Baroness Linda Chalker

Baroness Lynda Chalker of Wallasey, born on 29th April 1942, is a British politician who has been member of Parliament with the Conservative Party.

Political Career

Since 1974 Lynda Chalker was member of Parliament for Wallasey with the Conservative Party. She held a number of government posts. In 1983 she became Minister of State at Transport, being appointed Minister for Europe later in 1986. From 1989 to 1997, she served as Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, where she held responsibility for Africa and the Commonwealth, as well as for Overseas. In 1992 she was made a Life Peer being nominated Baroness Chalker of Wallasey, of Leigh-on-Sea in the County of Essex. In October 1993, she headed the British delegation which participated in the first Tokyo International Conference on African Development.

Education

She studied at Roedean, Heidelberg University, Queen Mary, University of London and the Polytechnic of Central London. After graduating, she worked as a statistician and market research manager.

Notable Work

Lynda Chalker is the Founder and Chairman of Africa Matters Ltd, an independent consultancy providing advice and assistance to companies developing or growing their activities in Africa. Lynda was the first woman to be appointed an Advisory and then a Non-Executive Director of Unilever, holding the position from 1998 to 2007. She sits on the Board of Trustees of the Investment Climate Facility for Africa. She is also a member of the international advisory board of Lafarge et Cie and advised the World Bank for over ten years. Baroness Chalker was Chairman of the Medicines for Malaria Venture, which is a not-for-profit foundation dedicated to reducing the burden of malaria in disease endemic countries.

She is Vice President of WaterAid, Honourary Vice President of the British Red Cross and Patron of a number of charities working in Africa. She is also Coordinator of Nigeria's Honorary International Investor Council, and member of similar bodies in Uganda and Tanzania. Baroness Chalker is Executive Trustee of the Global Leadership Foundation, an organization which works to support democratic leadership, prevent and resolve conflict through mediation and promote good governance through democratic institutions, open markets, human rights and the rule of law.

Lynda Chalker founded the Chalker Foundation, which supports the improvement of healthcare in Africa. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of Sentebale, a Charity set-up to reach Lesotho's neediest children, many of whom are the victims of extreme poverty and the HIV/AIDS epidemic of that area.

External Links

http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/lords/baroness-chalker-of-wallasey/778