Josie Farrington, Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton

Who is Josie Farrington, Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton?

Josephine 'Josie' Farrington, Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton is a British Labour Party politician.

Born Josephine Cayless, she married Michael Farrington in 1960 and had three sons. She was a Preston Borough Councillor 1973-6 and in 1977 she was elected to Lancashire County Council and held several senior positions, including chair of the Education Committee. From 1981 to 1994 she was a Member of the Council of Europe Standing Conference of Local and Regional Authorities and of its successor the Congress of the Council of Europe. She acted as an international observer at local elections in Poland, Ukraine and Albania. She was also a Member of the Committee of the Regions of the European Union and was Chairman of Education and Training in 1994.

Farrington was the Labour candidate at the 1983 general election for the constituency of West Lancashire, and stood for the party again at the Ribble Valley by-election, 1991.

On 19 September 1994, she was created a life peer as Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton, of Fulwood in the County of Lancashire. She was a government spokesperson in the Lords for various areas between 1997 and 2010.