Parliamentarian, Paralympian and campaigner.
Better known through her parliamentary work as Baroness Masham of Ilton, the Dowager Countess of Swinton was a distinguished Para-lympian who in the course of three Paralympic Games – in Rome (1960), Tokyo (1964) and Tel Aviv (1968) – won gold, silver and bronze medals in both swimming and table tennis. Created a crossbencher in 1970, at the time of her death at the age of 87 she was the longest serving peeress in the House of Lords.
Lady Masham was a former vice-president of the Catholic Union and a trustee of the Margaret Beaufort Institute. She regularly attended the weekly Mass in Parliament, and was unashamedly bold about her faith. In the wake of the murder of Sir David Amess MP she spoke impassionedly about the importance of priests being allowed access to serious crime scenes to administer the last rites when necessary.
