Name Jacqui Gasson | ||
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Jacqueline-Anne Gasson was an elected councillor and member of South Glamorgan County Council and Cardiff Council, Wales between 1988 and 2012. In 2004-5 she was Lord Mayor of Cardiff, Wales, the first ever member of the Liberal Democrats to hold this post.
Political career
Gasson has been an elected councillor to Cardiff Council since 1988. She is a member of the Liberal Democrats but represents Caerau, a ward in west Cardiff in a traditionally Labour area. She made her mark in the early 1990s raising concerns about Cardiff's social services provision.
For the year 2004 to 2005 Gasson became Lord Mayor of Cardiff and was the first Liberal Democrat to hold this office (though Cardiff has had Liberal mayors in the past, for example John Batchelor). She later claimed she had used this period to successfully create links between local businesses and universities. "I've always believed the role [of mayor] should have a high status because the Lord Mayor is the flag waver for the city. I attended hundreds if not thousands of functions when I was in office" she later said. In October 2004 the Lord Mayor pulled out of a gala dinner in protest because of the invitation of a homophobic Christian evangelist Luis Palau.
Gasson has been and still is (2011) a member of the South Wales Police Authority.
At the Liberal Democrat Party Conference in 2006 Gasson (then age 68) spoke about her personal experience as a victim of rape 40 years earlier. The conference was discussing the policy of granting anonymity to men accused of rape.
In the May 2012 local government elections, Gasson lost her council seat, after 24 years service. "It has been a privilege and an honour, but national trends have beaten us", she said.