Lynda Chalker

Lynda Chalker, Baroness Chalker of Wallasey (born 29 April 1942) (née Bates), British Conservative Party politician and formerly Member of Parliament (MP) for Wallasey (1974 to 1992), was Minister of State for Overseas Development at the Foreign Office, in the Conservative government from 1989 to 1997.

Baroness Chalker headed the British delegation which participated in the first Tokyo International Conference on African Development in October 1993. [Japan, Ministry for Foreign Affairs: [http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/africa/ticad/list/donor.html 12 donor countries + EC] ]

She was educated at Roedean (where she was head girl), Heidelberg University, the University of London and the Polytechnic of Central London, and worked as a statistician and market research manager, including a spell with Shell-Mex and BP, before entering Parliament. She held a number of government posts, including spells as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department of Health and Social Security from 1979-82 and at the Department of Transport from 1982-83. In 1983 she became Minister of State at Transport, being appointed Minister for Europe in 1986. Chalker was granted a life peerage as Baroness Chalker of Wallasey, of Leigh-on-Sea in the County of Essex in 1992, after losing her seat at the General Election of that year.

She jointly holds the 20th century record for continuous government service, along with Kenneth Clarke, Malcolm Rifkind, Tony Newton and Patrick Mayhew, as she held office for the entire duration of the Conservatives' eighteen years in power.

In February 2005, Baroness Chalker excited minor controversy by criticising Nigeria's negative media image and investment potential.

Lynda Chalker held the position of Non-Executive Director and Chairman of the Corporate Responsibility and Reputation Committee for Unilever retiring in May 2007 having served three terms of three years. Lynda joined the Board of Unilever as an Advisory Director in 1998 becoming a Non-Executive Director in 2004.

Lady Chalker is a Member of the Global Leadership Foundation, an organisation which works to promote good governance around the world [ [http://www.g-l-f.org/pagebuilder.asp?id=239 Welcome to GLF Global Leadership Foundation ] ] .

References

External links

* [http://www.qub.ac.uk/cawp/UK%20bios/UK_bios_70s.htm#chalker Brief Chalker bio]
* [http://www.nigeriavillagesquare1.com/Articles/Nworah/2005/02/open-letter-to-baroness-lynda-chalker.html An open letter to Baroness Lynda Chalker, by Uche Nworah]
* [http://ugochukwu.blog.com/2007/5/ Baroness Lynda Chalker Again, by Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye]