{{Short description|British lawyer (born 1969)}} {{BLP sources|date=April 2018}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = The Right Honourable | name = The Baroness Cash | honorific_suffix = | image = Official portrait of Baroness Cash crop 2, 2025.jpg | caption = Official portrait, 2025 | birth_name = Joanne Catherine Cash | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1969|12|28|df=y}} | birth_place = Northern Ireland | death_date = | death_place = | occupation = Barrister | education = Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford | spouse = | children = | credits = | office1 = Member of the House of Lords | status1 = Lord Temporal | term_label1 = Life peerage | term_start1 = 28 January 2025 | term_end1 = | party = Conservative }}
'''Joanne Catherine Cash, Baroness Cash of Banbridge''' (born 28 December 1969) is a media barrister and life peer. She was the unsuccessful Conservative Party candidate for Westminster North in the 2010 general election.
==Early life and education== Cash was born in Northern Ireland. Her mother was a newsagent, while her father held various jobs, sometimes up to three at once. She has a brother who is an NHS doctor, and a sister who is a teacher.<ref name="Tory Joanne Cash says she">{{Cite news|title=Tory Joanne Cash says she is no closer to Cameron than any other candidate |first=Owen |last=Bowcott |work=The Guardian|date=18 February 2010 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/feb/18/joanne-cash-david-cameron-westminster-north }}</ref> Cash was educated at Tandragee Primary and Banbridge Academy<ref>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8670046.stm How the candidates from NI fared across the water] BBC News, 9 May 2010</ref> (both state schools).<ref name="Tory Joanne Cash says she" /> She read English Literature at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University.<ref name="Tory Joanne Cash says she" /><ref name="Young, gifted and Tory">{{Cite news|title=Young, gifted and Tory |first=Isabel |last=Oakeshott |author2=Oliver, Jonathan |work=The Times|location=London |date=26 July 2009 |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6727624.ece |archive-url=https://archive.today/20110604194932/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6727624.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 June 2011 }}</ref>
==Legal career== Cash qualified as a barrister after graduating. She was called to the Bar in 1994 as a member of Gray's Inn, and became a tenant at Farrars' Building.{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}} In 2000, she joined One Brick Court to specialise in libel, privacy and freedom of expression work.
In 2005, Cash successfully represented an innocent man dubbed "the lotto rapist" in error by the ''Sunday Mirror'' winning her client considerable damages.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Sunday Mirror pays out over rapist gaffe |first=Julia |last=Day |work=The Guardian|date=2 June 2005 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2005/jun/02/sundaymirror.pressandpublishing }}</ref> Cash has spoken out strongly for strengthening freedom of the press,<ref name=NFF/> arguing that the Reynolds defence should be strengthened and that the Sullivan defence (derived from the 1964 US case ''New York Times Co. v. Sullivan'', allowing the press to write about public figures) should be introduced to the UK.<ref>{{Cite news|title=What next for press freedom? |first=Aidan |last=Geary |work=The Guardian|date=28 February 2009 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/libertycentral/2009/feb/28/press-freedom-civil-liberties }}</ref> Cash hosted a debate for Policy Exchange on libel reform, believing that libel tourism ought to be curbed.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Libel Tourism in the UK |first=Martin |last=Bright |work=New Statesman |date=16 July 2008 |url=http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/martin-bright/2008/07/policy-exchange-libel-laws }}</ref>
Cash has represented a number of clients,<ref name="Legal 500">{{cite web |url=http://www.legal500.com/firms/9242/offices/9242/lawyers/52813 |title=Joanne Cash |publisher=Legal 500 |accessdate=17 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090719092303/http://www.legal500.com/firms/9242/offices/9242/lawyers/52813 |archive-date=19 July 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> including Elle Macpherson and Trudie Styler.<ref name="Legal 500" /><ref name=Rocked>{{Cite news|title=Cameron-backed Ulster barrister rocking Tories |first=Victor |last=Gordon |work=News Letter |date=15 February 2010 |url=http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/Cameronbacked-Ulster-barrister-rocking-Tories.6071038.jp|publisher=Johnston Publishing }}</ref>
She was called a "freedom fighter" in an ''Observer'' article in 2009.<ref name=NFF>{{Cite news|title=Meet the new freedom fighters |first=Robert |last=McCrum |work=The Observer|date=22 February 2009 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/feb/22/civil-liberties-human-rights-charter88 }}</ref> For her legal work, the British edition of ''Vogue'' includes Cash as one of the 50 women of the age, alongside the likes of Michelle Obama and the Queen.<ref name=Rocked/>
==Conservative candidacy== As a member of the Society of Conservative Lawyers, Cash assisted the Shadow Cabinet on legal issues.<ref name="Young, gifted and Tory" /> She also worked with Policy Exchange the centre-right think tank to formulate policy proposals and to provide input on media issues, and enlisted governmental support from then-Shadow Justice Secretary Dominic Grieve for libel reform.<ref name="Rising stars">{{Cite news|title=Rising stars: new face of the Conservatives |work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London|date=10 September 2009 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/conservative/6166756/Rising-stars-new-face-of-the-Conservatives.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090914044752/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/conservative/6166756/Rising-stars-new-face-of-the-Conservatives.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 September 2009 }}</ref> She is a key Tory activist for libel reform and free speech.<ref>{{Cite news|title=My big idea to fix politics |first=Boles |last=Nick |author2=Montgomerie, Tim |author3=Cash, Joanne |work=The Guardian |date=4 October 2009 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/oct/04/conservative-conference-guardian-debate }}</ref> She was described as a Cameron Cutie.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-04-10 |title=Joanne Cash concedes defeat with rant at the press |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/joanne-cash-concedes-defeat-with-rant-at-the-press-6466737.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230601163543/https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/joanne-cash-concedes-defeat-with-rant-at-the-press-6466737.html |archive-date=2023-06-01 |access-date=2023-06-27 |website=Evening Standard |language=en}}</ref>
