Diana Barran

Diana Francesca Caroline Clare Barran, Baroness Barran (born 10 February 1959) is a British charity campaigner, former hedge fund manager and life peer. A member of the Conservative Party, she served in the government as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Civil Society from 2019 to 2021 and as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the School System from 2021 to 2024.

Barran is the founder of the domestic abuse awareness charity SafeLives and served as its chief executive from 2004 to 2017.

Early life and education Diana Barran attended Benenden School in Kent. She then studied at King's College, Cambridge, graduating with a bachelor's degree in history.

Barran worked as an investment banker in London and Paris for Morgan Grenfell and Enskilda Asset Management and founded the hedge fund Barran and Partners in 1993. Barran left Beaumont Capital in 2001 shortly before its sale to Schroders. Barran owned 10% of Beaumont Capital at the time of her departure.

On 26 July 2019, Barran was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Civil Society at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in the first Johnson ministry. The role included responsibility for the department's business in the Lords and First World War commemorations.

Barran assumed the "loneliness portfolio" in 2019, taking on the role of "Minister of Loneliness" that former Prime Minister Theresa May established in 2018, which had previously been held by Tracey Crouch and Mims Davies. The position aimed to address the crisis of loneliness in British society that a 2017 commission initiated by Jo Cox had investigated. According to the British Red Cross, more than 9 million people in the UK feel lonely.

On 17 September 2021, Barran was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the School System at the Department for Education, in the second cabinet reshuffle of the second Johnson ministry. She was reappointed to this position by Liz Truss. She was reappointed by Rishi Sunak but the portfolio changed to Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the School System and Student Finance. She served in the shadow frontbench under Sunak and Kemi Badenoch from September 2024 to April 2026.

Personal life Barran is married with four children. For 2019, he was a Joint Patron of the Holburne Museum in Bath.

Honours and awards

In the 2011 Birthday Honours, Barran was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). On 21 June, she was created Baroness Barran, of Bathwick in the City of Bath.

In 2022, she received an Honorary Doctorate of the University (DUniv) from the University of Bath.

Barran was on the list of the BBC's 100 Women announced on 23 November 2020.