Frances D'Souza, Baroness D'Souza

The Right Honourable The Baroness D'Souza CMG PC
Lord Speaker
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 September 2011
Preceded by	Baroness Hayman
Convener of the Crossbench Peers
In office 6 November 2007 – 31 August 2011
Preceded by	The Lord Williamson of Horton
Succeeded by	The Lord Laming
Lord Temporal
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 July 2004
Nominated by	Tony Blair
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Personal details
Born	Frances Gertrude Claire Russell 18 April 1944 Sussex, United Kingdom
Nationality	British
Political party	non-affiliated (Speaker)
Other political affiliations	Crossbench (until 2011)
Spouse(s)	Stanislaus Joseph D'Souza (1959–1974 & 2003–present) Martin John Griffiths (1985–94)
Committees	Procedure Committee (2005–present) House (2007–present) Selection; Privileges; Liaison; Administration and Works (2007–2011)[1]

Frances Gertrude Claire D'Souza, Baroness D'Souza, CMG, PC (née Russell; born 18 April 1944) is a British scientist and life peer in the House of Lords. She is currently Lord Speaker, having taken office on 1 September 2011.

Early life, education and early career

Frances Gertrude Claire Russell, the daughter of Robert Anthony Gilbert and Pauline (née Parmet) Russell, was educated at St Mary's School, Princethorpe and went to University College London to read Anthropology, graduating BSc in 1970. She subsequently undertook further study at Lady Margaret Hall, obtaining the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (D.Phil.) in 1976 from the University of Oxford. She worked for the Nuffield Institute of Brain Chemistry and Human Nutrition from 1973–77, Oxford Polytechnic (now Oxford Brookes University) from 1977–80, and was an independent research consultant for the United Nations from 1985-88.

Family

In 1959 she married Dr Stanislaus D'Souza; they had two children, but divorced in 1974. From 1985–1994 she was married to Martin Griffiths. In 2003 she and Stanislaus remarried. Their elder daughter is the journalist Christa D'Souza.^[2][3]

Honours

D'Souza was invested as a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1999.^[4]

House of Lords

D'Souza was created a life peer as Baroness D'Souza, of Wychwood in the County of Oxfordshire on 1 July 2004.^[1] She sat as a Crossbencher in the House of Lords, where she was the Convenor of the Crossbench Peers from 2007 to 2011 with attendance "well above average".^[2][5]

On 13 July 2011, D'Souza was elected Lord Speaker of the House of Lords and began her new role on September 2011.^[6] D'Souza now formally sits as a non-affiliated member of the House of Lords.

In December 2015 the results of a Freedom of Information request^[7] revealed that D'Souza spent £230 to keep a chauffered car waiting while she watched a performance of Benjamin Britten’s Gloriana with the chairman of the Federation Council of Russia. The journey was just a mile from the Houses of Parliament. She spent £270 holding a car for four and a half hours while she had lunch with the Japanese ambassador in central London, and £738 keeping a luxury Mercedes parked for up to 10 hours during an event at Windsor Castle. It was also revealed that a 10-day official trip to Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan in the autumn of last year cost nearly £26,000,^[8] and that she spent £4,000 per year on fresh flowers for her office at the taxpayer's expense.^[9]

References

1. "Baroness D'Souza". UK Parliament. Retrieved 6 July 2008.
2. "Convenors of the Crossbench Peers". The office of the Convenor of the Crossbench Peers. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
3. "My parents' love affair comes full circle". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
4. "Index to British Orders". thePeerage.com. Retrieved 9 September 2012.
5. "Baroness D'Souza". They Work For You. Retrieved 6 July 2008.
6. "Baroness D'Souza elected new Lords Speaker". BBC News. 18 July 2011. Retrieved 23 July 2011.
7. "Lord Speaker's expenses reveal £230 bill for chauffeur to wait outside opera". The Guardian. 22 Dec 2015. Retrieved 22 Dec 2015.
8. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/speaker-of-house-of-lords-baroness-dsouza-charged-230-taxi-fare-to-taxpayer-after-night-at-the-opera-a6783466.html
9. Crace, John (15 April 2016). "On the niceness of Mr Nice, and the mystery of the shrinking python". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 April 2016.

External links

• Baroness D'Souza on parliament.uk