1. Catherine Margaret Ashton, Baroness Ashton of Upholland was born on 20 March 1956 and is a British Labour politician who served as the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and First Vice President of the European Commission in the Barroso Commission from 2009 to 2014.
Catherine Ashton became the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department for Education and Skills in 2001 and subsequently in the Ministry of Justice in 2004.
Catherine Ashton was appointed a Privy Counsellor in May 2006 and Lady Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter in April 2023.
Catherine Ashton was instrumental in steering the EU's Treaty of Lisbon through the UK Parliament's upper chamber.
In January 2017, Catherine Ashton became Chancellor of the University of Warwick, succeeding Sir Richard Lambert and becoming Warwick's first female chancellor.
Catherine Ashton was born at Upholland, Lancashire, on 20 March 1956.
Catherine Ashton comes from a working-class family, with a background in coal mining.
Catherine Ashton graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology in 1977 from Bedford College, London.
Catherine Ashton was the first person in her family to attend university.
Between 1977 and 1983, Catherine Ashton worked for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament as an administrator and in 1982 was elected as its national treasurer and subsequently as one of its vice-chairs.
Catherine Ashton chaired the Health Authority in Hertfordshire from 1998 to 2001 and she became a vice-president of the National Council for One-Parent Families.
Catherine Ashton was created a Labour Life Peer as Baroness Ashton of Upholland in 1999, under Prime Minister Tony Blair.
Catherine Ashton was sworn of the Privy Council in 2006, and she became Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the new Ministry of Justice in May 2007.
On 3 October 2008, Catherine Ashton was nominated by the UK to replace Peter Mandelson as the European Commissioner for Trade.
On 19 November 2009, Catherine Ashton was appointed the EU's first High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security policy.
Catherine Ashton's appointment was agreed at a summit by 27 European Union leaders in Brussels.
Catherine Ashton took office on 1 December 2009 for a five-year-term.
Catherine Ashton was appointed Dame Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George in the 2015 New Year Honours List for services to the European Common Foreign and Security Policy.
Catherine Ashton expressed concern at the new law "potentially penalizing contacts with foreign nationals with up to 20 years in prison" and reducing "the burden of proof for charges of treason and espionage".
Catherine Ashton condemned the "disproportionate" use of force by Egyptian security forces on August 14,2013, when the security forces killed over 1000 people during the violent dispersal of mass anti-government sit-ins at Cairo's Rabaa al-Adawiya and al-Nahda squares.
Catherine Ashton was questioned by Members of the European Parliament in 2009 about her role as national treasurer in the British Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in the 1980s, amid claims by its opponents that it may have had financial links to the Soviet Union.
Catherine Ashton responded that she had not taken any "direct money from communist countries".
In February 2010, Catherine Ashton was criticised within the EU community for not visiting Haiti in the wake of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
In February 2011, Catherine Ashton received the lowest grade in a survey rating the performance of European Commissioners.
In March 2012, Catherine Ashton was criticised by Israeli politicians for comparing the shooting of Jewish children in Toulouse with the situation in Gaza.
Catherine Ashton's spokesman stated that her remark had been "grossly distorted" and that she had referenced Israeli victims in Sderot, but this fact had been omitted from the original transcript.
Catherine Ashton's staff pointed to her personal involvement in nuclear negotiations with Iran as among the international responsibilities that had kept her away from Commission meetings.
Catherine Ashton told the press that her work was sometimes hampered by the limited resources provided to her.
Catherine Ashton is not, for example, provided with her own aeroplane: something taken for granted by US Secretaries of State.
One of the critics of Catherine Ashton's appointment came to concede her effectiveness in office.
Catherine Ashton just kept her head down and quietly got on with her job.
Catherine Ashton had some successes, brokering a first accord between Serbia and Kosovo and leading negotiations for an interim nuclear deal between Iran and world powers, critics say she has too often been missing in action closer to home.
Catherine Ashton was a surprise nominee to everyone including herself, and few would have expected then that her successor as Britain's commissioner would struggle to match Baroness Ashton in calibre and clout.
Catherine Ashton is a member of the Global Leadership Foundation, an organisation that works to support democratic leadership, prevent and resolve conflict through mediation and promote good governance in the form of democratic institutions, open markets, human rights and the rule of law.
Catherine Ashton has been the Chancellor of the University of Warwick since 2016.
In February 2013, Catherine Ashton was assessed as one of the 100 most powerful women in the United Kingdom by Woman's Hour on BBC Radio 4.
Catherine Ashton was awarded an honorary degree from the University of East London in 2005.
Catherine Ashton was appointed chancellor of the order in 2022, and represented the order at the coronation of Charles III and Camilla in 2023.
In December 2023, Catherine Ashton was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Lancaster University.