Light Rail (UK) Group

Welsh Lib Dem Baroness Randerson,

A major stalwart supporter of the All Party parliamentary Light Rail Group, dies age 76,

Jenny Randerson represented Cardiff Central for 12 years

The Welsh Liberal Democrat politician Jenny Randerson has died at 76.

Baroness Randerson was elected in 1999 and represented Cardiff Central, beating Labour candidate Mark Drakeford for the seat.

She represented the party in the then Welsh Assembly - now the Senedd - from 1999 to 2011 and served in the Welsh Labour-Lib Dem administration of the 2000-2003 Welsh Assembly government.

Welsh Lib Dem leader Jane Dodds said her work as a minister "left an indelible mark on our politics and society".

Ms Dodds added she would be "deeply missed by her family, friends, colleagues, and the many individuals whose lives she touched through her public service".

"From free entry to Wales's national museums to the decision to build Wales Millennium Centre, Jenny dedicated her life to serving the people of Cardiff and Wales."

The former leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, Kirsty Williams told BBC Radio Wales that Baroness Randerson's influence was "significant, but, as always with Jenny, it was done in a very quiet and understated way".

She said: "Her contribution to both the Lib Dems in Wales, latterly the Liberal Democrats across the UK, but also to Welsh politics at the dawn of devolution is significant."

Williams, who met Baroness Randerson as a young activist in the Liberal Democrats in the 1990s, said she was struck by the number of younger people who had spoken of the mentorship she provided to them when she was a very busy politician herself.

Baroness Randerson began her career in education as a secondary school teacher and later as a lecturer at Coleg Glan Hafren in Cardiff.

She also served as a Cardiff councilor from 1983 to 2000, helping to grow the Welsh Liberal Democrat party's presence in the capital and leading the council's official opposition for four years.

She became the first female Liberal Democrat minister anywhere in the UK as Minister for Culture, Sport and the Welsh Language from 2000 to 2003 and was acting deputy first minister from July 2001 to June 2002.

The party said she was "instrumental in introducing a cultural strategy aimed at promoting the Welsh language".

After stepping down from the Assembly in 2011, she was appointed a life peer.

In the House of Lords, she continued her commitment to public service, notably serving as parliamentary undersecretary of state for Wales.

She was the first ever female Welsh Liberal Democrat to hold ministerial office at Westminster and the first Welsh Liberal to hold a UK ministerial post since Gwilym Lloyd-George in 1945.

Beyond politics, Baroness Randerson served as Chancellor of Cardiff University and was also a patron of various charities including Wales Council for Deaf People, the Cardiff and Vale Youth Wind Band and the African Mothers' Foundation.

Cardiff University's vice-chancellor Prof Wendy Larner said she was a "longstanding friend and advocate for the university and for the benefits of higher education" and that she would be "deeply missed".

Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on Cardiff Council Rodney Berman called her a "terrific mentor" and said the party owed her a debt of gratitude.

Mr. Berman added that her "contribution to Welsh life and to politics over many decades has been nothing short of immense".

Courtesy of ; Oscar Edwards

BBC Wales News

Published

5 January 2025

2 August 2024.

Bruce and his spider have nothing on us!

We will be having our inaugural meeting as listed below and notified to the Whips office today.

It is for Parliamentarians only and at this meeting we will be electing Officers and members.

Please note, we have a full schedule planned to include a number of limited funded learning near and far.

We also have funding for a tram feasibility study, a generous dowry for Hydrogen Trams as a Service, details can be found in the Hydrogen section of your website.

This is a new Applrg and will be in a modern format which hopefully we will be able to build on the eighteen years + which has gone before altho' this website is also a historical record, and most events can be located here

We have several sponsors and three new team members since November 23 and have had 522601 website hits have been recorded in the last three years and it seems we are still an important source of tram knowledge.

Hoping to see those MPs who care about the benefits of trams as a catalyst to unlock all the good things that our nation needs in the coming Parliament

November 2023.

Update

We thought we were back last year when Mr Andy Carter MP, former chair of the All Party Parliamentary Light Rail Group (Applrg) invited us back as Secretariat.

A bit of a poison chalice challenge really! however, we nearly had it up and running Febuary 23 with the assistance of Ms Christine Graham MP Lib/Dem but an influx of Lib/Dem work led to her withdrawal from taking on the registered member role as required by HoC Standards for APPGs to enable us to become an official APPG!

