Luisa Porritt
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Luisa Manon Porritt (born 23 May 1987) is a British Liberal Democrat politician. She was elected as a Councillor for Belsize ward in Camden in 2018 and served as the leader of the Liberal Democrats on the council from 2020 to 2022. She also served as a
Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...
(MEP) for
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
from 2019 to 2020. and was the party's candidate for the 2021 London mayoral election where she failed to achieve 5% of the vote and lost her deposit.


Early life and education

Luisa Manon Porritt was born at the Royal Free Hospital in
Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...
on 23 May 1987. She grew up in Camden and was educated at a local private school. She earned a degree in history from
Royal Holloway, University of London Royal Holloway, University of London (RH), formally incorporated as Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, is a public university, public research university and a constituent college, member institution of the federal University of London. It ...
in 2008 and went on to complete a
Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...
at
Sciences Po Paris Sciences Po () or Sciences Po Paris, also known as the Paris Institute of Political Studies (), is a public research university located in Paris, France, that holds the status of ''grande école'' and the legal status of . The university's unde ...
.


Career

Before her political career, Porritt worked as a journalist, a consultant for strategic advisory firm Global Counsel, and a political researcher and advisor for Shriti Vadera. In 2021, Porritt became Head of Investment Content at PR firm Edelman Smithfield.


Political career


Camden Council

Porritt joined the Liberal Democrats a few days after the UK voted to leave the European Union in 2016. She became a Liberal Democrat councillor for the
London Borough of Camden The London Borough of Camden () is a London boroughs, borough in Inner London, England. Camden Town Hall, on Euston Road, lies north of Charing Cross. The borough was established on 1 April 1965 from the former Metropolitan boroughs of the Cou ...
in
2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...
. She gained a seat for the marginal council ward of Belsize from the Conservative incumbent by nine votes, following a recount. She became leader the Liberal Democrat group on Camden Council on 7 September 2020. Porritt stood down as a Camden councillor at the 2022 Camden London Borough Council election. She later explained as part of a speech to her party's annual conference that one of the reasons she had been forced to leave Camden was due to the area's high house prices.


European Parliament

In the 2019 European Parliament election, she was third on the Liberal Democrat list for the London constituency. The Liberal Democrats won 27% of the vote, winning three seats, so Porritt was elected as a
Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...
. She was appointed deputy leader of the Liberal Democrat group in the European Parliament. During her time as an MEP, Porritt brought resolutions calling on Iran to release Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.


London mayoral candidate

Porritt was reported to be "seriously considering" putting her name forward to be the Liberal Democrat candidate in the 2021 London mayoral election after Siobhan Benita withdrew from the race following its postponement from the original May 2020 date. She won the selection against the option to reopen nominations on 13 October 2020 after the only other shortlisted candidate, Geeta Sidhu-Robb, was suspended from the Liberal Democrats following antisemitism. Porritt called for empty offices to be turned into affordable housing, and reform of stop and search. She has been critical of the government's handling of
coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the comm ...
, calling for a circuit breaker lockdown when London was put into Tier 2 restrictions in October 2020, and
Sadiq Khan Sir Sadiq Aman Khan (, ; born 8 October 1970) is a British politician serving as Mayor of London since 2016. He was previously Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Tooting (UK Parliament constituency), Tooting ...
's negotiations on the future of
Transport For London Transport for London (TfL) is a local government body responsible for most of the transport network in London, United Kingdom. TfL is the successor organization of the London Passenger Transport Board, which was established in 1933, and His ...
.


Parliamentary aspirations

Porritt ran to become the Liberal Democrat candidate for the parliamentary constituency of Sutton and Cheam for the 2024 general election. However, she did not win the selection, losing to Luke Taylor, who went on to win the seat. Porritt did not seek selection for the seat of Hampstead and Highgate in the wake of an arrest warrant being issued for sitting MP Tulip Siddiq.https://x.com/tomorrowsmps/status/1913910753519608309


References


External links


Luisa Porritt for Mayor of London
– campaign website
Luisa Porritt at the European Parliament
{{DEFAULTSORT:Porritt, Luisa Manon 1987 births Living people English people of Egyptian-Jewish descent English people of Spanish-Jewish descent English people of Turkish-Jewish descent Liberal Democrats (UK) MEPs MEPs for England 2019–2020 21st-century women MEPs for England Alumni of Royal Holloway, University of London Sciences Po alumni Councillors in the London Borough of Camden Jewish British politicians