Susan Williams, Baroness Williams of Trafford

Susan Frances Maria Williams, Baroness Williams of Trafford PC (née McElroy;[2] born 16 May 1967)[3][4][5] is a Conservative life peer serving as the Chief Whip of the House of Lords and Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms.[6] In March 2022 she was made a member of the Privy Council.[7]

Not to be confused with Shirley Williams, Baroness Williams of Crosby.

The Right Honourable
The Baroness Williams of Trafford
PC
Official portrait, 2019
Chief Whip of the House of Lords
Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms
Assumed office
7 September 2022
Prime MinisterLiz Truss
Rishi Sunak
Preceded byThe Lord Ashton of Hyde
Minister of State for Home Affairs[1]
In office
17 July 2016 – 7 September 2022
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Boris Johnson
Preceded byThe Lord Keen of Elie
Succeeded byThe Lord Murray of Blidworth
Minister of State for Equalities
In office
9 January 2018 – 13 February 2020
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Boris Johnson
Preceded byNick Gibb
Succeeded byKemi Badenoch
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Northern Powerhouse
In office
11 May 2015 – 17 July 2016
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded byThe Lord Ahmed of Wimbledon
Succeeded byAndrew Percy
Baroness-in-waiting
Government Whip
In office
8 April 2014 – 11 May 2015
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded byThe Earl Attlee
Succeeded byThe Baroness Chisholm of Owlpen
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Assumed office
5 November 2013
Life Peerage
Leader of Trafford Council
In office
7 May 2004 – 5 May 2011
Preceded byDavid Acton
Succeeded byMatt Colledge
Personal details
Born
Susan Frances Maria McElroy

(1967-05-16) 16 May 1967
Blackrock, Cork, Ireland
NationalityBritish
Political partyConservative
Alma materHuddersfield Polytechnic

Education

Williams was educated at La Sagesse School, a Roman Catholic private school in Newcastle upon Tyne, and Huddersfield Polytechnic, where she gained a BSc Hons in Applied Nutrition.[8][9]

Career

Early political career

She was a member of Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council from 1998 to 2011, representing Altrincham, and the council's leader from 2004 to 2009, leading a Conservative majority until she stepped down.

She has also been a member of various public bodies in the North West region. As a parliamentary candidate, she first stood unsuccessfully for the safe Labour Wythenshawe and Sale East constituency in 2001, and for the Bolton West constituency in the 2010 general election, losing by 92 votes.

House of Lords and ministerial career

On 20 September 2013 she was created a life peer as Baroness Williams of Trafford, of Hale in the county of Greater Manchester.[10]

In April 2014, Williams succeeded Earl Attlee as baroness-in-waiting (government whip).[11]

In 2015, David Cameron appointed Williams to his second government as a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government. On 28 May 2015 she introduced the Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill 2015–16 to the House of Lords.[12]

Williams was appointed Minister for Countering Extremism, the Home Office representative in the House of Lords in the First May ministry.

She was appointed Minister of State for Equalities in January 2018 by Theresa May.

In the 2020 British cabinet reshuffle, Williams was made Minister of State at the Home Office, and in March 2022 was made a member of the Privy Council, entitling her to the post-nominals PC for life.

Following the resignation of Boris Johnson, and the appointment of Liz Truss as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Williams was appointed as Chief Whip of the Conservative Party in the House of Lords and Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms. In that role, she took part in the Royal Procession at the Coronation of Charles III and Camilla.[13]

References
  1. Countering Extremism (2016–2019)
  2. Staff writer (29 August 2007). "Two things Blue as council leader marries colleague". Manchester Evening News. Trinity Mirror. Archived from the original on 11 June 2016. Retrieved 11 June 2016.
  3. Baroness Williams of Trafford. Profile at Democracy Live. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  4. Bookies tip Cork woman for MP seat. Irish Examiner. 16 April 2010. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  5. Susan Williams (Conservative) Manchester Evening News. 28 April 2010. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
  6. "Ministerial Appointments: September 2022". GOV.UK. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  7. "Knighthood conferred and Privy Council Appointment: March 2022". GOV.UK. UK Government. 3 March 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  8. "'Minister for Faith' role downgraded by government". Catholic Herald. 14 August 2015.
  9. "Baroness Williams of Trafford". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 4 April 2018.
  10. "No. 60638". The London Gazette. 25 September 2013. p. 18895.
  11. "Appointment to the government: Baroness Williams of Trafford" (Press release). Prime Minister's Office, 10 Downing Street. 8 April 2014. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  12. "Cities and Local Government Devolution Bill 2015–16". www.parliament.uk. UK Parliament. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  13. "Coronation order of service in full". BBC News. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
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