Stephanie Fraser, of Cerebral Palsy Scotland, was one of 16 new peers appointed at the end of last year
The chief executive of a Scottish charity has accepted an appointment to the House of Lords.
Stephanie Fraser, of Cerebral Palsy Scotland, has received a peerage from Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Fraser, who also serves as a board member for OSCR and Creative Scotland, said she is looking forward to representing Scottish charities in the Lords.
“I am very excited and immensely honoured by this opportunity,” she said. “My work on behalf of cerebral palsy, people with neurological conditions and Scottish charities remains my priority and I’m looking forward to having the chance to amplify the issues on a wider stage.”
Ian Johnstone, chair of Cerebral Palsy Scotland, congratulated Fraser on her appointment. He said: “I’m sure that Stephanie will make an excellent member of the House of Lords and, no doubt, will continue to advocate for people with CP and other neurological conditions as well as take a keen interest in very many other areas.
“At a difficult time for people with CP, we are heartened that Stephanie will be able to represent our community at a UK wide level and wish her every success on this appointment.”
Fraser joined Bobath Scotland (which became Cerebral Palsy Scotland last year) as chief executive in January 2012. Formerly head of development at Scottish Ballet, Fraser trained as a ballet dancer and was also company choreologist and director of development for English National Ballet.
She stood as a candidate for the Scottish Conservatives for Strathkelvin and Bearsden in the 2007 and 2011 Scottish Parliament elections and in Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East in the 2010 UK Parliament elections.
Fraser was one of 16 new peers – seven Conservative nominations, five from Labour and four Crossbench – to be appointed to the Lords before Christmas.
The move to expand the Lords drew criticism from Lord Fowler, the Lords Speaker, with a Lords committee recently recommending the number of peers should be cut to 600.
“Mr Johnson has added 16 to his list of appointments bringing the total for the year up to 52 new peers over two lists. This list will bring the total in the House of Lords to over 830 – almost 200 more than the House of Commons,” Lord Fowler said.
