Margot James
Encyclopedia
Margot James MP is a British
politician
and entrepreneur
. She is currently a Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party
with responsibility for women, and the Member of Parliament
(MP) for the consituency of Stourbridge
. She is the first openly
lesbian
MP in the Conservative Party. She previously served as a local councillor in Kensington & Chelsea
from 2006-08.
. Educated privately in Leamington Spa
, she attended sixth form at Millfield School, before going on to the London School of Economics
(LSE), where she earned a degree in Economics & Government.
. 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 business partner Ogilvy & Mather
for £4 million in 2004, with James appointed Head of European Healthcare for parent WPP Group
.
working in the press office of Conservative Central Office. James resigned from the Conservative Party after Margaret Thatcher
was ousted as Prime Minister
. She rejoined the Conservative Party in 2004, and is patron
of the UCL Conservative Society.
At the May 2005 general election
, she was the Conservative candidate
for the Holborn and St. Pancras constituency
. 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, becoming one of the Conservative Party's few 'out' lesbian office holders. She resigned from the council in 2008.
She was placed on the 'A-List
' of Conservative Party parliamentary candidates ahead of the 2010 general election, and was selected as the candidate for the marginal
Labour-held constituency of Stourbridge
, from where she was elected. This made her the second lesbian woman in the House of Commons, after Angela Eagle
, and the first to have come out before her election.
and Young Enterprise
. She sits on the Court of Governors at LSE.
and Oldswinford
with her partner, Jay Hunt
, presenter of the BBC
television programme Would Like To Meet
. She ranked in the top 50 on The Independent
's Pink List of the 101 most influential gay men and women in 2009.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
and entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
. She is currently a Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
with responsibility for women, and the Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for the consituency of Stourbridge
Stourbridge (UK Parliament constituency)
Stourbridge is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :...
. She is the first openly
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
lesbian
Lesbian
Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
MP in the Conservative Party. She previously served as a local councillor in Kensington & Chelsea
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is a central London borough of Royal borough status. After the City of Westminster, it is the wealthiest borough in England....
from 2006-08.
Early life
The younger daughter of a self-made businessman, James was born in CoventryCoventry
Coventry is a city and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom. It is also the second largest city in the English Midlands, after Birmingham, with a population of 300,848, although...
. Educated privately in Leamington Spa
Leamington Spa
Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or Leamington or Leam to locals, is a spa town in central Warwickshire, England. Formerly known as Leamington Priors, its expansion began following the popularisation of the medicinal qualities of its water by Dr Kerr in 1784, and by Dr Lambe...
, she attended sixth form at Millfield School, before going on to the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
(LSE), where she earned a degree in Economics & 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 BirminghamBirmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
. After working for a consulting firm, in 1986 she co-founded Shire Health Group, a public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
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 business partner Ogilvy & Mather
Ogilvy & Mather
Ogilvy & Mather is an international advertising, marketing and public relations agency based in Manhattan and owned by the WPP Group. The company operates 497 offices in 125 countries with approximately 16,000 employees.-History:...
for £4 million in 2004, with James appointed Head of European Healthcare for parent WPP Group
WPP Group
WPP plc is a global media communications services company with its main management office in London, United Kingdom and its executive office in Dublin, Ireland. It is the world's largest advertising group by revenues, and employs over 150,000 people in 2,400 offices in 107 countries...
.
Political career
James joined the Conservative Party aged 17, and chaired the LSE Conservative Association. During her studies, she acted as a researcher for MP Sir Anthony Durant, and after graduation spent a gap yearGap year
An expression or phrase that is associated with taking time out to travel in between life stages. It is also known as sabbatical, time off and time out that refers to a period of time in which students disengage from curricular education and undertake non curricular activities, such as travel or...
working in the press office of Conservative Central Office. James resigned from the Conservative Party after Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
was ousted as Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
. She rejoined the Conservative Party in 2004, and is patron
Patrón
Patrón is a luxury brand of tequila produced in Mexico and sold in hand-blown, individually numbered bottles.Made entirely from Blue Agave "piñas" , Patrón comes in five varieties: Silver, Añejo, Reposado, Gran Patrón Platinum and Gran Patrón Burdeos. Patrón also sells a tequila-coffee blend known...
of the UCL Conservative Society.
