West Yorkshire’s deputy mayor has promised to champion “the rights of people in the North” after being sworn into the House of Lords.
Alison Lowe became Baroness Lowe of Armley, in honour of the ward she represented as a Leeds city councillor for 29 years, at a ceremony on Tuesday.
Lowe, who has been West Yorkshire’s deputy mayor with responsibility for policing and crime since 2021, said she was “gobsmacked” to have been appointed to the upper chamber.
She added that the role, which she said was “the honour of my life”, would not compromise her job as deputy mayor for policing and crime in the region, which she is due to continue until 2028.
Leeds-born Lowe has previously spoken of her experiences as a survivor of domestic and sexual abuse.
Besides her role as a councillor, she was also a long-serving chief executive of the mental health charity Touchstone and worked for a number of causes related to homelessness.
