Council leader appointed to House of Lords

Wiltshire council leader Jane Scott has been appointed to the House of Lords, it can been confirmed within this afternoon (Thursday).

In a list of nominations issued by the Government today, Cllr Scott is one of 26 nominated to join the Lords by prime minister David Cameron.

The Conservative councillor said: “I am pleased to confirm that I have been appointed as a Life Peer in the House of Lords. I see this as a great honour for Wiltshire and I am very much looking forward to taking up this position.

“The wealth of experience that I have gained in local government and the public sector; particularly as the leader of both Wiltshire County Council and Wiltshire Council will assist me in this role and I look forward to the challenges and opportunities that this peerage will bring.

“I have no plans to stand down as leader of Wiltshire Council and will be continuing to work with my cabinet members and senior management team to deliver a number of important projects that will improve both the services and facilities that we provide to the people of Wiltshire.”

Cllr Scott was elected to lead Wiltshire County Council in July 2003. In 2009 she became the leader of the new unity authority, Wiltshire Council, which was created by merging the county and its districts.

She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 New Year Honours “for services to local government”. Married with three children, she lives near Chippenham on a livestock farm.

In all, 45 new peers have been apponited, including 11 Liberal Democrats and eight from Labour, and the new arrivals will take the upper house to 826 members. The House of Lords is the second most populous legislative chamber in the world, surpassed only by the National People’s Congress in China.