Joan Ruddock

The Right Honourable Dame Joan Ruddock DBE
Minister of State for Energy
In office 8 June 2009 – 11 May 2010
Prime Minister	Gordon Brown
Preceded by	Mike O'Brien
Succeeded by	Charles Hendry
Member of Parliament for Lewisham Deptford
In office 11 June 1987 – 30 March 2015
Preceded by	John Silkin
Succeeded by	Vicky Foxcroft
Majority	12,499 (30.3%)
Personal details
Born	Joan Mary Anthony (1943-12-28) 28 December 1943 Pontypool, Monmouthshire, Wales
Nationality	British
Political party	Labour
Spouse(s)	Keith Ruddock, Frank Doran
Alma mater	Imperial College London
Website	Official website

Dame Joan Mary Ruddock, DBE (née Anthony; born 28 December 1943) is a British Labour Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Lewisham Deptford from 1987 to 2015. Ruddock was Minister of State for Energy at the Department of Energy and Climate Change until 11 May 2010. She stood down at the 2015 General Election.

Early life

Ruddock was educated at Pontypool Girls grammar school and at Imperial College London where she studied Botany and Chemistry. Prior to her election to Parliament, she was chair of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, a UK pressure group; she resigned in 1985.

Parliamentary career

Ruddock fought the safe Conservative seat of Newbury in 1979, coming third. She was elected for Lewisham Deptford in 1987, succeeding John Silkin. She was initially a member of the Campaign Group but resigned in 1988 in protest at Tony Benn's decision to challenge Neil Kinnock for the leadership.

During the government of Tony Blair, she briefly served as Minister for Women. She returned to government when Gordon Brown appointed her Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at Defra in June 2007 with responsibility for biodiversity, climate change adaptation, waste and domestic forestry. In October 2008 she was transferred to the newly created Department of Energy and Climate Change, continuing in her previous role. In the June 2009 reshuffle she was promoted to Minister of State level, with responsibility for energy policy, which she held until the fall of the Labour Government in 2010.

During her time in parliament Ruddock was responsible for successfully introducing two private members bills on fly tipping and ensuring local authorities provided doorstep recycling.

She is an Honorary Fellow of Goldsmiths, University of London, an Honorary Fellow of Laban London and a member of the Board of Trinity Laban.

She was appointed as a Privy Counsellor on 9 June 2010. She was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2012 New Year Honours for public and political services.

Private life

Ruddock's first husband, Professor Keith Ruddock, whom she married in 1963, died in a traffic accident in 1996; the couple had separated some years earlier. She is now married, since 2010, to the former Labour MP for Aberdeen North, Frank Doran.

External links

• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
• Voting record at Public Whip
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou
• Joan Ruddock audio interview on Women's Parliamentary Radio discussing her job as Minister in charge of Climate Change, Waste and Recycling and Biodiversity in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs