Sandra Gidley

Sandra Julia Gidley MRPharmS (née Rawson; born 26 March 1957) is a British pharmacist and politician who served as the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament (MP) for Romsey in Hampshire from 2000 to 2010, when she lost her seat to Conservative candidate Caroline Nokes. Born Sandra Julia Rawson in Rosset, Denbighshire in Wales, she was educated at the Eggar's Grammar School in Alton, Hampshire; the Afcent International School in Brunssum, Netherlands; and the Windsor Girls' School in Hamm, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. She finished her education at the University of Bath, where she was awarded a BPharm Diploma in 1978. She became a MRPharmS in 1979.

In 1979 she joined Badham Chemists as a pharmacist in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, until she was appointed as a pharmacy manager with GK Chemists in Gloucester in 1980. She became a locum pharmacist in 1982 before joining Safeway as a supermarket pharmacy manager in 1992, and joined Tesco in the same position in 1999 where she remained until her election to the House of Commons.

On 17 July 2019, Gidley was announced as the first female President of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. She was followed by another woman, Claire Anderson, in 2021.