Janet Ray Michie, Baroness Michie of Gallanach (née Bannerman; 4 February 1934 – 6 May 2008) was a Scottish speech therapist and Liberal Democrat politician. She served as the Member of Parliament for Argyll and Bute for fourteen years, from 1987-2001, and then became a life peer in the House of Lords. She was the first peer to pledge the oath of allegiance in the House of Lords in Gaelic.

Early life

Janet Ray Bannerman was born in the Old Manse, Balmaha, on the eastern shore of Loch Lomond in Stirlingshire, the second of four children of Jenny Murray (Ray) (née Mundell) and John Bannerman (later Lord Bannerman of Kildonan).

Her father was a farm manager to the Duke of Montrose, a former Scotland rugby player and Liberal politician. In her youth, she spoke at political meetings while waiting for her father to arrive. He contested Argyll at the 1945 general election, and Inverness at the 1950 general election. He surprised many by narrowly losing the 1954 Inverness by-election, coming close again at the general elections in 1951 and 1955. He narrowly lost the 1961 Paisley by-election, and contested Paisley again at the 1964 general election, before becoming a life peer in December 1967.

Michie was educated at Aberdeen High School for Girls, Lansdowne House School (Edinburgh), and the Edinburgh College of Speech Therapy. She married Iain Michie in 1957, and she followed his work with the Royal Army Medical Corps for 16 years in the UK and overseas. They had three daughters. She continued as a speech therapist after they settled in Oban, working at the county hospital and becoming Area Speech Therapist for the Argyll and Clyde Health Board in 1977. She was the first peer to pledge the oath of allegiance in Gaelic when being introduced to the Lords.

At different points in her career, she was Vice-President of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, Honorary Associate of the National Council of Women of Great Britain, and Honorary President of the Clyde Fishermen's Association, and also held honorary positions in the An Comunn Gàidhealach, the Scottish National Farmers' Union and the Scottish Crofting Foundation, and was a participant in the early days of the Scottish Constitutional Convention. She chaired the West Highland Health Services Solutions Group.

In August 2007, she was appointed to the Scottish Broadcasting Commission established by the Scottish Government. Before the Commission was able to report, Michie died at her home in Oban after receiving treatment for cancer. She died two days after her Liberal Democrat colleague in the House of Lords, Richard Holme. She was survived by two daughters, having been predeceased by her husband and a third daughter.

References

  • Obituaries:
  • The Daily Telegraph, 9 May 2008
  • The Guardian, 9 May 2008
  • The Independent, 9 May 2008
  • The Times, 9 May 2008
  • Baroness Michie of Gallanach profile at the site of Liberal Democrats(page not found)