Robert Balchin, Baron Lingfield
Robert George Alexander Balchin, Baron Lingfield Kt DL (born 31 July 1942) is a British educationalist, noted as an advocate and pioneer for school autonomy.[1]
Career
Lord Lingfield serves as Chairman of the Trustees of ARNI. He is also the Chairman of the League of Mercy Foundation and a Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London.
He previously served as Director-General of St. John Ambulance from 1984 to 1990 and was chairman of the Grant-Maintained Schools Centre (formerly Foundation) from 1989 until 1999. He has been Chairman of the Centre for Education Management (now CEFM) since 1995.
Knighted in 1993,[2] becoming styled as Sir Robert Balchin, he was raised to the peerage as a Life Peer on 17 December 2010 as Baron Lingfield, of Lingfield in the County of Surrey.[3][4]
He was Knight Principal (chairman of the Knights' Council) of the Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor from 2006 to 2012,[5] and he has served as Honorary Colonel of Humberside and South Yorkshire ACF since 2004. The cadet-commandant of Yorkshire Army Cadet Force, Colonel Alan Roberts, OBE, TD, is a long-term associate of Lord Lingfield, serving as gentleman usher of the Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor, receiving an honorary doctorate from Brunel University and being appointed a companion of the Order of Mercy.[6][7][8]
A Freeman of the City of London, he is also a liveryman of the Goldsmiths', Broderers', and Apothecaries' companies.
Lord Lingfield is patron of the charity MaleVoicED, a charity supporting all males with Eating Disorders and other co-morbid conditions.
Lord Lingfield sits on the Conservative benches in the House of Lords, and he speaks in parliament mainly on education matters.[9] He has written numerous articles on education and politics. His schools initiative was proclaimed by The Daily Telegraph's deputy editor, Benedict Brogan, as: "[being the] first and, as time passes, perhaps the most important legislative milestone achieved by the Coalition".[10]
Honours
British Honours
- Life Peer as Baron Lingfield, of Lingfield, in the County of Surrey (created 17 December 2010)
- Knight Bachelor (1993)
- Knight of Justice, Order of St John (1984)
Foreign Honours
- Commander, pro Merito Melitensi (1987)
Dynastic Honours
- Knight Grand Cross, Royal Order of Francis I (2014)
- Knight Grand Cross, Order of the Eagle (2014)
Arms
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See also
References
- ^ "The Lord Lingfield Kt DL Dlitt". Children's University. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
- ^ "No. 53284". The London Gazette. 23 April 1993. p. 7209.
- ^ "No. 59641". The London Gazette. 22 December 2010. p. 24505.
- ^ Hansard, publications.parliament.uk; accessed 6 November 2016.
- ^ Profile, Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor website; accessed 6 November 2016.
- ^ http://www.leagueofmercy.co.uk/2002.htm
- ^ http://www.brunel.ac.uk/about/people/honorary-graduates
- ^ http://www.iskb.co.uk/OFFICERS.htm
- ^ Profile, publications.parliament.uk; accessed 6 November 2016.
- ^ Benedict Brogan The Daily Telegraph 26 May 2011