Lynne Featherstone, English blogger and politician
Lynne Choona Featherstone, Baroness Featherstone, (née Ryness; born 20 December 1951) is a British politician, businesswoman and Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords.Prior to entering politics, Featherstone was a successful businesswoman running the Ryness chain of lighting and electrical shops in London and owning and running a London design company.A Member of the London Assembly (MLA) from 2000 to 2005, she was Member of Parliament (MP) for Hornsey and Wood Green between 2005 and 2015, before being nominated for a peerage in the Dissolution Peerages List 2015. She was created Baroness Featherstone, of Highgate in the London Borough of Haringey on 20 October.Under the Conservative – Liberal Democrat coalition in 2010 she was appointed as a Home Office Minister with responsibility for criminal information and equalities, before being promoted, in 2012, Minister with responsibility for International Development. Previously she was Liberal Democrat spokesman for Youth and Equality issues, and chair of the Liberal Democrats technology board. As originator and architect of the same sex marriage law during the coalition, Featherstone launched the consultation by the UK Government on introducing same-sex marriage and was the first politician to take part in the Out4Marriage campaign, gaining a special Ben and Jerry's ice cream tub and flavour Lynne Honeycomb and returned to the Home Office as Minister of State in November 2014.