Welsh Liberal Democrat politician Jenny Randerson has died aged 76.
Baroness Randerson was elected in 1999 and represented Cardiff Central, defeating Labor candidate Mark Drakeford for the seat.
He represented the party in the then Welsh Assembly. Now the Senedd – Served in the Welsh Labour-Lib Dem administration from 1999 to 2011 and the Welsh Assembly Government from 2000-2003.
Welsh Lib Dem leader Janes Dodds said her work as a minister “left an indelible mark on our politics and society”.
Ms Dodds added that she would be “deeply missed by her family, friends, colleagues and the many whose lives she touched through her public service”.
“From free entry to the National Museums of Wales to the decision to build the Wales Millennium Centre, Jenny dedicated her life to serving the people of Cardiff and Wales.”
Baroness Randerson began her career in education as a secondary school teacher and later as a lecturer at Colleg Glan Hafren in Cardiff.
He also served as a Cardiff councilor from 1983 to 2000, helping to build 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 served as Deputy First Minister from July 2001 to June 2002.
The party said it was “playing a leading role in introducing a cultural strategy aimed at promoting the Welsh language”.
After retiring from the Assembly in 2011, he was appointed a life peer.
In the House of Lords, he continued his commitment to public service, notably serving as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales.
She was the first female Welsh Liberal Democrat to hold a ministerial post at Westminster and the first Welsh Liberal to hold a ministerial post in the UK since Gwilym Lloyd-George in 1945.
Outside of politics, Baroness Randerson served as Chancellor of Cardiff University and was a patron of various charities including the Wales Council for Deaf People, the Cardiff and Wales Youth Wind Band and the African Mothers Foundation.