Baroness Trumpington, of Sandwich in the County of Kent
Raised to peerage in 1980
Party: Conservative
Age: 89
‘For my maiden speech, I decided to talk about old people, and their accommodation. If you’re going to do this, you might as well be honest. So I said there weren’t enough lavatories. Everyone screamed with laughter. Afterwards I discovered that as I banged on about loos, the heavens had opened, and all they could hear was rushing water.’
Photograph: Sophia Evans/The Observer
Baroness Bakewell, of Stockport in the County of Greater Manchester
Raised to peerage in 2011
Party: Labour
Age: 79
‘Ed Miliband rang and said: “Would you let us put your name forward as a Labour peer.” There was an awkward pause, and then I said: “There is a problem. I didn’t vote for you, I marched against the Iraq war, I disagreed with a lot of things Tony Blair was doing.” There was a pause at his end, and then he said: “That’s all right with me.”’ [This caption was amended on 15 May 2012 to correct Baroness Bakewell's age]
Photograph: Sophia Evans/The Observer
Baroness Young of Hornsey, of Hornsey in the London Borough of Haringey
Raised to peerage in 2004
Party: crossbench
Age: 60
“Being here has taught me lots in terms of other people. I might once have thought: ‘Ooh, hereditary peer: we won’t have anything in common.’ But that’s not necessarily the case.”
Photograph: Sophia Evans/The Observer
Baroness Meacher, of Spitalfields in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets
Raised to peerage in 2006
Party: Crossbench
Age: 72
“This is the most egalitarian environment I’ve ever worked in. It sounds completely nutty, I know. But anyone who is here has in some sense reached whatever position they might have hoped to reach – or not. We don’t need to compete.” [This caption was amended on 15 May 2012 to correct Baroness Meacher's age]
Photograph: Sophia Evans/The Observer
Baroness Warnock, of Weeke in in the City of Winchester
Raised to peerage in 1985
Party: crossbench
Age: 88
‘I can’t see that in the present circumstances anybody gives a damn about Lords reform. Nick Clegg is such a... well, I won’t say. I just think he behaves appallingly badly. He had his one success with that election broadcast, and it went to his head, such as it is. This [reform] would be a triumph for him.’
Photograph: Sophia Evans/The Observer
Baroness Deech, of Cumnor in the County of Oxfordshire
Raised to peerage in 2005
Party: crossbench
Age: 69
‘The first day I was here, I tremulously approached the long table in the peers’ dining room. An elderly peer with an eyepatch saw me walking towards him, and said: “More cabbage, please.” Well, that put me in my place.’ [This caption was amended on 15 May 2012 to correct Baroness Deech's age]
Photograph: Sophia Evans/The Observer
Baroness Grey-Thompson, of Eaglescliffe in the County of Durham
Raised to peerage in 2010
Party: crossbench
Age: 42
‘I love the place. I do. People listen. They might think you’re completely bonkers, and they might disagree completely and utterly with what you say, but they listen, and with respect.’
Photograph: Sophia Evans/The Observer
Baroness Stowell of Beeston, of Beeston in the County of Nottinghamshire
Raised to peerage in 2011
Party: Conservative
Age: not disclosed
‘I don’t ever get the sense there’s any kind of misogyny here. When I first stood in for a minister in the chamber, I had the feeling people really didn’t want me to fail. Most of the men grew up with Mrs Thatcher. They’re used to strong women.’
Photograph: Sophia Evans/The Observer
