2011 amid the uprising against the government of Muammar al-Gaddafi . Just a day earlier, she made remarks that appeared to support Gaddafi's ideology. Symons noted that these comments were not meant to be serious.

Other offices

Symons is Chairman ( Chairman ) of the Arab British Chamber of Commerce . She is an International Consultant at DLA Piper , CCC UK and Rio Tinto .

She is a member of the Supervisory Board ( Advisory Board ) of Merchant Bridge and the Middle East Association and the Supervisory Board ( Board ) of British expertise and the Board ( Council ) of the Ditchley Foundation .

Symons is an International Consultant at Blenheim Capital Services Limited , as well as Me Afriqiyah and KSA . Symons is Chairman ( Chairman ) in the Saudi British Joint Business Council , the British Egyptian Society , the Azerbaijan-British Business Council and the Advisory Council to the Board of British American Project .

She is also a member of the board of the British Tunisian Business Council and of the supervisory board of the British Egyptian Business Council .

Symons was or is a member of the British-American Project (BAP). This includes 600 leaders and opinion leaders, equally from both countries, according to The Guardian , and has an annual conference where everything that is said is unofficial.

Honors

Symons became a member of the Privy Council in 2000 . She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts .

family

In 2001 she married her long-time partner Phil Bassett, former The Times writer for Rupert Murdoch . They have a son who was born in 1985.

In October 2002, Bassett was named a member of the strategic communications department at 10 Downing Street , where he served until September 2003. He left to become an advisor to Charles Falconer, Baron Falconer of Thoroton , the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ House of Lords: Members 'expenses Members' expenses on the House of Lords website , accessed December 15, 2012
  2. ↑ Minister's 'advice' on Iran jet deal Guardian article of January 9, 2005
  3. ↑ From Brussels to the boardroom: what George Robertson did next Guardian article of February 9, 2006
  4. ^ Labor peer who was Blair's Middle East envoy forced to quit Libya role Daily Mail article of March 1, 2011
  5. ↑ Friends in high places article in the Guardian of November 6, 2004
  6. ^ Dod's Parliamentary Companion excerpts from Google Books , accessed December 15, 2012
personal data
SURNAME Symons, Elizabeth, Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Symons, Elizabeth Conway, Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British Labor Party politician, life peeress and former Secretary General of the FDA Trade Union
DATE OF BIRTH April 14, 1951