Caroline Cox, Baroness Cox
Encyclopedia
Caroline Cox, Baroness Cox FRCN
; born 6 July 1937) is a cross-bench
member of the British
House of Lords
. She also is the founder and CEO of an organisation called the Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART). She has campaigned for humanitarian causes, particularly relating to disability, and has championed a range of Christian
, eurosceptic
and marginal causes, including action on forgotten wars in Africa
.
, in Hertfordshire
. She was educated at Channing School in Highgate
. She became a state registered nurse at London Hospital from 1958, and a staff nurse at Edgware General Hospital from 1960. She married Dr Murray Newall Cox in 1959, remaining married to him until he died in 1997. The couple had three children, two sons and one daughter. In the late 1960s she studied for a degree at the University of London
where she graduated with a first class
honours degree in sociology in 1967; as a research assistant at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, she obtained a masters degree in economics.
at the Polytechnic of North London
rising to become Principal Lecturer. From 1974 she was head of the Department of Sociology. In 1977 she moved to become Director of the Nursing Education Research Unit at Chelsea College of the University of London. She was also made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons
. She was also concerned with education and backed the reforms to reduce powers of Local Education Authorities
in 1993, arguing for a more strongly religious element to teaching. Her background in sociology led her to write books on the subject for nurses, and she also co-wrote a book (Rape of Reason) attacking alleged communist
activity at the Polytechnic of North London in 1975. She was founding Chancellor
of Bournemouth University
.
She is a director
of the Educational Research Trust
, the Andrei Sakharov
Foundation and the Centre for Social Cohesion
. In 2006 she received an honorary law degree from the University of Dundee
and was installed as the Chancellor of Liverpool Hope University
in the same year.
Margaret Thatcher
, and she took the title The Baroness Cox, of Queensbury in Greater London on 24 January 1983. Cox initially sat as a Conservative
and served briefly as a Baroness-in-Waiting, in 1985, but disliked the job and instead became a Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords
from 1986 to 2006.
Cox was a Director of the Conservative Philosophy Group
from 1983-85 . In 1987 she co-founded the Committee for a Free Britain
, “an extreme right wing organization”, funded by Rupert Murdoch
which at one point called for “the legalization of all drugs” and which used “ anti-gay
material during their anti-Labour campaign in 1987”
During the debates over the Education Reform Bill, Cox worked together with Michael Alison
to ensure that a commitment was made that state education was 'broadly Christian' in character. She became a frequent contributor to Lords debates on Africa, and also raised other "forgotten conflicts" in letters to the press. She was already highlighting fighting in Sudan
in September 1992, criticising Sudan's Islamist government and backing Dr. John Garang
's Christian-dominated Sudan People's Liberation Army
, and also criticised the actions of the government of Muslim Azerbaijan
in the Armenian Christian breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh
.
. She rebelled over the Maastricht Treaty
, supporting an amendment to require a nationwide referendum on ratification on July 14, 1993. In May 2004 she joined three other Conservative peers in signing a letter published by the UK Independence Party urging voters to support it in the elections to the European Parliament. The Leader of the Conservative Party, Michael Howard
, immediately withdrew the party whip
, formally expelling them from the parliamentary party. Cox now sits in the Lords as a crossbencher.
In June 2002 Cox hosted a launch event for "Great Britain has Fallen!", a book written by Nigeria
n missionary Wale Babatunde and also wrote endorsements saying the book "showed the way forward" for reversing Britain's moral decline.
She is one of 18 co-founders of the One Jerusalem
organisation, which aims at "maintaining a united Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel". On January 24, 2005, she became Co-President of the Jerusalem Summit. She is the founder of The International Islamic Christian Organisation for Reconciliation and Reconstruction,
Baroness Cox is the Chair of the British Armenia All-Party Parliamentary Group. She is also a strong supporter of self-determination for the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh
, which is officially a part of Azerbaijan
. Paying tribute to Cox's dedication to the Armenian cause, Frank Pallone, Jr.
