Dame Ann Limb DBE to Become Baroness Limb – A Lifetime of Service Recognised

Helena Kennedy Foundation Vice President Dame Ann Limb DBE Appointed to the House of Lords

The Helena Kennedy Foundation (HKF) is delighted to announce that HM The King has been graciously pleased to signify His intention of conferring a Life Peerage upon Dame Ann Limb DBE, Honorary Life Vice President of the Foundation. The nomination was made by the Leader of the Labour Party.

Dame Ann, a former FE College Principal and one of the UK’s leading figures in education, social mobility, philanthropy and public service, will enter the House of Lords as Baroness Limb of Moss Side in the City of Manchester and the County of Lancashire.

In a statement, Baroness Limb said:

“The opportunity to serve as a life peer in the House of Lords is an experience my parents and grandparents would have deemed both inconceivable and incomprehensible. My decision to accept this honour follows a period of personal reflection and discernment over the last two months. In this, I have been sustained by prayer and upheld by my life partner, Maggie Cook. As a Quaker and as a peer, I shall be guided in all decisions I take by my faith, values and conscience. 

I look forward to my formal introduction to the House of Lords as Baroness Limb of Moss Side in the city of Manchester and the county of Lancashire. The North of England is where I lived for my first formative thirty years, and together with my birth family has profoundly shaped the course of my life. 

Although I have never sought political office nor been engaged in political activity, having been nominated by the Leader of the Labour Party, I shall sit as a Labour peer in recognition of my own lifelong-held principles. I am proud to acknowledge that these are shared by my sister and my family, as well as by Maggie, whose parents and grandparents were Labour Party stalwarts. My grandfather-in-law, Wolverton railway worker Harry Cook JP, was the first Chair of the North Buckinghamshire Labour Party in 1918. 

As a long-standing and experienced charity Chair, I am aware of, and have always abided by, the rules governing a charity’s engagement in political activities. In charity governance terms, personal political affiliation is not a bar to voluntary service as Chair, and I should like to reassure Trustees of my continued commitment as Honorary Life Vice President to The Foundation. I can confirm that, notwithstanding the energy I shall henceforth devote to the House of Lords, I have the time to do so, having recently concluded most of my other significant roles. Furthermore, I hope that the role I can fulfil as a parliamentarian will appropriately be of value and use to The Foundation”.

A Lifetime of Leadership and Public Service

Baroness Limb has held distinguished roles across the education, charity, arts and public sectors. Her career highlights include:

• Former Further Education College Principal
• Former Chair of The Scouts (2015–2021), receiving a DBE for services to young people, philanthropy and charity
• Chair of City & Guilds Foundation
• Chair of Lloyds Bank Foundation
• Chair of The King’s Foundation
• Pro Chancellor, University of Surrey
• Named #1 LGBTQ+ Public Sector Role Model in the Outstanding List (2019)
• Listed among the 50 most influential women born in the North of England (Northern Power Women Power List)