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Jackie Ballard
Jacqueline Margaret Ballard (née Mackenzie; born 4 January 1953) has been a charity senior manager, politician and journalist in the United Kingdom. She served as Liberal Democrat MP for Taunton from 1997 to 2001.
Her former roles include Director General of the RSPCA, Chief Executive of RNID and Chief Executive of Womankind Worldwide.
Jacqueline Margaret Mackenzie was born in Dunoon, Scotland. Her family moved, when she was 10, to South Wales, where she studied at Haberdashers' Monmouth School for Girls. She then read social psychology at the London School of Economics. She was recruited into the then Liberal Party by Paddy Ashdown and was elected a Councillor for both the South Somerset District Council (1987–1991) and Somerset County Council (1993–1997). She stood as the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate in Taunton in the 1992 general election, coming second, before winning the seat in 1997.
Ballard was elected the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Taunton in Somerset, at the 1997 general election, unseating the incumbent MP David Nicholson (Conservative) by 2,443 votes and a swing of 4.6%. She was the first Liberal MP for Taunton since the 1922 general election.
During her time as an MP, Ballard was a vocal and prominent campaigner against blood sports, in particular fox and stag hunting. Ballard came under considerable pressure due to her stance, once having to receive police protection during a constituency surgery which was lobbied by hunt supporters. It has been suggested that her work with regards to this ban contributed to her losing her seat, which prepared the way for her role as CEO of the RSPCA.
In Parliament, she was spokesperson on Women's Issues and on Local Government from 1997 to 1999, and from 1999 to 2001, was Deputy Home Affairs Spokesman. She was also co-sponsor of the first bill which attempted to ban fox hunting, which is widely seen as an important factor in her defeat at the 2001 election. She stood for the post of leader of the Liberal Democrats in 1999, but was defeated by Charles Kennedy, and came fourth out of five candidates. She lost her seat at the 2001 general election by 235 votes, to the Conservative candidate Adrian Flook.
After losing her seat in 2001, Ballard spent some time studying in Iran.
"I was lucky enough to have £25,000 redundancy money and no dependants and I realised that for the first time in my life, at the age of 48, I was free. I am divorced, my daughter had just graduated and started work and my mother, although not always in the best of health, did not need me to look after her. I decided to combine two of my passions and to pursue something completely different....I am now on my fifth visit to the country [Iran], researching and writing my thesis while learning the language, Farsi (referring to Persian)."
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Jackie Ballard
Jacqueline Margaret Ballard (née Mackenzie; born 4 January 1953) has been a charity senior manager, politician and journalist in the United Kingdom. She served as Liberal Democrat MP for Taunton from 1997 to 2001.
Her former roles include Director General of the RSPCA, Chief Executive of RNID and Chief Executive of Womankind Worldwide.
Jacqueline Margaret Mackenzie was born in Dunoon, Scotland. Her family moved, when she was 10, to South Wales, where she studied at Haberdashers' Monmouth School for Girls. She then read social psychology at the London School of Economics. She was recruited into the then Liberal Party by Paddy Ashdown and was elected a Councillor for both the South Somerset District Council (1987–1991) and Somerset County Council (1993–1997). She stood as the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate in Taunton in the 1992 general election, coming second, before winning the seat in 1997.
Ballard was elected the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Taunton in Somerset, at the 1997 general election, unseating the incumbent MP David Nicholson (Conservative) by 2,443 votes and a swing of 4.6%. She was the first Liberal MP for Taunton since the 1922 general election.
During her time as an MP, Ballard was a vocal and prominent campaigner against blood sports, in particular fox and stag hunting. Ballard came under considerable pressure due to her stance, once having to receive police protection during a constituency surgery which was lobbied by hunt supporters. It has been suggested that her work with regards to this ban contributed to her losing her seat, which prepared the way for her role as CEO of the RSPCA.
In Parliament, she was spokesperson on Women's Issues and on Local Government from 1997 to 1999, and from 1999 to 2001, was Deputy Home Affairs Spokesman. She was also co-sponsor of the first bill which attempted to ban fox hunting, which is widely seen as an important factor in her defeat at the 2001 election. She stood for the post of leader of the Liberal Democrats in 1999, but was defeated by Charles Kennedy, and came fourth out of five candidates. She lost her seat at the 2001 general election by 235 votes, to the Conservative candidate Adrian Flook.
After losing her seat in 2001, Ballard spent some time studying in Iran.
"I was lucky enough to have £25,000 redundancy money and no dependants and I realised that for the first time in my life, at the age of 48, I was free. I am divorced, my daughter had just graduated and started work and my mother, although not always in the best of health, did not need me to look after her. I decided to combine two of my passions and to pursue something completely different....I am now on my fifth visit to the country [Iran], researching and writing my thesis while learning the language, Farsi (referring to Persian)."