10 September 1954

Happy birthday to Lorely Burt, Liberal Democrat MP for Solihull 2005-15

From 1998 to 2003 she was a Councillor on Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council and at the 2005 election she gained Solihull from the Conservatives with a majority of 279. Burt served on the Treasury Select Committee 2005-06 and the Regulatory Reform Select Committee 2006-10. In 2007 she was elected Chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Party, resigning in 2013 when she was appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander. In November 2014 she was appointed an assistant government whip, serving until the end of the coalition government. Burt lost her seat at the 2015 general election and was created Baroness Burt of Solihull in the 2015 Dissolution Honours. She was appointed the party’s spokesperson for Business, Innovation and Skills in July 2015, later serving as the party’s spokesperson for Women and Equalities 2016-19.