Who are we
The APPGMH has three co-chairs representing the major parties:
Chair – Lynne Jones (Labour)
Website: http://www.lynnejones.org.uk/
I first joined the APPG for Mental Health after finding common cause with my predecessor as Chair, Jeremy Bray. Jeremy retired in 1997 and sadly died in 2002. Both he and I had relatives who had suffered with mental illness. We also shared a passion for science and served together on the Science and Technology Select Committee. My personal determination to see services improve stems from my experience with my father, who suffered from schizophrenia. I wrote about this for the edition of the House Magazine celebrating the 60th anniversary of the NHS:
http://www.lynnejones.org.uk/D0515HMag06.08.htm
Science is important for helping us understand the causes of schizophrenia and providing better treatments but the greatest challenge facing us today is to end the stigma that is still attached to mental ill-health. It is good that prominent people are starting to speak out about their experiences, sending the message that it is not shameful to suffer mental ill-health. I have tried to use the APPG to speak out on these issues and I hope this website will be a resource to help me and other parliamentarians be more effective.
Lynne Jones has written the following articles:
Chair – Sandra Gidley (Liberal Democrats)
Website: http://sandragidley.org/
Since winning a sensational victory at a by-election in May 2000 Sandra Gidley has been MP for Romsey and is now Shadow Health spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats.
Sandra joined the Liberal Democrats in 1994, and was elected as a councillor to the Test Valley Borough Council in 1995. In 1997 Sandra became the youngest female Mayor of Romsey, and in 2000 she was elected to the House of Commons at a by-election following the death of the Conservative MP, Michael Colvin.
Sandra is a qualified pharmacist and became a fellow of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain in 2008. Before becoming an MP she managed a busy pharmacy store. Born in Wales, she was educated at Eggars Grammar School in Alton, Hampshire; the Afcent International School in Brunssum, Netherlands; and the Windsor School in Hamm, Germany. Sandra took her Bachelor of Pharmacy degree at the University of Bath in 1978, and worked as a pharmacist and pharmacy manager from 1990 until her election to Westminster in 2000.
Appointed to the Liberal Democrat front bench as spokesperson on women's issues after successfully holding her seat at the 2001 General Election, she also became spokesperson for older people in 2003. Sandra has been a frontbench spokesperson on health since March 2006 and a member of the influential Health Select Committee.
Chair – Charles Walker (Conservative)
Website: http://www.charleswalker.org
Charles Walker has been MP for Broxbourne since May 2005 and Chair of the APPG for Mental Health since November 2009. Since his election he has particularly championed the issue of mental health.
"I view it as my duty as a Member of Parliament to speak up for those people who too often find themselves without a voice. I entered Parliament in May 2005 and I have worked closely with mental health organisations since shortly after this date. I hope my passion for this subject is conveyed through my speeches and more importantly, my actions."
His other political interests include environmental, employment, taxation and economic matters. Prior to his election as an MP, he worked in IT and the communications and marketing sector.
Secretary – Baroness Murphy (Crossbench)
Elaine Murphy became a crossbench life peer in May 2004 and takes a special interest in mental health, people with learning disabilities, health care and higher education policy in the Lords. She is currently Chair of Council at St George's, University of London and on the Board of Monitor, the NHS Foundation Trust regulator.
For 10 years she chaired NHS Trusts and Health Authorities in east London. Before that she was Foundation Professor of Psychiatry of Old Age at the UMDS at Guy's (now part of King's College) from 1983. From 1984-1997, she was also a general manager in the NHS, including a period as a London Health Authority District General Manager. She served as Vice Chairman of the Mental Health Act Commission from 1987-1994. She was the Chief Medical Officer's personal advisor in her field and a UK advisor in mental health to the World Health Organisation (WHO) until 2003.
In her spare time she is a social historian, with a particular interest in 18th and 19th century health and social care services in East London.