Name Jane Baroness Role British Politician | Uncles Raymond Bonham Carter | |
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Parents Mark Bonham Carter, Baron Bonham-Carter Great-grandparents H. H. Asquith, Helen Kelsall Melland Similar People Violet Bonham Carter, Raymond Bonham Carter, Crispin Bonham‑Carter, Edward Bonham Carter, Tim Razzall - Baron Ra | ||
Grandparents Violet Bonham Carter | ||
Jane Bonham Carter, Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury (born 20 October 1957) is a British Liberal Democrat politician, and member of the House of Lords.
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Family
Bonham-Carter hails from a political family. Her great-grandfather was Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, the former Prime Minister, and her grandparents were Sir Maurice Bonham Carter and Lady Violet Bonham Carter (later Baroness Asquith of Yarnbury, DBE). Her father The Lord Bonham-Carter was a Liberal MP before becoming a Liberal Democrat Life Peer. Her aunt Laura Bonham-Carter (The Lady Grimond of Firth) married Joseph "Jo" Grimond, Baron Grimond of Firth, formerly Leader of the Liberal Party. Her family is the only example so far where three generations have received Life Peerages under the 1958 Life Peerages Act.
In 2008 she was reported to be the partner of Baron Tim Razzall. Bonham-Carter has declared the relationship in the House of Lords Register of Interests.
Her cousins include the actress Helena Bonham Carter and fellow LibDem parliamentarian the 3rd Earl of Oxford and Asquith, OBE.
Education
Bonham-Carter was educated at St. Paul's Girls' School, an independent school in Brook Green, Hammersmith, west London, and at University College London, part of London University.
Career
Bonham-Carter worked in television before being raised to the Peerage, spending time at both the BBC and Channel 4, producing programmes such as Panorama, Newsnight and A Week In Politics.
In 1996 she became the Liberal Democrats' Director of Communications, a role she held through the 1997 election before returning to a career in television as an independent producer at Brook Lapping Productions, where she produced a number of documentaries for Channel 4, the BBC and ITV, including the award winning series Maggie: the First Lady.
On 23 June 2004 she was created a Life Peeress as Baroness Bonham-Carter of Yarnbury, of Yarnbury in the County of Wiltshire, and was appointed LibDem Spokesperson for Broadcasting and the Arts.
She has been a member of various House of Lords Select Committees, including the BBC Charter Review set up in 2005, and the Parliamentary Communications Committee.
After the formation of the Con-LibDem coalition government in 2010, she was elected Deputy Convenor of Liberal Democrat Peers and was appointed Co-Chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Party Committee for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, which includes the role of LibDem spokesperson on DCMS matters in the House of Lords.
Bonham-Carter has served on the Advisory Committee of the thinktank Centre Forum since 2005, and RAPT (Rehabiliation for Addicted Prisoners Trust) since 1999. She was a Board Member of the National Campaign for the Arts from 2010-2012.
She is a Vice-President of the Debating Group.
On 19 April 2015 it was announced that Bonham-Carter would be a patron of the Studio Theatre, Ashley Road, Salisbury.
Controversy
Bonham-Carter attracted criticism in 2008 when it was revealed that she and her partner Lord Razzall had both claimed House of Lords expenses for a flat that they shared, although it was not claimed that a breach of the rules had occurred. The House of Lords expenses system was later changed to give peers a flat rate irrespective of their residence.