Margot James

Margot James
MP
Minister of State for Digital and Culture
Assumed office
9 January 2018
Prime Minister Theresa May
Sec. of State

Matthew Hancock

Jeremy Wright
Preceded by Matthew Hancock
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Small Business, Consumers and Corporate Responsibility
In office
17 July 2016 – 9 January 2018
Prime Minister Theresa May
Sec. of State Greg Clark
Preceded by Anna Soubry (as Minister of State for Small Business)
Succeeded by Andrew Griffiths
Member of Parliament
for Stourbridge
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded by Lynda Waltho
Majority 7,654
Personal details
Born (1957-08-28) 28 August 1957
Coventry, England, UK
Political party Conservative
Domestic partner Jay Hunt
Alma mater London School of Economics
Website Official website

Margot Cathleen James (born 28 August 1957)[1] is a Conservative British politician who was elected the Member of Parliament (MP) for Stourbridge at the 2010 General Election.

She has been the Minister of State for Digital and the Creative Industries since 9 January 2018.

Early life

The younger daughter of a self-made businessman, James was born in Coventry.[2] Educated privately in Leamington Spa, she was in the sixth form at Millfield School.[3] James is a graduate of the London School of Economics (LSE) with a degree in Economics and Government.

Professional career

James worked in sales and marketing for her father's business, Maurice James Industries (MJI), a haulage, waste management, and property group based around Birmingham. After working for a consulting firm, in 1986 she co-founded Shire Health Group, a public relations and clinical trials organisation. Shire Health was voted "Consultancy of the Year" three times, while James was voted Communicator of the Year in 1997. The company was sold to WPP Group in 2004, with James appointed Head of European Healthcare for WPP subsidiary Ogilvy & Mather.[4]

Political career

James joined the Conservative Party aged 17, and chaired the LSE Conservative Association.[2] During her studies, she acted as a researcher for MP Sir Anthony Durant, and after graduation spent a gap year working in the press office of Conservative Central Office.[2] James resigned from the Conservative Party after Margaret Thatcher was ousted as Prime Minister. She rejoined the Conservative Party in 2004.[3]

At the May 2005 general election, she was the Conservative candidate for the Holborn and St. Pancras constituency.[3] She came third behind the sitting MP, Labour's Frank Dobson, and the Liberal Democrat candidate Jill Fraser.

In May 2006, James was elected a local councillor for the Brompton ward of Kensington & Chelsea,[5] becoming one of the Conservative Party's few "out" lesbian office holders.[6] She resigned from the council in 2008.

James was placed on the "A-List" of Conservative Party parliamentary candidates ahead of the 2010 general election,[7] and was selected as the candidate for the marginal Labour-held constituency of Stourbridge, from where she was elected. This made her the first openly lesbian MP in the Conservative Party,[8] second "out" lesbian in the House of Commons, after Angela Eagle, and the first to have come out before her election.[6] In her maiden speech she paid tribute to Stourbridge's history of glass making.[9]

James was one of 72 MPs who have income from renting out property that voted against a proposed rule that would have reduced the supply of such homes and raised their rents by requiring private landlords to make them “fit for human habitation”.[10] The further criticism of the bill was that some relevant laws already existed.[11]

James was opposed to leaving the European Union prior to the 2016 referendum.[12]

She was the Parliamentary Private Secretary to Stephen Green, Baron Green of Hurstpierpoint during his period as Minister for Trade and Investment.

Other activities

James served on the board of Parkside NHS Trust, and worked as a Mental Health Manager. She spent ten years as a trustee of Abantu, an African women's charity, during which time she trained women from more than 40 different African countries in communications and lobbying skills. She has also worked as a mentor for The Prince's Trust and Young Enterprise.[2] She sits on the Court of Governors at LSE.

She is a Vice-President of the Debating Group.[13]

Personal life

James lives in South Kensington, London with her partner, Jay Hunt, previously a producer and presenter with the BBC and now managing director of a video production company, Violet Productions. She ranked in the top 50 on The Independent's "Pink List" of the 101 most influential British gay men and women in 2009.[14]

References

  1. ↑ "Violet Productions Limited". Dellam Corporate Information. 16 July 2012. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Margot James – About". Margot James. Retrieved 15 July 2009.
  3. 1 2 3 Saner, Emine (4 March 2004). "I can't be 'outed'". London Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 5 May 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2009.
  4. ↑ Farey, Daniel (3 September 2004). "WPP merges divisions to form Ogilvy Healthworld". PR Week. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  5. ↑ "Brompton ward: local election results". Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. 4 May 2006. Retrieved 21 November 2012.
  6. 1 2 Hoggard, Liz (22 January 2006). "Cameron's girl". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
  7. ↑ "Who is on the A-list?". ConservativeHome. May 2006. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
  8. ↑ Staff writer (7 May 2010). "Margot James becomes the second out lesbian in parliament". Pink News. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
  9. ↑ Margot James, MP for Stourbridge (7 June 2010). "Constitution and Home Affairs". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Commons. col. 60–62.
  10. ↑ Stone, Jon (13 January 2016). "Tories vote down law requiring landlords make their homes fit for human habitation". The Independent. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
  11. ↑ "Did MPs vote against forcing homes to be made fit to live in?". Full Fact. Retrieved 2018-09-14.
  12. ↑ Goodenough, Tom (16 February 2016). "Which Tory MPs back Brexit, who doesn't and who is still on the fence?". The Spectator. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  13. ↑ "Debating Group". Debating Group. Retrieved 5 December 2013.
  14. ↑ Tuck, Andrew (2 July 2009). "Gay Power: The Pink List 2009". The Independent. Retrieved 2 July 2009.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Lynda Waltho		 Member of Parliament
for Stourbridge
2010–present		 Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by
Anna Soubry
as Minister of State for Small Business		 Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
for Small Business, Consumers and Corporate Responsibility
2016–present		 Incumbent
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.