Teresa Jane Kingham (born 4 May 1963) is a

British Labour Party The Labour Party is a List of political parties in the United Kingdom, political party in the United Kingdom that has been described as an alliance of Social democracy, social democrats, Democratic socialism, democratic socialists and trade u ...

politician. She was Member of Parliament (MP) for Gloucester from 1997 to 2001. 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 his ...

, and gained a BA from Royal Holloway, University of London, a PGCE from the University of East Anglia and a master's degree in Egyptian Archaeology from University College London. She is currently studying for a PhD in Biological Anthropology at the University of Kent. She ran as the Labour candidate for the European Parliament seat of the

Cotswolds The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of Jur ...

in 1994, but lost to the long-serving Conservative incumbent MEP, Lord 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 serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parli ...

. She later expressed dissatisfaction with the old boys network in the House of Commons, 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. Kingham is married to Mark Luetchford, a civil servant, trustee of War on Want and author of "Waging the War on Want", the official history of the organisation. They have three children.

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* {{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 people 21st-century English women 21st-century English people