Joyce, Baroness Gould of Potternewton
Life Peer and Deputy Speaker of the House of
Lords since 2002, Baroness Gould, qualified as a
pharmaceutical dispenser in 1952 following full-time
studies at Bradford Technical College.
Baroness Gould is Chair of the Government’s
Independent Advisory Group for Sexual Health
and HIV, and Chair of the Women’s National
Commission.
She is also President of fpa, patron of FORWARD
and Chair of the All Party Pro Choice Group. In
addition, she is Patron of Yorkshire MESMAC and
Vice-patron of Impact’s 30th Anniversary Appeal.
Baroness Gould is an Honorary Fellow of the Faculty
of Sexual and Reproductive Health Care and in
October 2007 became the first Honorary Fellow
of the British Association for Sexual Health
and HIV. She was also voted the 2007 Health
Champion at the Charity Champion Awards in
recognition of her campaigning work to raise
the profile of epilepsy as Chair of the All Party
Parliamentary Group on Epilepsy.
She is also former Chair of the Mary MacArthur
Holiday Trust and President of Straight Talking.
She is a regular speaker on women’s matters
both in the House of Lords and nationally. Since
2002 she has organised full debates in the
chamber of the House of Lords for Women’s
Day, to draw public and parliamentary attention
to issues affecting women.
“I was full time student, travelling from my home
town of Leeds every day. I remember the daily
commute. There was a divide between Bradford
and Leeds at that time; no buses went from
Leeds to Bradford, so I had to get a bus from
Leeds to Pudsey and another bus from Pudsey to
Bradford. There were a lot of girls on the course
but we were still in a minority.
After College I worked at Boots, where I did
my apprenticeship, then Timothy Whites &
Taylor’s, which was taken over by Boots, and
then a private chemist. I think the job suited my
personality but I gave up to do other things with
my life.”
Baroness Gould received an Honorary Degree
from the University of Bradford in 1997.
Photograph supplied by Baroness Gould