, the co-chairman of the US Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues, called her a "true Armenian nationalist who would give her life for Armenia and Karabakh". On February 15, 2006 she was awarded the Mkhitar Gosh Medal by the President of the Republic of Armenia Robert Kocharyan
She was president of Christian Solidarity Worldwide
until 2006, thereafter remaining as its patron. Between 1997 and 2000, Christian Solidarity Worldwide directly intervened to buy the freedom of alleged slaves, and in a letter to The Independent on Sunday Cox claimed to have redeemed 2,281 slaves on eight visits to Sudan. In 1995 she won the William Wilberforce
Award.. She is also a patron of the Christian Institute
.
Baroness Cox is the Vice Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on North Korea. The Group has stated that the Obama administration brings with it an opportunity for a formal cessation of hostilities and normalisation of relations with North Korea
.
In January 2010 she addressed a meeting organised by Odinic Rite
activist Alan Harvey and Gary Cartwright a former National Democrats
candidate and organiser and contributor to holocaust denier David Irving
's historical revisionist
Focal Point website
invited Dutch Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders
to show the anti-Islam film Fitna
before the House of Lords
. However, Wilders was prevented from entering the UK on the instructions of Home Secretary Jacqui Smith
. In response, Cox and Pearson accused the Government of "appeasing" militant Islam.
Royal College of Nursing
The Royal College of Nursing is a union membership organisation with over 395,000 members in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1916, receiving its Royal Charter in 1928, Queen Elizabeth II is the patron...
; born 6 July 1937) is a cross-bench
Cross-bencher
A crossbencher is an independent or minor party member of some legislatures, such as the British House of Lords and Australian Senate. They take their name from the crossbenches, between and perpendicular to the government and opposition benches, where crossbenchers sit in the chamber; compare...
member of the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
. She also is the founder and CEO of an organisation called the Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART). She has campaigned for humanitarian causes, particularly relating to disability, and has championed a range of Christian
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, eurosceptic
EuroSceptic
EuroSceptic is the second album of British singer Jack Lucien. It was released in October 2009.Due to being an album influenced by Europop, it features songs with parts in different languages...
and marginal causes, including action on forgotten wars in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
.
Background
Baroness Cox was born as Caroline Anne McNeill Love, the daughter of a surgeon from HertfordHertford
Hertford is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. Forming a civil parish, the 2001 census put the population of Hertford at about 24,180. Recent estimates are that it is now around 28,000...
, in Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
. She was educated at Channing School in Highgate
Highgate
Highgate is an area of North London on the north-eastern corner of Hampstead Heath.Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has an active conservation body, the Highgate Society, to protect its character....
. She became a state registered nurse at London Hospital from 1958, and a staff nurse at Edgware General Hospital from 1960. She married Dr Murray Newall Cox in 1959, remaining married to him until he died in 1997. The couple had three children, two sons and one daughter. In the late 1960s she studied for a degree at the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
where she graduated with a first class
British undergraduate degree classification
The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading scheme for undergraduate degrees in the United Kingdom...
honours degree in sociology in 1967; as a research assistant at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, she obtained a masters degree in economics.
Academic career and subsequent activities
On leaving, Cox became a sociology lecturerLecturer
Lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, lecturer is a position at a university or similar institution, often held by academics in their early career stages, who lead research groups and supervise research students, as well as teach...
at the Polytechnic of North London
University of North London
The University of North London was a university in the United Kingdom from 1992 to 2002. On 1 August 2002, it merged with London Guildhall University to form London Metropolitan University. The former University of North London premises now form the new university's north campus, situated on...
rising to become Principal Lecturer. From 1974 she was head of the Department of Sociology. In 1977 she moved to become Director of the Nursing Education Research Unit at Chelsea College of the University of London. She was also made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons
Royal College of Surgeons of England
The Royal College of Surgeons of England is an independent professional body and registered charity committed to promoting and advancing the highest standards of surgical care for patients, regulating surgery, including dentistry, in England and Wales...
