Shireen Ritchie, Baroness Ritchie of Brompton

Shireen Olive Ritchie, Baroness Ritchie of Brompton (22 June 1945 – 24 April 2012) was a Conservative Councillor for the Brompton Ward, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and advocate for women in the Conservative Party of the United Kingdom. She was a Conservative working peer in the House of Lords[1][2] and President of the National Children's Bureau.[3]

The Right Honourable

The Baroness Ritchie of Brompton
Ritchie in the Lords chamber, 2011
Member of the House of Lords
In office
25 June 2010 – 24 April 2012
NominatorDavid Cameron
Personal details
Born22 June 1945
Died24 April 2012 (aged 66)
Political partyConservative
Spouse(s)John Williams
John Ritchie
ChildrenOliver
Alma materSt. Mary's Gate School

Politics

Shireen Ritchie was a Kensington and Chelsea Councillor from 1998 representing the Brompton ward on the Council. In 2008, she provided testimony as part of the Home Affairs Committee hearings on Trade in Human Beings.[4] She was involved in efforts of the Conservative Party to raise awareness amongst constituents about the importance of the issue of diversity to the party,[5] including the party's Women2Win efforts in 2005,[6] and Priority List (A-List) candidates, for which she received scorn from other Conservative party members.[7] She held a seat as the Chair of the party's Candidates Committee and was named as a 'Champion' for the Conservative Woman's Organization.[8]

While she was chair of LGA's Family and Children's Services in 2010, the department underwent an effort to reduce paperwork to "ease the pressure on social workers and increase the quality of care offered to children."[9]

She was a member of the Family Justice Review Panel. She was also a member of the following:

  • Appeals Panel (Chairman)
  • Kensington & Chelsea Partnership Steering Group
  • Health and Well-Being Partnership Board (ex officio)
  • Joint Health Commissioning Board
  • Supporting People Commissioning Body
  • Borough Voluntary Organisations Advisory Group
  • Stable Way Advisory Group

Outside organisations:

  • Local Government Association General Assembly
  • London Councils (Children and Young People Forum)
  • London Councils Grants Committee (Deputy)
  • William Petyt Charity
  • London Youth Crime Prevention Board

On 25 June 2010, she was created a life peer as Baroness Ritchie of Brompton, of Brompton, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea,[10] and she was introduced in the House of Lords on 29 June 2010.[11]

Family

Shireen (née Folkard) spent her early life in Yemen where her father was a British diplomat. After attending St. Mary's Gate School, Southbourne, Dorset, she worked as a fashion model until her marriage.[12]

She had a son by her first marriage to John Williams. Her second marriage was to the advertising executive John Vivian Ritchie, becoming stepmother to his children Tabitha Ritchie and Guy Ritchie.[13][14]

References
  1. "Dissolution honours: the full list of new peers". The Telegraph. 29 May 2010. Retrieved 2 July 2010. Shireen Ritchie, councillor in Kensington & Chelsea and step-mother of Guy Ritchie, the film director.
  2. Councillor Ritchie dies. "Councillor Ritchie dies - Kensington & Chelsea Chronicle". Kensington.londoninformer.co.uk. Retrieved 25 April 2012.
  3. "NCB comment on the death of president Baroness Shireen Ritchie". National Children's Bureau. 26 April 2012. Archived from the original on 26 November 2012. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  4. The Trade in Human Beings: Oral and written evidence. Great Britain: Parliament : House of Commons : Home Affairs Committee. Books.google.com. 2009. p. Ev 82. ISBN 978-0-215-53021-9. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  5. Speaker's Conference (on Parliamentary Representation): session 2009-10, Volume III. Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons. Books.google.com. 2010. p. Ev 141. ISBN 978-0-215-54389-9. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  6. Childs, Sarah (2007). Women and British party politics: descriptive, substantive and symbolic. London: Routledge. p. 52. ISBN 978-0-415-36682-3. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  7. Bale, Tim (2010). The Conservative Party: From Thatcher to Cameron. Cambridge: Polity. p. 314. ISBN 978-0-7456-4857-6. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  8. Childs, Sarah (2007). Women and British party politics: descriptive, substantive and symbolic. London: Routledge. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-415-36682-3. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  9. Williams, Rachel (10 June 2010). "Overhaul of child protection will put social workers back on frontline". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  10. "No. 59475". The London Gazette. 30 June 2010. p. 12359.
  11. House of Lords Minutes of Proceedings of Tuesday 29 June 2010.
  12. "Obituaries; Baroness Ritchie of Brompton". Daily Telegraph. 26 April 2012.
  13. Taraborrelli, J. Randy (2002). Madonna: An Intimate Biography. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0-7567-7943-6.
  14. Avery, Laura (2002). Newsmakers: 2001 Cumulation. Detroit, MI: Gale Research. p. 398. ISBN 978-0-7876-5348-4. Retrieved 2 July 2010.

Further reading
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