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{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific-prefix = [[The Right Honourable]]
|name = The Baroness Prashar
|honorific-suffix ={{postnominals|size=100%|country=GBR|CBE|PC}}
|image = Official portrait of Baroness Prashar crop 3.jpg
|imagesize =
|smallimage =
|caption =
|office = Chair of the [[Judicial Appointments Commission]]
|term_start = 3 April 2006
|term_end = 7 February 2011
|predecessor = [[Constitutional Reform Act 2005|''Office created'']]
|successor = Christopher Stephens
|office1 = [[Chancellor (education)|Chancellor]] of [[De Montfort University]]
|1blankname1 = [[Chancellor (education)#Vice-chancellor|Vice-Chancellor]]
|1namedata1 = Philip Tasker
|term_start1 = 2000
|term_end1 = 2006
|predecessor1 = John White
|successor1 = [[Waheed Alli, Baron Alli|The Lord Alli]]
|office2 = [[Members of the House of Lords]] [[Lords Temporal|Lord Temporal]]
|term_start2 = 15 July 1999 [[Life peer|Life Peerage]]
|term_end2 =
|birthname = Usha Kumari Prashar
|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1948|06|29}}
|birth_place =
|death_date =
|death_place =
|nationality = British
|restingplace =
|restingplacecoordinates =
|partner =
|profession =
}}
'''Usha Kumari Prashar, Baroness Prashar'''{{Needs IPA}}, {{postnominals|country=GBR|sep=,|CBE|PC}} (born 29 June 1948) is a British politician and a [[crossbench]] member of the [[House of Lords]]. Since the 1970s, she has served as a director or chair of a variety of public and private sector organisations. She became the first chair of the [[Judicial Appointments Commission]] upon its creation in April 2006.

==Early life and education==
Born in [[Kenya]], she came to Yorkshire with her father Naurhia Lal Prashar and family in the 1960s. She was educated at the independent [[Wakefield Girls' High School]], becoming head girl in 1967. Prashar read Politics at [[University of Leeds|Leeds University]], graduating in 1970 with a [[Bachelor of Arts]] degree, after which she undertook postgraduate studies in [[Social Administration]] at the [[University of Glasgow]].

==Career==

===Private Sector===
Baroness Prashar was a [[non-executive director]] of [[Channel Four Television Corporation]] from 1992 to 1999, of [[UNITE Group plc]] from 2001 to 2004, and became a non-executive director of [[ITV plc]] in February 2005.

===Public Sector===
Baroness Prashar was executive chair of the [[Parole Board|Parole Board of England and Wales]] from October 1997 to October 2000. Having been appointed a [[Civil Service Commission]]er in 1990, she was [[First Civil Service Commissioner]] from August 2000 to 2005.

===Non-Governmental Sector===
Baroness Prashar is a trustee of [[Cumberland Lodge]], an educational charity initiating fresh debate on the burning questions facing society.<ref>[http://www.cumberlandlodge.ac.uk/aboutus/trustees_of_cumberland_lodge Cumberland Lodge: Trustees] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110404015647/http://www.cumberlandlodge.ac.uk/aboutus/trustees_of_cumberland_lodge |date=4 April 2011 }}</ref>

Baroness Prashar became a governor of [[De Montfort University]] in 1996, and became its chancellor in 2001. She was chair of the [[National Literacy Trust]] from 2001 to 2005. She was appointed a [[trustee]] of the [[BBC World Service Trust]] in 2002, and was president of the [[Royal Commonwealth Society]]. She was Deputy Chair of the [[British Council]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.britishcouncil.org/about/board|title=Our organisation {{!}} British Council|website=britishcouncil.org|language=en|access-date=2018-04-27}}</ref>

Baroness Prashar was a director of the [[Runnymede Trust]] from 1976 to 1984, a [[Fellow]] with the [[Policy Studies Institute]] from 1984 to 1986, and a director of the [[National Council for Voluntary Organisations]] from 1986 to 1991. She is also a governor of the [[Ditchley Foundation]], which organises conferences in Oxfordshire.<ref>[http://www.ditchley.co.uk/page/64/the-governors.htm The Ditchley Foundation: The Governors] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060926002401/http://www.ditchley.co.uk/page/64/the-governors.htm |date=26 September 2006 }}</ref>

===Iraq Inquiry===
Since July 2009, Baroness Prashar has served on the [[Iraq Inquiry]]. She was sworn of the [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|Privy Council]] the same year<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Privy Council Office |title=Privy Counsellors |url=https://privycouncil.independent.gov.uk/privy-council/privy-council-members/privy-counsellors/ |access-date=30 December 2016}}</ref> to facilitate access to the classified information related to the [[Iraq War]].

===UK Community Foundations===
She is the Honorary President of [http://ukcommunityfoundations.org/ UK Community Foundations] (UKCF), the umbrella organisation for all community foundations, providing philanthropic advice to clients and delivering UK-wide grant-making programmes.

==Honours and styles==
===Honours===
She was appointed to the [[Order of the British Empire]] as a Commander (CBE) in the [[1995 New Year Honours]],<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=53893 |date=31 December 1994 |page=10 |supp=y}}</ref> and was made a [[life peer]] on 15 July 1999 as '''Baroness Prashar''', of [[Runnymede]], in the County of [[Surrey]].<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=55559 |date=21 July 1999 |page=7857}}</ref>

In 2016, she was awarded honorary [[Doctor of Law]] by [[University of London]]. Later in 2018, was awarded an honorary [[Doctor of Literature]] from [[Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology]] in India.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.gnn.gov.uk/environment/detail.asp?ReleaseID=172274&NewsAreaID=2&NavigatedFromDepartment=True Inaugural Judicial Appointments Commission Chair] ([[Government News Network|GNN]] announcement, 6 October 2005)
*[http://www.itvplc.com/itv/news/releases/pr2005/2005-02-08a/ Appointment] as non-executive director of [[ITV plc]] (8 February 2005)
*[https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199899/minutes/990726/ldminute.htm Announcement of her introduction at the House of Lords] House of Lords minutes of proceedings, 26 July 1999
*[https://www.theyworkforyou.com/peer/baroness_prashar Baroness Prashar's profile on TheyWorkForYou.com]
*[http://www.iraqinquiry.org.uk/background/ushaprashar.aspx Baroness Prashar's profile on official Iraq Inquiry site]
* [http://ukcommunityfoundations.org/ UK Community Foundations (UKCF)]

{{Members of the Iraq Inquiry}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prashar, Usha Baroness Prashar}}
[[Category:1948 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Kenyan emigrants to the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:English Hindus]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Leeds]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Glasgow]]
[[Category:British politicians of Indian descent]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Female life peers|Prashar, Usha Prashar, Baroness]]
[[Category:Crossbench life peers|Prashar, Usha Prashar, Baroness]]
[[Category:People associated with De Montfort University]]
[[Category:Social Democratic Party (UK) politicians]]
[[Category:Kenyan people of Indian descent]]
[[Category:English people of Indian descent]]
[[Category:People of the British Council]]
[[Category:Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom]]

Usha Prashar, Baroness Prashar - Revision history

AnnettaCastanon: Updated article with clearer structure

imported>Dawnseeker2000: date format audit, minor formatting