Sector: The General Committee

Val Stansfield

I now chair the Club’s Events and Activities Committee, and the Women’s Network. The popular Tuesday and Thursday Tables are something I co-host: these provide an opportunity for members, new and old, to meet together, get to know new people and enjoy the comforts of the Bar and Dining Room just as much or as little as they please.

My work is as an employment rights adviser for a trade union and, in such spare time as I have, I enjoy reading (mainly novels) and knitting. (Val joined the Club in 2008 and was elected to what is now the Members’ Council in 2019.)

Janice Turner

A journalist and campaigner, I am a lifelong member of the party, having been chair of the Young Liberals and the Association of Liberal Democrat Trades Unionists. I am currently vice-chair of the Lib Dem Campaign for Race Equality.

I joined the Club in 1986, serving on the membership committee and wines committee in the ’90s. I have been the Editor of a trade union journal for many years and also the union’s diversity officer. A longstanding pension scheme trustee, I co-founded the Association of Member-Nominated Trustees to campaign in support of Member-Nominated Trustees of pension schemes and for improvements to the pension system.

 

I am also currently the pianist for the Liberal Democrat party conference Glee Club, accompanying the enthusiastic singing of conference delegates.

Tim Herrington

I have practised in the law for 48 years, latterly as a senior judge of the Upper Tribunal (Tax and Chancery ) Chamber. I retired from my salaried position last year but am still sitting in retirement both in the UK and in the Financial Markets Tribunal in Dubai.

I am active in Club affairs, including acting until recently as Deputy Initial Complaints Coordinator. I was elected Vice-Chair of the NLC in May this year.

My interests include cricket, fine food and wine, history and the theatre, all of which can be enjoyed through my membership of the Club. I joined nearly 20 years ago and am a life member jointly with my wife.

(Tim has been a member of the NLC since 2005 and was first elected to the Members’ Council in 2024, becoming Club Vice-Chair a few weeks later.)

Sheila McGuirk

After a degree from the LSE and a Masters in Middle Eastern Studies from Harvard, I lived in Iran and Egypt working on an English language newspaper and teaching English. The years from 1974 to 1983 were spent in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia where I went with my husband, Russell, who is also a Club member. Back in London I worked at Citibank till early retirement more than 20 years ago.

Many months of the year were then spent at an old farmhouse shared with family members in the Drome region of southern France, now sold… which leaves more time for London pursuits including concert and theatre outings. I also became involved in campaigning locally for the Liberal Democrats, serving until recently on the Kensington and Chelsea local party’s Executive Committee.

We have two sons and three beautiful grand-daughters, and Russell and I still walk regularly on pilgrim paths across Europe, well-known as Caminos. (Sheila joined the Club in 2017 and was elected to the Members’ Council in 2023.)