Ashton, Catherine Margaret, Baroness Ashton of Upholland
Catherine Margaret Ashton, Baroness Ashton of Upholland, 1956– British government official. She was an administrator for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (1977–83), director of Business in the Community (1983–89), and head of the Hertfordshire Health Authority (1998–2001). Created a Labour life peer in 1999, she held to various positions in the department for education and skills (2001), the department for constitutional affairs (2004), and the ministry of justice (2007). Under Prime Minister Gordon Brown Ashton was Leader of the House of Lords and Lord President of the Council (2007–8). She then served as the European Union's trade commissioner (2008–9) and the EU's high representative for foreign affairs and security policy (2009–14) and first vice president of the European Commission (2010–14). She negotiated the normalization of relations between Serbia and Kosovo (2013) and was the EU's representative in talks with Iran over its nuclear program.