Robert Balchin, Baron Lingfield

Robert George Alexander Balchin, Baron Lingfield, is a British educationalist, noted as an advocate and pioneer for school autonomy. He also served as Director-General of St. John Ambulance from 1984 to 1990.

Career

Lord Lingfield was chairman of the Grant-Maintained Schools Centre from 1989 until 1999. He has been Chairman of the Centre for Education Management since 1995.
He has written numerous articles on education and politics. His schools initiative was proclaimed by The Daily Telegraph's deputy editor, Benedict Brogan, as: " first and, as time passes, perhaps the most important legislative milestone achieved by the Coalition".

Knighted in 1993, becoming styled as Sir Robert Balchin, he was raised to the peerage as a Life Peer on 17 December 2010 as Baron Lingfield, of Lingfield in the County of Surrey. He sits on the Conservative benches in the House of Lords, and he speaks in parliament mainly on education matters.

Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London.
Chairman of the League of Mercy Foundation
Chairman of the Trustees of ARNI
Patron of the charity MaleVoicED, a charity supporting all males with Eating Disorders and other co-morbid conditions. He is also Chairman of The Cadet Vocational Qualifications Organisation, a national charity that supports members of uniformed youth organisations to gain vocational qualifications for the activities they undertake within their youth organisation.