Pauline Latham

Pauline Elizabeth Latham, OBE (born 4 February 1948) is a British Conservative Party politician, who was elected at the 2010 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Mid Derbyshire.

Pauline Latham

OBE MP
Latham in 2020
Member of Parliament
for Mid Derbyshire
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded byConstituency created
Majority15,385 (31.2%)
Personal details
Born (1948-02-04) 4 February 1948
Lincolnshire, England
NationalityBritish
Political partyConservatives
Spouse(s)Derek Latham
WebsiteOfficial Website

Life and career

Latham was born on 4 February 1948 in Lincolnshire.[1] She grew up in Nottinghamshire, and her early education was at Bramcote Hills Technical Grammar School.[1][2] Latham moved to Derbyshire in 1970.[2]

She was a Conservative member of Derbyshire County Council from 1987 to 1993, and was a Derby City Councillor from 1992 to 1996 and from 1998 to 2010. She held the position of Mayor of Derby during 2007/08.[3] She was also a governor of Ecclesbourne School for 12 years.[4] She was a candidate for Broxtowe at the 2001 general election, and stood as a European candidate in 1999 and 2004 for the East Midlands.[5]

Latham's name was added to the A-List of high priority Conservative candidates created by David Cameron,[6] and she was selected as the candidate for Mid Derbyshire, a new constituency created as a result of changes proposed by the Boundary Commission for England.[7] She was elected to Parliament at the 2010 general election, with 48.3% of the votes and a majority of 11,292.[8]

Latham voted for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union in the 2016 referendum. She is a member of the European Research Group.[9] Latham voted for then Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit withdrawal agreement on 29 March 2019.[10] She supported Esther McVey in the 2019 Conservative Party leadership election.[11] Latham supported Prime Minister Boris Johnson's prorogation of parliament in 2019 and has strongly argued against allowing refugee children to be allowed to enter Britain to reunite with their parents saying 'the EU is not Nazi Germany, they can stay there'.[12][13]

In Parliament, she has served on the select committee for International Development.[14]

Controversy on social media

During the Coronavirus crisis, when asked by a constituent on twitter "Is £94 SSP [statutory sick pay] enough to live on? Could you manage it?", Latham replied "Get a Life" twice on separate tweets. Latham's initial response to criticism explained that her initial response was posted erroneous due to not being "techie," but later cited stressors relating to her visiting a relative abroad as a trigger.[15]

Honours and Awards

References
  1. "Pauline Latham MP". BBC News. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016.
  2. "Joint Delegation of Whips from the Parliaments of Ghana & Kenya" (PDF). parliament.uk. p. 15.
  3. "Profile: Pauline Latham". ukpolitics.telegraph.co.uk. Telegraph Website.
  4. "MP Pauline Latham backs University of Derby Youth Work Programme". University of Derby. 21 November 2018. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  5. "Profile: Pauline Latham". paulinelatham.co.uk. Archived from the original on 25 April 2010. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  6. "Where are the original A-Listers now? The 18 who have been selected for Conservative seats". conservativehome.blogs.com. Conservative Home.
  7. "Election 2010: Mid Derbyshire". Belper News. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  8. "Election 2010 | Derbyshire Mid". BBC News. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  9. Sutherland, Rachel (2 April 2019). "Derbyshire MP calls for Theresa May's resignation over Brexit shambles". Derby Telegraph. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  10. "Division 395, United Kingdom from the European Union". Hansard. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  11. Latham, Pauline. "Pauline Latham: Why I am voting for McVey". Conservative Home.
  12. O'Carroll, Lisa (23 February 2017). "Stop being sentimental about child refugees, says Tory MP". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  13. "Reaction to Parliament suspension move". BBC News. Retrieved 28 August 2019.
  14. "Pauline Latham". Parliament UK. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  15. Lo, Joe (17 March 2020). "Tory MP Pauline Latham tells constituents to "get a life"". Left Foot Forward. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  16. "Jack Laurenson: Ukraine's Friend and Foe of the Week | KyivPost - Ukraine's Global Voice". KyivPost. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
New constituency Member of Parliament for Mid Derbyshire
2010–present		 Incumbent
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