. She was also concerned with education and backed the reforms to reduce powers of Local Education Authorities
Local Education Authority
A local education authority is a local authority in England and Wales that has responsibility for education within its jurisdiction...
in 1993, arguing for a more strongly religious element to teaching. Her background in sociology led her to write books on the subject for nurses, and she also co-wrote a book (Rape of Reason) attacking alleged communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
activity at the Polytechnic of North London in 1975. She was founding Chancellor
Chancellor (education)
A chancellor or vice-chancellor is the chief executive of a university. Other titles are sometimes used, such as president or rector....
of Bournemouth University
Bournemouth University
Bournemouth University is a university in and around the large south coast town of Bournemouth, UK...
.
She is a director
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
of the Educational Research Trust
Educational Research Trust
The Educational Research Trust is a British charity based in Harrow and founded in 1985.-Charitable Objects:The Trust's main charitable objects as listed on documents lodged with the Charities Commission are:...
, the Andrei Sakharov
Andrei Sakharov
Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov was a Soviet nuclear physicist, dissident and human rights activist. He earned renown as the designer of the Soviet Union's Third Idea, a codename for Soviet development of thermonuclear weapons. Sakharov was an advocate of civil liberties and civil reforms in the...
Foundation and the Centre for Social Cohesion
Centre for Social Cohesion
The Centre for Social Cohesion is a British think tank headquartered in London and founded in 2007.-Foundation and constitution:CSC was established with funding of circa £275,000 from Civitas. The organisation is constituted as a company limited by guarantee, and was incorporated and registered...
. In 2006 she received an honorary law degree from the University of Dundee
University of Dundee
The University of Dundee is a university based in the city and Royal burgh of Dundee on eastern coast of the central Lowlands of Scotland and with a small number of institutions elsewhere....
and was installed as the Chancellor of Liverpool Hope University
Liverpool Hope University
Liverpool Hope University is a university in Liverpool, England. Two of its three founding colleges were established in 1844 and 1856, the third opening in the 1960s. It is the only ecumenical university in Europe. Based on two campuses, the main campus is located in Childwall and the second...
in the same year.
Early Political Activities and Peerage
Her peerage was announced on December 15, 1982 on a list of "working peers", on the recommendation of Prime MinisterPrime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
, and she took the title The Baroness Cox, of Queensbury in Greater London on 24 January 1983. Cox initially sat as a Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
and served briefly as a Baroness-in-Waiting, in 1985, but disliked the job and instead became a Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
from 1986 to 2006.
Cox was a Director of the Conservative Philosophy Group
Conservative Philosophy Group
The Conservative Philosophy Group was formed in the UK in 1974 by Sir Hugh Fraser, a Conservative MP, to provide an intellectual basis for conservatism at a time when the Conservative Party had just lost two general elections and elected a new leader, Margaret Thatcher...
from 1983-85 . In 1987 she co-founded the Committee for a Free Britain
Committee for a Free Britain
The Committee for a Free Britain was a right-wing political pressure-group in the United Kingdom...
, “an extreme right wing organization”, funded by Rupert Murdoch
Rupert Murdoch
Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....
which at one point called for “the legalization of all drugs” and which used “ anti-gay
Homophobia
Homophobia is a term used to refer to a range of negative attitudes and feelings towards lesbian, gay and in some cases bisexual, transgender people and behavior, although these are usually covered under other terms such as biphobia and transphobia. Definitions refer to irrational fear, with the...
material during their anti-Labour campaign in 1987”
During the debates over the Education Reform Bill, Cox worked together with Michael Alison
Michael Alison
Michael James Hugh Alison was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom.Born in Margate, Kent, Alison was educated at Eton College, Wadham College, Oxford and Ridley Hall, Cambridge...
to ensure that a commitment was made that state education was 'broadly Christian' in character. She became a frequent contributor to Lords debates on Africa, and also raised other "forgotten conflicts" in letters to the press. She was already highlighting fighting in Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
in September 1992, criticising Sudan's Islamist government and backing Dr. John Garang
John Garang
John Garang de Mabior was a Sudanese politician and rebel leader. From 1983 to 2005, he led the Sudan People's Liberation Army during the Second Sudanese Civil War, and following a peace agreement he briefly served as First Vice President of Sudan from January 2005 until he died in a July 2005...
