Tributes paid to Liberal Democrat politician Baroness Jenny Randerson who has died at the age of 76

Baroness Jenny Randerson is the only person to have been in government at both ends of the M4 - having served in the Labour-Lib Dem coalition in Cardiff and then the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition in Westminster. Credit: Welsh Liberal Democrats

Former Liberal Democrat Assembly Member Baroness Jenny Randerson has died aged 76.

Her death was announced in a statement from the Welsh Liberal Democrats on Sunday, who paid tribute to her as someone who "left an indelible mark on our politics and society".

Until Eluned Morgan became First Minister, Ms Randerson had been the most senior woman in Welsh Government, having served as acting Deputy First Minister from July 2001 to June 2002. She's the only person to have been in government at both ends of the M4 - having served in the Labour-Lib Dem coalition in Cardiff and then the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition in Westminster. She is also the first ever female Welsh Liberal Democrat to hold ministerial office at Westminster, and the first Welsh Liberal to hold a UK ministerial post since Gwilym Lloyd-George in 1945.

Mrs Randerson is credited with being the person who decided to give free entry to Wales' national museums. Credit: ITV Wales

According to the statement, Ms Randerson passed away at her home in Cardiff on Saturday.

Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, Jane Dodds MS, said: “I am deeply saddened by the news of Jenny Randerson’s passing.

“Jenny dedicated her life to serving the people of Cardiff and Wales. From free entry to Wales’s national museums to the decision to build Wales Millennium Centre, her work as a minister left an indelible mark on our politics and society.

“She will be deeply missed by her family, friends, colleagues, and the many individuals whose lives she touched through her public service."

Baroness Randerson's professional career began in education as a secondary school teacher and later as a lecturer at Coleg Glan Hafren in Cardiff.

She served as a Cardiff councillor from 1983 to 2000, leading the council’s official opposition for four years.

In 1999, she was elected as the first Assembly Member for Cardiff Central in the newly established National Assembly for Wales.

After stepping down from the Assembly in 2011, she was appointed a life peer as Baroness Randerson of Roath Park on January 27, 2011.

In the House of Lords, she served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales from September 2012 to May 2015.

Baroness Randerson had also served as Chancellor of Cardiff University since 2019.

She was also a patron of various charities including Wales Council for Deaf People, the Cardiff and Vale Youth Wind Band and the African Mothers' Foundation.

She is survived by her husband, Peter Randerson, two adult children and three grandchildren.

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