A shopkeeper’s daughter, Dianne was born in Maldon in Essex and educated at Maldon Grammar School and College in Southend-on-Sea after which she worked in London in Insurance and later at the B.B.C. In her spare time she enjoyed amateur dramatics and also developed an interest in politics, setting up a local branch of Young Conservatives before taking a job with the Conservative Party in Chelmsford.
In 1967 Dianne married Brian King and they had three children, Stephen, Sarah and in 1983 a late addition to the family, Anthony. In 1976 Brian’s work brought him to Reading in Berkshire and Dianne went to work at the newly-opened local radio station. Her varied work included presenting programmes on the arts and consumer matters.
In 1987 Dianne and her family moved to Wokingham, which she was attracted to because of the similarity to Maldon, also a small market town. Wanting to contribute positively to the town, by 1990 she had become a Town Councillor, and later Mayor. Then in 1996 she won a seat on Wokingham District Council in a high profile by-election. Dianne went on to become Executive Member for Community Development at the Borough Council from 2002 to 2008, also chairing the Local Strategy Partnership, working with local organisations, including businesses, police and health authorities and Town and Parish Councils across the Borough as well as working on proposals for the Town Centre Regeneration. In 2009 she was elected Borough Deputy Mayor followed by Borough Mayor for two years from 2010 to 2012.
Wokingham Town Museum Unique Identifier: WTH0175