The Baroness Robson of Kiddington | |
|---|---|
 Stina Robson | |
| Member of theHouse of Lords Lord Temporal | |
| In office 14 May 1974 – 9 February 1999 Life Peerage | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1919-08-20)20 August 1919 Stockholm, Sweden |
| Died | 9 February 1999(1999-02-09) (aged 79) |
| Party | Liberal Democrats |
| Spouse | |
| Education | Ölinska Girls' School |
Inga-Stina Robson, Baroness Robson of Kiddington (néeArvidsson; 20 August 1919 – 9 February 1999), often known asStina Robson, was anAnglo-Swedish political activist.
Born to a wealthy family inStockholm as Inga-Stina Arvidsson, she attended Ölinska Girls' School before becoming a secretary in the SwedishMinistry for Foreign Affairs' office inLondon, where she metLawrence Robson, an accountant, and the two married in 1940. DuringWorld War II, she worked as a translator for the BritishMinistry of Information.[1]
Robson settled atKiddington Hall nearWoodstock, Oxfordshire, and worked on her husband's unsuccessful candidature for theLiberal Party inBanbury at the1950 general election. Their house was used as a conference centre and was popular for Liberal Party events. In the run-up to the1955 general election, Lawrence was the Liberals' prospective candidate inEye, but he was appointed to a government commission and withdrew, leaving Inga-Stina to fight the seat, although she was not successful. Later the same year, she became amagistrate.[1]
Robson stood again in Eye at the1959 general election, then inGloucester in1964 and1966. Although she never came close to election toWestminster, she was elected toChipping NortonRural District Council.[1]
In 1968, Robson became President of theWomen's Liberal Federation, standing down in 1970 when she was electedPresident of the Liberal Party. As president, she opposedradicalism and, in particular, the policies advocated by theNational League of Young Liberals. She was createdBaroness Robson of Kiddington, ofKiddington inOxfordshire on 14 May 1974,[2] becoming the Liberals' spokesperson on agriculture and the environment in theHouse of Lords. In 1982, she succeeded her husband as Chair of theNational Liberal Club, and also as Chair of theAnglo-Swedish Society. She joined theLiberal Democrats, successors of the Liberal Party, and in 1988, she chaired a panel investigating fraud in theEuropean Union. She stood down as a magistrate in 1989, by which time she was the longest-serving magistrate in the country. In 1993, she became the party spokesperson on health.[1]
Lady Robson was the Chairman of the charity Attend[3] (then National Association of Leagues of Hospital Friends) from 1986 to 1994. When she retired in 1994, she was honored as vice president; a position she would hold from 1995 to 1998.
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| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Gaenor Heathcote Amory | President of theWomen's Liberal Federation 1968–1970 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of the Liberal Party 1970–1971 | Succeeded by |
