Veronica Linklater, Baroness Linklater of Butterstone
Veronica Linklater, Baroness Linklater of Butterstone, is a former Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords. She retired in February 2016 following the House of Lords Reform Act 2014. Her career indicates her interests in children's welfare, education and special needs, and prison reform. She was created a life peer as Baroness Linklater of Butterstone, of Riemore in Perth and Kinross, on 1 November 1997.
Linklater is the daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel Archibald Michael Lyle and Hon. Elizabeth Sinclair, younger daughter of the former Leader of the Liberal Party Archibald Sinclair, 1st Viscount Thurso. She was educated at Cranborne Chase School, a former boarding independent school for girls situated at New Wardour Castle, near Tisbury, Wiltshire, followed by the Universities of Sussex and London. In 1967 she married the journalist Magnus Linklater; they have three children, two sons and one daughter.
Her first cousin, John Sinclair, 3rd Viscount Thurso, was an elected Liberal Democrat MP for the seat of Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross. In 1967, she became a Child Care Officer for the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, and between 1970 and 1985, she became governor to three Islington schools. From 1971 to 1977, she co-founded the Visitors' Centre at Pentonville Prison, and her continuing interest in this field led to her involvement with the Winchester Prison Project, Prison Reform Trust from 1981 to 1982. She is a trustee of the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.
