Virginia Bottomley is the Chair of the Board Practice at Odgers. She was a member of the House of Commons from 1984 to 2005. She entered the cabinet in 1992, serving successfully as Secretary of State for Health and Natural Heritage. She was appointed a Life Peer in 2005. She is Chancellor of the University of Hull and a Governor of the London School of Economics. She is a member of the UK Advisory Council of the International Chamber of Commerce and of Cambridge University Judge Institute of Management Studies. She is a member of the Supervisory Board of Azko Nobel NV and an independent trustee of the Economist Newspaper.