At the May 2005 general election
United Kingdom general election, 2005
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
, she was the Conservative candidate
Prospective parliamentary candidate
Prospective parliamentary candidate is a term used in British politics to refer to candidates selected by political parties to fight individual constituencies in advance of a general election. This terminology was motivated by the strict limits on the amount of expenses incurred by an actual...
for the Holborn and St. Pancras constituency
Holborn and St. Pancras (UK Parliament constituency)
Holborn and St. Pancras is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first-past-the-post voting system.-Constituency Profile:...
. She came third behind the sitting MP, Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
's Frank Dobson
Frank Dobson
Frank Gordon Dobson, is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Holborn and St. Pancras since 1979...
, and the Liberal Democrat
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
candidate Jill Fraser
Jill Fraser (UK politician)
Jill Fraser is a British politician and tenants activist in London. She was the first ever Liberal Democrat Mayor of the London Borough of Camden, holding the position between 2006 and 2007, and has also represented Haverstock ward on the council since taking the seat from Labour in a by-election...
.
In May 2006, James was elected a local councillor for the Brompton ward of Kensington & Chelsea, becoming one of the Conservative Party's few 'out' lesbian office holders. She resigned from the council in 2008.
She was placed on the 'A-List
A List (Conservative)
The Conservative A-List or Priority List is a list of parliamentary candidates drawn up by Conservative Central Office at the behest of David Cameron after his election as party leader in December 2005, envisaged as a means of broadening the number of Conservative Members of Parliament from...
' of Conservative Party parliamentary candidates ahead of the 2010 general election, and was selected as the candidate for the marginal
Marginal seat
A marginal seat, or swing seat, is a constituency held with a particularly small majority in a legislative election, generally conducted under a single-winner voting system. In Canada they may be known as target ridings. The opposite is a safe seat....
Labour-held constituency of Stourbridge
Stourbridge (UK Parliament constituency)
Stourbridge is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.- Boundaries :...
, from where she was elected. This made her the second lesbian woman in the House of Commons, after Angela Eagle
Angela Eagle
Angela Eagle is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Wallasey since 1992. She served as the Minister of State for Pensions and Ageing Society from June 2009 until May 2010. Eagle was elected to the Shadow Cabinet in October 2010 and was appointed by Ed...
, and the first to have come out before her election.
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 forty different African countries in communications and lobbying skills. She has also worked as a mentor for The Prince's TrustThe Prince's Trust
The Prince's Trust is a charity in the United Kingdom founded in 1976 by Charles, Prince of Wales to help young people. They run a range of training programmes, provide mentoring support and offer financial grants to build the confidence and motivation of disadvantaged young people...
and Young Enterprise
Young Enterprise
Young Enterprise is a not-for-profit business and enterprise education charity in the United Kingdom. It is made up of 12 regional organisations, each operating individually under a license agreement...
. She sits on the Court of Governors at LSE.
Personal life
James lives in South KensingtonSouth Kensington
South Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in London. It is a built-up area located 2.4 miles west south-west of Charing Cross....
and Oldswinford
Oldswinford
The name Oldswinford is now used for a small area of Stourbridge, close to the parish church.-History:Originally, it was an extensive ancient parish, covering the whole of the former Municipal Borough of Stourbridge, except Pedmore...
with her partner, Jay Hunt
Jay Hunt (stylist)
Jay Hunt is a celebrity stylist, personal shopper and TV presenter/producer. She has worked in television since 1990, and is currently a presenter of the dating show Would Like To Meet, dieting show Do Or Diet and is the resident style presenter on Housecalls...
, presenter of the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
television programme Would Like To Meet
Would Like To Meet
Would Like To Meet is a British reality television dating series, first broadcast on BBC 2 in 2001. Presented by Lowri Turner, it featured relationship expert Tracey Cox, confidence coach Steven Anderson and celebrity stylist Jay Hunt, who each used their expertise to help a singleton find a date....
. She ranked in the top 50 on The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
's Pink List of the 101 most influential gay men and women in 2009.
External links
- Margot James MP Official constituency website
- Stourbridge Conservatives
- Liz Hoggard, Cameron's girl, The ObserverThe ObserverThe Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
, 22 January 2006 - Brian Wheeler, Gays 'have a duty to vote Tory', BBC NewsBBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
, 30 September 2008 - The IoS Pink List 2008 The IndependentThe IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
, 22 June 2008, Margot James named no. 27 - The IoS Pink List 2009 The IndependentThe IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
, 28 June 2009, Margot James named no. 46