Tributes to Lady Young

Tributes to Lady Young

Lady Young, the former Conservative Leader of the Lords, died on Friday 6th September after a long illness. She was 75.

Tim Montgomerie, CCF Director, said: "Baroness Young led a life of great service to Christian causes. She defended marriage and the family against an onslaught of damaging legislation in recent years. Unlike many of today's politicians and churchleaders, she refused to accept that the breakdown of the family was inevitable and she invested every effort into standing up for the interests of vulnerable children. If only more Christians followed her example and sought political office, the country would, perhaps, not face the same difficulties that it does. She will be sadly missed and my prayers are with her family at this time of loss.

Conservative Leader, Iain Duncan Smith paid this tribute:

"We mourn the passing of Janet Young with great sadness. Our first thought is of course for her family and those closest to her, and we offer them our deepest sympathies at this difficult time. I was personally very fond of Janet and while I had been aware for some time that she was ill, I was shocked by this news and immensely saddened," Mr Duncan Smith said.

" I have always had huge admiration for Janet's courage, conviction and tenacity. She was a principled campaigner in the Lords and in the wider country, tirelessly fighting for the causes in which she believed, both with passion and intellectual vigour. In an age when style so often seems to come before substance, Janet Young epitomised the timeless value of staying true to one's personal beliefs. Whatever the cause, Janet conducted herself with a degree of courtesy that was respected on all sides.

"Janet is a great loss to the Conservative Party. She was a loyal servant to the Party who performed dutifully and diligently in a variety of important roles for the voluntary Party and in Government, including Leader of the House of Lords and Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. She also demonstrated a great voluntarist spirit and willingness to get involved in a variety of causes and public institutions, from her Chancellorship of the University of Greenwich to her position as a patron of Family and Youth Concern.

"Yet, Janet will be mourned across the country. Her skill and courage as a political campaigner was recognised throughout Britain. In 2001 alone, Janet Young won three separate awards: Spectator Parliamentarian of the Year Award, Channel 4 Peer of the Year award and the Max Beloff
Award.

"She was a great Parliamentarian and a great Conservative who will be sorely missed."

Lord Strathclyde, Shadow Leader of the Lords, said she fought her illness with immense courage.

"Janet Young served at the highest levels of office in government and Parliament. A member of the first Cabinet of the first woman Prime Minister, she was also the first woman to be Leader of the House of Lords, an office that she carried out with enormous distinction and with deep respect for a Parliament she truly loved.

"In later life Janet Young became known to millions of people in connection with her many campaigns, most notably in connection with family values and for the protection of children. Indeed, she became a household name, with a personal postbag that was probably larger than that of any peer.

"Whether you agreed with her or not, no-one could fail to be impressed by her integrity, her courtesy, the clarity with which she always expressed her views and her immense personal kindness. She was a trusted friend and a wise counsellor, a giant figure in the House of Lords and, indeed, in public life. She will be sorely missed now. But she will be long-remembered.

"The deepest sympathy of the whole Conservative Party in the House of Lords will go out to her family at this time."

Lady Young was born in 1926. After completing an M.A. at St Anne's College Oxford, she went from Oxford City Council to hold important offices of state in both the Heath and Thatcher Governments, including: Leader of the House of Lords 1981-83, Lord Privy Seal 1982-83 and Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, 1983-87. She was created a Life Peer in 1971.

Outside politics, Janet Young sat on the boards of National Westminster Bank and Marks and Spencer and held other significant posts, such as Chancellor of the University of Greenwich and Patron of Family and Youth Concern. She leaves her husband, Geoffrey, and three children.

Her funeral will be held at St Andrew's Church in Oxford and flowers should be sent by family members only.

Obituaries

The Daily Telegraph

The Guardian

The Scotsman

The Christian Institute