Baroness Young, the only woman Cabinet minister to serve under Margaret Thatcher, will be remembered by friends and fellow Peers at a memorial service at Westminster next month.

Baroness Young

Janet Young, a former Oxford city councillor for 15 years, who died in August, aged 75, after a long illness, held a string of Government posts during the Thatcher years.

Her posts included Leader of the House of Lords, Lord Privy Seal and Foreign Office Minister.

She was a member of the Cabinet during the Falklands War 20 years ago.

Known as the Iron Lady of the Lords for her unflinching campaign in support of family values, Baroness Young, who lived in Northmoor Road, north Oxford, achieved a national reputation for her strong views against lowering the age of homosexual consent to 16.

She also opposed increasing the availability of contraception and 'morning after' pills to teenage girls, opposed gay adoption, and rejected an easing of the abortion laws. She was the daughter of an Oxford don and a graduate of St Anne's College. She later became Lady Young of North Oxford.

Her memorial service will be held on December 3 in St Margaret's Church, next to Westminster Abbey.