The subject of this article is standing for re-election to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom on 4 July, and will not be an incumbent MP once Parliament is dissolved on 30 May. Some parts of this article may be out of date during that period. |
Catherine West | |
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Shadow Minister for Asia and the Pacific | |
Assumed office 4 December 2021 | |
Leader | Sir Keir Starmer |
Preceded by | Stephen Kinnock |
Shadow Minister for Europe and Americas | |
In office 9 April 2020 –4 December 2021 | |
Leader | Sir Keir Starmer |
Preceded by | Khalid Mahmood |
Succeeded by | Stephen Doughty |
Shadow Minister for Sport | |
In office 14 January 2020 –9 April 2020 | |
Leader | Jeremy Corbyn |
Preceded by | Rosena Allin-Khan |
Succeeded by | Alison McGovern |
Shadow Minister for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs | |
In office 18 September 2015 –30 June 2017 | |
Leader | Jeremy Corbyn |
Preceded by | John Spellar |
Succeeded by | Fabian Hamilton |
Member of Parliament for Hornsey and Wood Green | |
Assumed office 7 May 2015 | |
Preceded by | Lynne Featherstone |
Majority | 19,242 (31.5%) |
Leader of Islington London Borough Council | |
In office 6 May 2010 –10 October 2013 | |
Deputy | Paul Smith Janet Burgess |
Preceded by | Terry Stacy |
Succeeded by | Richard Watts |
Labour Party Group Leader on Islington London Borough Council | |
In office 11 May 2004 –10 October 2013 | |
Preceded by | Mary Creagh |
Succeeded by | Richard Watts |
Councillor for Islington London Borough Council | |
In office 2 May 2002 –22 May 2014 | |
Ward | Tollington |
Preceded by | Barbara Sidnell |
Succeeded by | Flora Williamson |
Personal details | |
Born | Catherine Elizabeth West 14 September 1966 Mansfield,Victoria,Australia |
Citizenship | British Australian |
Political party | Labour (1998–present) |
Spouse | Colin Sutherland |
Children | 2 |
Residence | London |
Education | Meriden School Ravenswood School for Girls University of Sydney SOAS,University of London |
Website | Official website |
Catherine Elizabeth West [1] (born 14 September 1966) is an Australian-born Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. She was first elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hornsey and Wood Green in May 2015.
West was born on 14 September 1966 in Mansfield,Australia,one of four children to Janet (née Conti) and Roderick West AM. [2] Her parents were both teachers and her father was Headmaster of Trinity Grammar School in Sydney for 21 years. She is the great-great-niece of actress Italia Conti. She grew up in Sydney and was privately educated at Meriden and Ravenswood. [3] West studied modern languages and social work at the University of Sydney. [4] While studying there,she met her future husband Colin Sutherland. They lived together in Darwin,Northern Territory,where she worked as a social worker in a refuge for survivors of childhood sexual abuse. West and Sutherland moved to the United Kingdom in 1998 when he gained a job at the London School of Hygiene &Tropical Medicine. [4] She then gained a master's degree in Chinese Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies,University of London. [5]
West joined the Labour Party in 1998 and became a caseworker for Tottenham MP David Lammy two years later. [4]
From 2 May 2002 to 22 May 2014,West was a member of the Islington London Borough Council representing the Tollington Ward. She was the leader of the council's Labour Party group from 2004 to 10 October 2013 and Council Leader from 6 May 2010 to 10 October 2013. She resigned as councillor to contest the 2015 general election.
She was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Hornsey and Wood Green in the 2015 general election. [6]
Following the election of Jeremy Corbyn as Leader of the Labour Party,whose campaign she supported,West was promoted to the Official Opposition frontbench as a Shadow Foreign Office Minister. [7]
During the 2016 EU membership referendum Campaign,West was involved with Britain Stronger in Europe,campaigning for the UK to remain within the European Union,arguing that "Britain would be stronger,more prosperous,more secure and more peaceful" if they were to remain within the EU. West's constituency of Hornsey and Wood Green secured the highest remain vote of any Commons constituency in the UK,with 81.5% of present electors voting to remain. [8] Following the EU referendum,West confirmed she would vote against invoking Article 50 should a vote come before parliament. [9] Between September 2016 and June 2017,she was an officer of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on UK-EU Relations. [10]
In January 2017,West voted against triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty,the process by which EU Member States may use to withdraw from the European Union,along with 46 other Labour Party MPs. [11]
West was sacked from the Labour frontbench in June 2017 after she voted in favour of an amendment to the Queen's Speech which called on the UK to remain in the European Single Market,in defiance of the Labour whip. [12]
West returned to the Labour frontbench in 2020 as shadow Sport minister, [13] prior to her promotion to the shadow Foreign Office team under new Labour Leader Sir Keir Stamer. [14] West is currently Labour's shadow Minister for Asia &the Pacific. [15]
West is a member of Labour Friends of Israel. [16]
West is a Quaker. She is one of three Quakers elected during the 2015 general election,the others being her Labour Party colleague Ruth Cadbury and Conservative Tania Mathias. [17] She is married to Colin Sutherland,co-director of the London School of Hygiene &Tropical Medicine's Malaria Centre. [4] [18] They met while studying at the University of Sydney. They have a daughter and a son. [19]
She is a dual British and Australian national. [20]
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