's Christian-dominated Sudan People's Liberation Army
Sudan People's Liberation Army
The Sudan People's Liberation Movement is a political party in South Sudan. It was initially founded as a rebel political movement with a military wing known as the Sudan People's Liberation Army estimated at 180,000 soldiers. The SPLM fought in the Second Sudanese Civil War against the Sudanese...
, and also criticised the actions of the government of Muslim Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
in the Armenian Christian breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh
Nagorno-Karabakh
Nagorno-Karabakh is a landlocked region in the South Caucasus, lying between Lower Karabakh and Zangezur and covering the southeastern range of the Lesser Caucasus mountains...
.
Later political activities
Cox is a EuroscepticEuroSceptic
EuroSceptic is the second album of British singer Jack Lucien. It was released in October 2009.Due to being an album influenced by Europop, it features songs with parts in different languages...
. She rebelled over the Maastricht Treaty
Maastricht Treaty
The Maastricht Treaty was signed on 7 February 1992 by the members of the European Community in Maastricht, Netherlands. On 9–10 December 1991, the same city hosted the European Council which drafted the treaty...
, supporting an amendment to require a nationwide referendum on ratification on July 14, 1993. In May 2004 she joined three other Conservative peers in signing a letter published by the UK Independence Party urging voters to support it in the elections to the European Parliament. The Leader of the Conservative Party, Michael Howard
Michael Howard
Michael Howard, Baron Howard of Lympne, CH, QC, PC is a British politician, who served as the Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from November 2003 to December 2005...
, immediately withdrew the party whip
Whip (politics)
A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...
, formally expelling them from the parliamentary party. Cox now sits in the Lords as a crossbencher.
In June 2002 Cox hosted a launch event for "Great Britain has Fallen!", a book written by Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
n missionary Wale Babatunde and also wrote endorsements saying the book "showed the way forward" for reversing Britain's moral decline.
She is one of 18 co-founders of the One Jerusalem
One Jerusalem
One Jerusalem is an organisation with the stated mission of "maintaining a united Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel". It was founded as a response to the Oslo Peace Process, specifically, out of a concern that the settlement might lead to Palestinian sovereignty over Jerusalem's Temple...
organisation, which aims at "maintaining a united Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel". On January 24, 2005, she became Co-President of the Jerusalem Summit. She is the founder of The International Islamic Christian Organisation for Reconciliation and Reconstruction,
Baroness Cox is the Chair of the British Armenia All-Party Parliamentary Group. She is also a strong supporter of self-determination for the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh
Nagorno-Karabakh
Nagorno-Karabakh is a landlocked region in the South Caucasus, lying between Lower Karabakh and Zangezur and covering the southeastern range of the Lesser Caucasus mountains...
, which is officially a part of Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
. Paying tribute to Cox's dedication to the Armenian cause, Frank Pallone, Jr.
Frank Pallone
Frank Pallone, Jr. is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1993. He is a member of the Democratic Party. He previously represented the 3rd district from 1988 to 1993.-Early life, education, and early political career:...
, the co-chairman of the US Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues, called her a "true Armenian nationalist who would give her life for Armenia and Karabakh". On February 15, 2006 she was awarded the Mkhitar Gosh Medal by the President of the Republic of Armenia Robert Kocharyan
She was president of Christian Solidarity Worldwide
Christian Solidarity Worldwide
Christian Solidarity Worldwide is a human rights organisation which specialises in religious freedom, works on behalf of those persecuted for their Christian beliefs and promotes religious liberty for all. Its current president is Jonathan Aitken, having taken over from Baroness Cox in 2006...
until 2006, thereafter remaining as its patron. Between 1997 and 2000, Christian Solidarity Worldwide directly intervened to buy the freedom of alleged slaves, and in a letter to The Independent on Sunday Cox claimed to have redeemed 2,281 slaves on eight visits to Sudan. In 1995 she won the William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce
William Wilberforce was a British politician, a philanthropist and a leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade. A native of Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, he began his political career in 1780, eventually becoming the independent Member of Parliament for Yorkshire...
