Linda Gilroy

Linda Gilroy (b. July 19, 1949, Moffat, Scotland) is a British politician. She is the Labour and Co-operative Member of Parliament for Plymouth Sutton.

Born Linda Wade Jarvie and educated at Maynards Girls' School in Exeter, Devon and the Stirling High School, before attending the University of Edinburgh where she was awarded a master's degree in history in 1971. She finished her education at the University of Strathclyde where she received a postgraduate diploma in secretarial studies in 1972.

She joined Age Concern Scotland in 1972, leaving in 1979 as a deputy director to join the Gas Consumer Council as a regional manager for the south west of England, in which capcity she founded the Devon and Cornwall energy efficiency centre, before she left in 1996.

She was elected as the secretary to the Plymouth Drake Constituency Labour Party in 1987-8, and was elected chairwoman of the Cornwall Labour Party for four years from 1990. She unsuccessfully contested Cornwall South East at the 1992 General Election where she finished in third place some 25,029 votes behind the sitting Conservative MP Robert Hicks. She also contested the European Parliament elections in 1994 when she was defeated at Devon East and Plymouth. She was elected to the House of Commons at the 1997 General Election for Plymouth Sutton with a majority of 9,440 and she has remained the MP there since. Her majority in the 2005 general election was 4,109. She made her maiden speech on October 27, 1997.[1]

In parliament she was a member of the european legislation select committee from 1997 until after the 2001 General Election when she was appointed as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister of State at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Raynsford. She has been a member of the defence select committee since the 2005 General Election. She is a loyal MP: as at August 2006 she has rebelled in just seven of 2,300 votes made. Her attendance record is 80%.

She has been married to Bernard Gilroy since 1987 and they have no children.