Blackstone, Tessa Ann Vosper Evans (1942- )

British Labour politician and sociologist. She was appointed minister of state in charge of further and higher education after the Labour election victory of 1997. Awarded a life peerage in 1987, she served in the House of Lords as Opposition front bench spokesperson on education and science 1988-92 and on foreign affairs from 1992. Her books on education and social issues include Prisons and Penal Reform (1990).

Blackstone was born in Bures, Suffolk, and educated at the London School of Economics. She lectured in sociology at Enfield College of Technology 1965-66, and in social administration at the London School of Economics 1966-75, before becoming adviser to the Central Policy Review Staff in the Cabinet Office 1975-78. After an appointment as professor of educational administration at the University of London Institute of Education 1978-83, she became director of education at the Inner London Education Authority, and master of London University's Birkbeck College from 1987. She also became chair of the Institute of Policy Research, a left-wing think-tank established in 1988.