In February 2006, she applied to become a Conservative candidate<ref name="Tory Joanne Cash says she" /> and was placed on the ''A-list''. She was selected to fight her local seat, Westminster North, the first and only seat she had applied for, in November 2006,{{Citation needed|date=February 2010}} four months before she met her husband Octavius.{{citation needed|date=April 2018}}
In September 2008, ''Tatler'' featured Cash as one of ten top up-and-coming Tories, tipping her as a future Housing Minister. Cash spoke to the magazine about welfare reform, arguing that teenagers without family support needed more social security for staying in education, not for "getting pregnant", although at the time students in that position were entitled to education maintenance allowance of £30 per week.<ref>{{Cite news|title=The rich get all the good press. Now let's hear it for the poor |first=Catherine |last=Bennett |work=The Observer |date=14 September 2008|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/sep/14/pressandpublishing.socialexclusion }}</ref> Cash was described by ''The Times'' in February 2009 as "one to watch".<ref name="Young, gifted and Tory" /> In September 2009, she was profiled in a list of "rising stars" of the Conservative Party for ''The Daily Telegraph'', who described her as a "Eurosceptic with a sharp mind".<ref name="Rising stars" /> An article in ''The Sunday Telegraph'' in October 2009 reported "Some high-profile women are already installed in winnable seats: Louise Bagshawe, Annunziata Rees-Mogg, Priti Patel, Laura Sandys and Joanne Cash will all make colourful additions to the Tory benches."<ref>Melissa Kite [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/6425381/The-softly-softly-fight-for-the-womens-vote-at-the-general-election.html "The softly, softly fight for the women's vote at the general election"] The Telegraph, 25 October 2009</ref> In the event, Bagshawe, Patel and Sandys were elected, while Rees-Mogg and Cash were not.
In February 2010, Cash disagreed with members of her constituency association over strategies to win the seat, with the result that David Cameron, the leader of the party and opposition leader but not yet prime minister, intervened to sack Amanda Sayers, chair of the Westminster North Conservative Association. Cash then commented on her Twitter page that her opponents were "dinosaurs". Shortly afterwards Cash tendered her resignation as candidate, but the Conservatives did not accept it, and she continued to campaign for Westminster North until the election in May.<ref name=Rocked/>
Cash failed to gain the new seat from the incumbent Labour member for Regent's Park and Kensington North, Karen Buck. When she failed to secure the seat, she accused the media of lying about her and her husband.<ref>{{cite news|title=Joanne Cash concedes defeat with rant at the press|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/joanne-cash-concedes-defeat-with-rant-at-the-press-6466737.html|accessdate=29 April 2018|work=Evening Standard|location=London|date=7 May 2010|publisher=ESI Media}}</ref>
==Personal life== In December 2007, Cash married Octavius Black, the founder and managing director of The Mind Gym.{{efn|Not to be confused with Brain Gym.}} Friends who attended their exchange of vows included Conservative ministers Ed Vaizey and Michael Gove; ''Daily Mail'' owner Jonathan Harmsworth, 4th Viscount Rothermere, and his wife; then-Marks & Spencer chairman Stuart Rose; and TV presenter Kirstie Allsopp.<ref name=CamFinds>{{cite news|last1=Eden|first1=Richard|title=David Cameron finds new 'guru'|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mandrake/4550142/David-Cameron-finds-new-guru.html|accessdate=29 April 2018|date=7 February 2009|work=The Telegraph}}</ref> Black was educated at Eton College at the same time as David Cameron;<ref>{{cite news|last1=Sherwood|first1=Bob|title=Affluent enclave sitting on political front line|url=https://www.ft.com/content/98f279f2-4294-11df-91d6-00144feabdc0|accessdate=29 April 2018|work=Financial Times|location=London|date=7 April 2010}}</ref> the two men have stayed close, and they and their wives socialise together.<ref name=CamFinds/> The couple are reported to live in Notting Hill.<ref>{{cite news|title=Joanne Cash concedes defeat with rant at the press|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/joanne-cash-concedes-defeat-with-rant-at-the-press-6466737.html|accessdate=29 April 2018|work=Evening Standard|location=London|date=7 May 2010}}</ref> They have a daughter.{{citation needed|date=April 2018}}
In December 2024, Cash was nominated to be a Conservative life peer as part of the 2024 Political Peerages. She was created as ''Baroness Cash, of Banbridge in the County of Down'' on 28 January 2025.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=64646|page=1802|date=3 February 2025}}</ref>
==Notes== {{Notelist}} {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category}} *[http://www.joannecash.co.uk/ Website]
{{UK Peer links | parliament = 5387 | hansardcurr = 5387 | publicwhip = | theywork = 26665 }}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cash, Joanne Cash, Baroness}} Category:Members of Gray's Inn Category:Barristers from Northern Ireland Category:1969 births Category:Living people Category:Lawyers from County Armagh Category:People educated at Banbridge Academy Category:Alumni of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford Category:Women lawyers from Northern Ireland Category:Conservative Party (UK) life peers Category:Life peers created by Charles III Category:Life peeresses created by Charles III Category:20th-century lawyers from Northern Ireland Category:21st-century lawyers from Northern Ireland Category:Conservative Party (UK) parliamentary candidates Category:20th-century women lawyers from Northern Ireland Category:21st-century women lawyers from Northern Ireland