As there are 800 plus APPGs, the expected and anticipated reform of the APPGs, we are waiting to see how this will affect us on the ground especially in view of the swirl that is rising in anticipation of a General Election with 12-18 months.

In the meantime we will continue as a political group campaigning for the universal benefits in all our communities of steel on steel in the street especially in the fight for clean air.

24 July 2022

WE ARE BACK! --- Ooh No we are not - YET1

Last week Mr Andy Carter MP Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Light Rail Group, currently de-registered, appointed Light Rail UK Group to take over the Secretariat after the previous incumbents .

Our next step is to hold an AGM in September 2022 when Parliament reconvenes

Since we have been away as Secretariat, there has been significant advances in the Tram Industry especially in the emerging Very Light Rail sector, more detaisl can be found in Industry/BCIMO

We had started a series of pre-feasibility studies for our MP members constituencies which will now be restarted in line with the new technology and the greater awareness of Climate Change

We have a number imformational visits scheduled during the coming year which I will be writing individually to

If you, as our Industry supporters wish to be involved, dont hesitate to contact me or any member of my team which now numbers 6

More details will be available as they happen.

June 2022

This is a new, repurposed, and updated version of the former All Party Parliamentary Light Rail Group which Light Rail (UK) Ltd held and funded the Secretariat from its inauguration in 2005 until May 2021 and handed over the Secretariat to Downtown in Business, Mr Simon Danzcuk, former Labour MP for Rochdale to take the APPLRG on a different path from that successful model before.

James Harkins FCILT, MTPS has been retained as a Technical Advisor to the APPLRG.

We will as part of our policy be supportive of all Parliamentary Groups within the UK in our fight for the nation to share the wide range of benefits of this mode in all its variants.

The contents of the previous APPLRG (2006 - 2020) has been gifted to the archive section of the National Tramway Museum Society as a record of this time of tram and light rail history for the benefit of those who follow who will without doubt judge on our success or failure especially with regards to Climate Change.

Light Rail UK Ltd was established in 2005 as campaigning organisation to support sustainable Public Transport, predominately steel on steel street running technologies and fills the gap between Government and Industry funded organisations. A grouping consortium of experts who give “Pro Bono” freely of their time and expertise for the greater good and for those who follow.

Today, Light Rail UK Ltd operates as an independent, not-for-profit consultancy specialising in the delivery of green projects, supporting innovation and market development, focused on low cost Light Rail, Trams, VLR/ULR (3rd Generation Tramways) and associated energy infrastructure.

We highly value our independence as it allows us to provide impartial advice and helps us build trust with our colleagues, friends, and customers.

Being a not-for-profit, Light Rail UK Ltd isn’t driven by doing the work which pays the most or builds our order book, but by what is right for our clients and for the industry.

This is reflected in everything we do, from the work we do and the advice we give, even to the prices we charge. Our major concern is the green wash be pedalled by so called including Government experts who claim that rubber wheeled vehicles are zero emission, they are not as long as they are producing pm 10pm & 2.5pm and fine black carbon soot particulates

Finally, as consultants, our aim is to be trusted advisors with expert knowledge – the ‘go-to’ source of help and support for public and private sector organisations. We want to be people you can trust to help where and when it is most needed as our customers progress along their journey to a zero carbon future.

Light Rail UK Group will hold regular sessions in order to provide a holistic package of policy proposals that will drive forward best practice including supportive modes, leading to affordable light rail & tramways with resultant physical and economic regeneration, carbon reduction, improved air quality, congestion relief, affordable and sustainable transport. to the  benefit of the UK and its' citizens.

Technical support is provided by James Harkins FCILT MTPS, Light Rail (UK) Ltd, Associates and Partners and various supporting organisations and individuals.

If you wish to sponsor a page, please contact jimh@jimmyharkins.com for further detail

Light Rail (UK) Ltd and partners provides low cost, high quality, affordable consultancy to Government and Local Authorities to enhance their growing awareness of the advantages of Light Rail and Tram systems especially for small cities, towns, and conurbations.

Our TramTracker 2 contains 80+ cities and towns that would be able to support and sustain a modern tram system (Password access only)