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Angela Billingham, Baroness Billingham

Angela Theodora Billingham, Baroness Billingham (née Case; born 31 July 1939), is a British Labour politician who was an MEP for Northamptonshire and Blaby from 1994 to 1999. She was later a member of the House of Lords as a life peer from 2000 to 2026.

The Right Honourable
The Baroness Billingham
JP
Official portrait, 2019
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Life peerage
2 May 2000 – 13 May 2026
Member of the European Parliament
for Northamptonshire and Blaby
In office
9 June 1994 – 10 June 1999
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Personal details
BornAngela Theodora Case
(1939-07-31) 31 July 1939 (age 86)
PartyLabour
SpousePeter Billingham
Children2
EducationAylesbury Grammar School

Early life

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Born Angela Theodora Case in Liverpool, she was educated at Aylesbury Grammar School,[1] the Institute of Education and the Department of Education, University of Oxford. She became a teacher, working in education for thirty-five years until 1995.

Political career

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Baroness Billingham was a councillor for many years. From 1970 to 1974, she served on Banbury Borough Council, then from 1974 to 1984 on Cherwell District Council. She was Mayor of Banbury in 1976. She was an Oxfordshire county councillor from 1993 to 1994. She stood for Parliament in 1992 for Banbury, without success.

Billingham was elected to the European Parliament for Northamptonshire and Blaby in 1994.[2] In 1999, she unsuccessfully stood for the European Parliament in the new East Midlands Region. She was made a life peer as Baroness Billingham, of Banbury in the County of Oxfordshire on 2 May 2000[3] and sat on the Labour benches,[4][5] until her exclusion from the House on 13 May 2026.

Interests

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She has promoted sports for people with disabilities and is a regular on Sky News, for which she previews the following morning's newspapers. Angela also campaigns for reform of the current daylight saving system, arguing that lighter evenings could end the national scourge of childhood obesity by allowing children to do an extra hour of physical activity a day. She also cites economic, environmental and safety concerns as important reasons for reform of the current system. She is also a keen tennis player, and is Chair and Captain of the Commons and Lords Tennis Club, and the Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Tennis Group.[6][7]

Personal life

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She married Peter Billingham in 1962, and they had two daughters.

Parliamentary expenses

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Subsistence allowances are designed to help peers who live in the country to attend late-night votes and debates in Parliament. Billingham, who has a flat in Hampstead and a country house in Suffolk, claimed £26,983 in 2006–07 in overnight allowances, prompting calls for an inquiry.[8]

References

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  1. ↑ "Parliamentary record". Retrieved 1 July 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  2. ↑ Foster, Jonathan (13 June 1994). "The European Elections: Working-class voters wooed back". The Independent.
  3. ↑ "No. 55846". The London Gazette. 12 May 2000. p. 5243.
  4. ↑ Hartley-Brewer, Julia; Woodward, Will (31 March 2000). "Policy and Politics: Blair 'balances' Lords with 33 new peers". The Guardian. p. 11.
  5. ↑ "Life Peers". The Times (London). 4 May 2000. p. 24.
  6. ↑ "Register of All-Party Groups". House of Commons. 24 February 2010. Archived from the original on 27 March 2010. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
  7. ↑ Slater, Matt (29 March 2010). "All-Party Tennis Group warns LTA over public profile". BBC Sport. BBC. Archived from the original on 1 April 2010. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
  8. ↑ "Peers face demand for expenses probe". The Guardian. 10 February 2008. Archived from the original on 2 June 2022.
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