By-Fellow
Biography: Julie Spence OBE QPM BEd LLB MA MBA
HM Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire.
Julie graduated as a teacher but after teaching for a year decided on a career change and joined Avon and Somerset Constabulary where she studied for three further degrees and rose through the ranks to Superintendent.
In 1999 she was appointed to Assistant Chief Constable for Thames Valley Police; in April 2004 she was appointed to Deputy Chief Constable for Cambridgeshire; and on 1 June 2005 Julie was appointed Acting Chief Constable and then Chief Constable of Cambridgeshire on 10 December 2005.
In the Queen’s 80th birthday honours list she was awarded an OBE for her management of complex and contentious organisational issues, leadership of Thames Valley’s contribution to the operations to protect Heathrow and the Queen Mother’s funeral, her work for the ACPO Terrorism and Allied Matters Committee on Royalty and VIP Protection and her strong leadership and determination in taking forward the Gender Agenda and the development of the British Association of Women in Policing (BAWP), which have both become major drivers for gender equality in British policing.
In 2008 she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Laws by Anglia Ruskin University: then in the 2010 New Years Honours list she received the Queens Police Medal (QPM).
In September 2010, after a 32 year career, she retired from policing and embarked on balancing a portfolio career with extensive travelling. Her current roles include being Chairman of the Police Mutual Assurance Society and Chairman of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS ( mental health) trust. She is a trustee for Ormiston Famillies a charity which touches and supports young people that others don’t reach and is also chair of the Cambridge branch of Wellbeing of Women a charity which raises money for research into conditions affecting women.
Julie remains committed to the county and was proud to be appointed as Lord Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire in April 2016, a role she will hold until 2030.
