At the
1970 general election, she defeated Labour candidate
Jack Diamond to represent the constituency of
Gloucester for the Conservative Party; Diamond was the only cabinet minister to lose his seat at that election. She continued as
Member of Parliament for Gloucester until 1987 and was
Minister of State for Consumer Affairs in the
Department of Trade between 1979 and 1982. She chaired the
National Consumer Council from 1987–89 and was later a vice-president of the
National Union of Townswomen’s Guilds and chair of the
National Waterways Museum. Oppenheim-Barnes was created a
life peer, as
Baroness Oppenheim-Barnes of
Gloucester in the County of
Gloucestershire, on 9 February 1989. Her son
Phillip Oppenheim is a former Conservative MP for
Amber Valley. Between 1983 and 1987 mother and son served simultaneously in the
House of Commons. On 25 February 2019, she retired from the House of Lords under the
House of Lords Reform Act 2014. == Personal life and death ==