Glenys Thornton, Baroness Thornton

Dorothea Glenys Thornton, Baroness Thornton (born 16 October 1952), known as Glenys Thornton, is a Labour and Co-operative member of the House of Lords. She was previously Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health.[1]

The Right Honourable The Baroness Thornton
Shadow Spokesperson for Health
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 November 2017
Leader	Jeremy Corbyn Sir Keir Starmer
In office 8 October 2010 – 6 September 2012
Leader	Ed Miliband
Shadow Spokesperson for Equalities and Women's Issues
In office 17 October 2011 – 1 July 2015
Leader	Ed Miliband
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health
In office 19 February 2010 – 11 May 2010
Prime Minister	Gordon Brown
Preceded by	The Lord Darzi of Denham
Succeeded by	The Earl Howe
Baroness-in-Waiting Government Whip
In office 25 January 2008 – 25 March 2010
Prime Minister	Gordon Brown
Preceded by	The Baroness Royall of Blaisdon
Succeeded by	The Baroness Garden of Frognal
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal
Incumbent
Assumed office 23 July 1998 Life Peerage
Personal details
Born	October 16, 1952
Political party	Labour Co-operative

Career

Thornton was raised in Bradford, and graduated from the London School of Economics. She was Political Secretary of the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society from 1981, joining the public affairs team of the Co-operative Wholesale Society upon their merger in 1985 and working there until 1992. She was General Secretary of the Fabian Society from 1993 to 1996. Since June 2015 she has been Chief Executive of the Young Foundation.

On 23 July 1998 Thornton was created a Life peer by Tony Blair, with the title Baroness Thornton, of Manningham in the County of West Yorkshire.[2] She chaired the Social Enterprise Coalition until January 2008, when she was appointed a junior minister of the House of Lords. In September 2007, she was made chair of the advisory group that trains public sector staff to work with the voluntary sector.[3] In May 2012, her role in Labour was moved from health to equalities, with her role on the health portfolio being taken over by Lord Hunt.[4]

In 2019, she welcomed the Equality and Human Rights Commission response to complaints by the Jewish Labour Movement and Campaign Against Antisemitism about alleged antisemitism in the Labour Party in a tweet to Kate Osamor MP, confusing her with another female black MP, Dawn Butler, the Shadow Women & Equalities Secretary.[5]

Personal life

Thornton lives in Gospel Oak, North London, and is married to internet safety expert John Carr. They have two adult children.

She is an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society [6]

She was reported[7] to be claiming £22,000 a year in expenses by saying that her mother's bungalow in Yorkshire is her main home, amounting to around £130,000 between 2002 and 2009. She was later cleared of any wrongdoing by Michael Pownall, the Clerk of Parliaments, after it was determined that she spent much of her time there while caring for her mother.[8]

References

1. "Ministerial appointment: Department of Health". Number10.gov.uk. 19 February 2010. Retrieved 15 March 2010.
2. "No. 55210". The London Gazette. 30 July 1998. p. 8287.
3. "Baroness Thornton to chair training group". Third Sector. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
4. Jowit, Juliette (16 May 2012). "Labour reshuffles top jobs in House of Lords". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
5. Rodgers, Siena (7 March 2019). "Shadow ministers welcome EHRC probe into Labour's handling of antisemitism". Labour List. Retrieved 8 March 2019.
6. "National Secular Society Honorary Associates". National Secular Society. Retrieved 27 July 2019
7. MPs' expenses: Tax officials to investigate capital gains evasion. The Guardian 10 May 2009.
8. Watson, Roland (10 February 2010). "Nine peers cleared over expenses claims". The Times. London. Retrieved 6 May 2010.

External links

• Announcement of her introduction at the House of Lords House of Lords minutes of proceedings, 27 July 1998
• Social Enterprise Coalition