Teresa Jane Kingham (born 4 May 1963) is a

British Labour Party The Labour Party, often referred to as Labour, is a List of political parties in the United Kingdom, political party in the United Kingdom that sits on the Centre-left politics, centre-left of the political spectrum. The party has been describe ...

politician. She was Member of Parliament (MP) for

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

from 1997 to 2001.

Biography

Kingham was educated at

Dartford Grammar School for Girls Dartford Grammar School for Girls is a grammar school for girls in Dartford, Kent, England. Formerly known as Dartford County School, the school opened in 1904. It is the sister school of Dartford Grammar School for Boys. History Early histo ...

, and gained a BA from

Royal Holloway 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 ...

, University of London, a PGCE from the

University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...

and a master's degree in Egyptian Archaeology from

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

. She is currently studying for a PhD in Biological Anthropology at the

University of Kent The University of Kent (formerly the University of Kent at Canterbury, abbreviated as UKC) is a Collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom. The university was granted its roya ...

Political career

She ran as the Labour candidate for the European Parliament seat of the

Cotswolds The Cotswolds ( ) is a region of central South West England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper River Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and the Vale of Evesham. The area is defined by the bedroc ...

in 1994, but lost to the long-serving Conservative incumbent MEP, Henry Plumb, however she succeeded in cutting Plumb's majority from 45,678 in 1989 to just 4,268 at that election. Kingham was elected as MP for Gloucester in 1997, but retired from Parliament in disillusionment after just one term, having complained publicly about the antiquated ways of working in the

Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative ch ...

. She later expressed dissatisfaction with the old boys network in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

, accusing various members of "endlessly thrusting their groins around the Chamber in mock combat" and "indulging in yah-boo nonsense, point-scoring and silly games". Whilst in Parliament, Kingham successfully campaigned to change laws to protect firefighters and to get a nationwide cystic fibrosis screening programme for newborn babies. She was a Member of the International Development Select Committee.

Private life

Kingham is married to Mark Luetchford, a civil servant, trustee of

War on Want War on Want is an anti-poverty charity based in London. War on Want works to challenge the root causes of poverty, inequality and injustice through partnership with social movements in the global South and campaigns in the UK. War on Want's slo ...

and author of "Waging the War on Want", the official history of the organisation. They have three children.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kingham, Tess 1963 births Living people People educated at Dartford Grammar School for Girls Alumni of Royal Holloway, University of London Alumni of the University of East Anglia Alumni of University College London UK MPs 1997–2001 Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Members of Parliament for Gloucester 20th-century British women politicians 21st-century British women politicians 20th-century English women 20th-century English politicians 21st-century English women 21st-century English politicians