The Lloyd George Society says a Sad Farewell to Baroness Jenny Randerson
The Lloyd George Society was very sad to hear of the passing, at 76, of Baroness Jenny Randerson. Jenny was a friend and former speaker at the Lloyd George Society weekends. We pass on our condolences to her husband, Peter, and their children and grandchildren.
The Welsh Liberal Democrats’ press release provides a wonderful summary to a life spent in the service of Wales and the UK. She will be greatly missed.
“After studying for a BA in History at Bedford College, University of London, and a PGCE at the Institute of Education, Jenny’s professional career began in education as a secondary school teacher and later as a lecturer at Coleg Glan Hafren in Cardiff. She also served as a Cardiff councillor from 1983 to 2000, helping to grow the Welsh Liberal Democrat party’s presence in the capital and leading the council’s official opposition for four years. At this time also served as a Justice of the Peace on the Cardiff Bench from 1982 to 1999.
In 1999, she was elected as the first Assembly Member for Cardiff Central in the newly established National Assembly for Wales. She became the first female Liberal Democrat minister anywhere in the UK as Minister for Culture, Sport, and the Welsh Language from 2000 to 2003, and was acting Deputy First Minister from July 2001 to June 2002. She was instrumental in introducing “Creative Future,” a cultural strategy for Wales, and “Iaith Pawb,” a strategy aimed at promoting the Welsh language.
After stepping down from the Assembly in 2011, she was appointed a life peer as Baroness Randerson of Roath Park on January 27, 2011. In the House of Lords, she continued her commitment to public service, notably serving as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales from September 2012 to May 2015. She was the first ever female Welsh Liberal Democrat to hold ministerial office at Westminster, and the first Welsh Liberal to hold a UK ministerial post since Gwilym Lloyd-George in 1945.
Beyond politics, Baroness Randerson had an enduring commitment to education and the Welsh community, having served as Chancellor of Cardiff University since 2019. She was also a patron of various charities including Wales Council for Deaf People, the Cardiff and Vale Youth Wind Band and the African Mothers’ Foundation.”