Award.. She is also a patron of the Christian Institute
Christian Institute
The Christian Institute is a British evangelical Christian pressure group. The CI promotes a Conservative Christian viewpoint, founded on the belief that the Bible is inerrant and should be the authority on all of life...
.
Baroness Cox is the Vice Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on North Korea. The Group has stated that the Obama administration brings with it an opportunity for a formal cessation of hostilities and normalisation of relations with North Korea
North Korea
The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...
.
In January 2010 she addressed a meeting organised by Odinic Rite
Odinic Rite
The Odinic Rite is a religious organization, practicing a form of Northern Indo European religion termed Odinism after the chief god of Norse mythology, Odin...
activist Alan Harvey and Gary Cartwright a former National Democrats
National Democrats (UK)
By the beginning of 2002 the party had ceased political activity. It continued as a pressure group under the name Campaign for National Democracy until 2008; the party officially ceased to exist after the death of its leader at the beginning of 2011....
candidate and organiser and contributor to holocaust denier David Irving
David Irving
David John Cawdell Irving is an English writer,best known for his denial of the Holocaust, who specialises in the military and political history of World War II, with a focus on Nazi Germany...
's historical revisionist
Historical revisionism (negationism)
Historical revisionism is either the legitimate scholastic re-examination of existing knowledge about a historical event, or the illegitimate distortion of the historical record such that certain events appear in a more or less favourable light. For the former, i.e. the academic pursuit, see...
Focal Point website
Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust
The Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust (HART), founded by Baroness Cox in 2003, works to provide lasting change through aid and advocacy for those suffering oppression and persecution, who are largely neglected by the international media. HART believe that in order to adequately meet the needs and requirements of the persecuted , oppressed and overlooked; we must ask the local people for their priorities, giving them the dignity of choice and the responsibility of their own programmes. Lady Cox travels to HART funded aid and advocacy programmes in Nagorno Karabagh, East and West Burma, East Timor, India, Nigeria, southern Sudan and northern Uganda.Disability activism
Cox supports disability causes as a member of the World Committee on Disability. In 2004 she was a judge for the Franklin Delano Roosevelt International Disability Award, distributed annually at the United Nations in New York to a nation that has met the goals of the UN World Programme of Action Concerning Disabled Persons.Geert Wilders controversy
In February 2009, Cox courted controversy when she and UKIP peer Lord PearsonMalcolm Pearson, Baron Pearson of Rannoch
Malcolm Everard MacLaren Pearson, Baron Pearson of Rannoch is a British businessman and the former leader of the UK Independence Party . He is a member of the House of Lords.-Biography:...
invited Dutch Freedom Party leader Geert Wilders
Geert Wilders
Geert Wilders is a Dutch right-wing politician and leader of the Party for Freedom , the third-largest political party in the Netherlands. He is the Parliamentary group leader of his party in the Dutch House of Representatives...
to show the anti-Islam film Fitna
Fitna (film)
Fitna is a 2008 short political, propaganda film by Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders with his view on the religion of the Islam. Approximately 17 minutes in length, the movie shows selected excerpts from Suras of the Qur'an, interspersed with media clips and newspaper cuttings showing or...
before the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
. However, Wilders was prevented from entering the UK on the instructions of Home Secretary Jacqui Smith
Jacqui Smith
Jacqueline Jill "Jacqui" Smith is a member of the British Labour Party. She served as the Member of Parliament for Redditch from 1997 until 2010 and was the first ever female Home Secretary, thus making her the third woman to hold one of the Great Offices of State — after Margaret Thatcher and...
. In response, Cox and Pearson accused the Government of "appeasing" militant Islam.
Styles
- The Rt. Hon. The Baroness Cox, of Queensbury (1982–1990)
- The Rt. Hon. Professor The Baroness Cox, of Queensbury (1990-)