Kishwer Falkner, Baroness Falkner of Margravine

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The Right Honourable
The Baroness Falkner
of Margravine
Official portrait of Baroness Falkner of Margravine crop 2, 2019.jpg
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Assumed office
15 June 2004
Life Peerage
Personal details
Born
Kishwer Khan

(1955-03-09) 9 March 1955 (age 66)
Pakistan
NationalityBritish
Political partyLiberal Democrats
Non-affiliated
Spouse(s)
Robert Falkner
​
(m. 1996)​
Children1
Alma materLondon School of Economics University of Kent

Kishwer Falkner, Baroness Falkner of Margravine (née Khan; born 9 March 1955) is a British identifying Pakistani politician and life peer who is a non-aligned member of the House of Lords. She was the Chairman of the EU Financial Affairs Sub-Committee in the House of Lords from 2015 to 2019.[1]

Prior to her ennoblement as a life peer with the title Baroness Falkner of Margravine, of Barons Court in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham on 2 June 2004,[2] Falkner worked for the Liberal Democrats in the House of Commons and party headquarters including as Director of International Affairs and Director of Policy. She also worked at the Commonwealth Secretariat and as Chief Executive of Student Partnerships Worldwide. In February 2008 she was appointed as the inaugural chancellor of The University of Northampton.

She is currently a member of the Bank of England's Enforcement Decision Making Committee.[3] She is also a Visiting Professor at The Policy Institute at King's College London and an honorary associate of the National Secular Society.[4]

In December 2020, she became chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).[5][6]

Life[]

Kishwer Falkner was born in Pakistan and after living and working in the Middle East, moved to the UK in the late 1970s. Falkner was educated at convent schools in Pakistan, the London School of Economics where she obtained a BSc (Econ) in International Relations and the University of Kent where she obtained an MA in International Relations and European Studies.

Political career[]

She joined the Liberal Democrats in the mid-1980s and worked for the party in several posts till 1999. Falkner contested Kensington and Chelsea in the 2001 General Election and was on the Liberal Democrats list for London in the 2004 European elections.

Kishwer was the Liberal Democrats’ Director of International and European Affairs for several years, co-authoring much of the Party's policy on the European Union, and coordinating a joint response for European Liberals on issues related to Europe's structures and place in the world. Kishwer also worked for the Commonwealth Secretariat, where she continued to work on the broader issues of globalisation, democracy and development. In 2003–04, Kishwer was chief executive of a charity working with young people in some of the poorest parts of Africa and Asia.

EHRC head[]

On 1 December 2020, she became chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).[5][6]

Falkner and the EHRC under her leadership have come under criticism from trans and LGBTQ+ organisations following comments she made in May 2021 to The Times, in which she said that women had the right to question transgender identity without fear of abuse, stigmatisation or loss of employment.[7][8] Her predecessor as EHRC chair, David Isaac, said the commission was politicised by the Conservative Party during her tenure.[9][10]

Personal life[]

Kishwer is married to Robert Falkner, an academic at the London School of Economics, and they have one daughter, Sophia.

Electoral history[]

General election 2001: Kensington and Chelsea[11]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Michael Portillo 15,270 54.5 +0.9
Labour Simon Stanley 6,499 23.2 –4.7
Liberal Democrats Kishwer Falkner 4,416 15.8 +0.5
Green Julia Stephenson 1,158 4.1 N/A
UKIP Damian Hockney 416 1.5 N/A
ProLife Alliance Josephine Quintavalle 179 0.6 New
Jam Wrestling Ginger Crab 100 0.4 New
Majority 8,771 31.3 +5.6
Turnout 28,038 43.3 –11.4
Conservative hold Swing +2.8

References[]

  1. ^ "Baroness Falkner". Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  2. ^ "No. 57309". The London Gazette. 7 June 2004. p. 7059.
  3. ^ "Appointment of members of the Enforcement Decision Making Committee: Baroness Kishwer Falkner". Bank of England. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  4. ^ "National Secular Society Honorary Associates". National Secular Society. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  5. ^ a b "Four new commissioners appointed to board of Equality and Human Rights Commission". Scottish Legal News. 13 November 2020. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  6. ^ a b "New Equality and Human Rights Commissioners appointed". GOV.UK. 11 November 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2020.
  7. ^ "Human rights body leaves Stonewall diversity scheme". 23 May 2021 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  8. ^ "EHRC Open Letter". Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  9. ^ "The EHRC is becoming a political instrument, former Chair says". Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  10. ^ "EHRC undermined by pressure to support No 10 agenda, says ex-chair". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 October 2021.
  11. ^ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
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