Claire Curtis-Thomas

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Claire Curtis-Thomas MP
Claire Curtis-Thomas
Member of Parliament
for Crosby
Incumbent
Assumed office 
1 May 1997
Preceded by Malcolm Thornton
Born 30 April 1958 (1958-04-30) (age 50)
Neath
Nationality British
Political party Labour
Spouse Michael Lewis Jakub
Alma mater Cardiff University, Aston University, Staffordshire University

Dr. Claire Curtis-Thomas, previously known as Claire Curtis-Tansley (born April 30, 1958) is a British politician and engineer. She is the Labour Member of Parliament for Crosby.

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[edit] Early life

Born in Neath, she was educated at the Mynyddbach Comprehensive School for Girls (since September 2001 known as Daniel James Community School after merging with the Penlan Boys School) on Heol Ddu, Treboeth, Swansea, and studied at University College, Cardiff where she was awarded a BSc degree in mechanical engineering, and at Aston University, where she obtained a MBA, before finishing her studies at Staffordshire University, where she received her PhD in Technology in 1999.

She became a researcher at University College of Wales in Cardiff in 1984, before joining Shell Chemicals, initially as a site mechanical engineer, moving internally in 1988 as the Head of UK Supply and Distribution, and after 1990 was head of environmental strategy until leaving Shell in 1992. She became research head and development laboratory at with the Birmingham City Council in 1992, before moving internally to be the strategy and business planning head in 1993, leaving the council in 1995. In 1996 she was appointed as a Business and Engineering Dean at the University of Wales, Newport, and remained there until the following year, when she was elected to Westminster. She was elected as a councillor to the Crewe and Nantwich Borough Council in 1995, stepping down in 1997. Also in 1995, she was elected the secretary of the Eddisbury Constituency Labour Party.

[edit] Parliamentary career

She was elected to the House of Commons at her first attempt at the 1997 General Election for the parliamentary constituency of Crosby. She defeated the sitting Conservative MP Malcolm Thornton by 7,182 votes, and has been the MP (the first ever Labour one) there since, although her majority declined in the 2005 General Election, currently standing at 5,840, holding approximately 48% of the vote in her constituency. She made her maiden speech, during a debate on the adjournment which she secured on the subject of engineering, on July 31, 1997.[1]

On being elected to parliament she changed her name to Claire Curtis-Thomas, which was a combination of her mother's maiden name of 'Curtis' and her mother's second husband's surname, 'Thomas'). After her election she became a member of the Science and Technology Select Committee, on which she sat for the entirety of her first parliament. In 2003 she became a member of the Home Affairs Select Committee, and since the 2005 General Election she has been a member of the Trade and Industry Committee.

In 2003/2004, she had the highest expenses of any politician in Parliament, and was second highest in 2002/2003. For instance, she records very high postage bills. She is one of the few engineers in Parliament, and has started an all-party parliamentary group Women in Science, Engineering and Design (WISED).

She is also involved with the Waterloo Partnership, a charity based in her constituency which raises money for Waterloo, Sierra Leone.

Her Crosby constituency disappears under the new boundary commission proposals and is succeeded by a Sefton Central seat that is a Conservative - Liberal Democrat marginal with 3 local government wards held by the Conservatives and 4 by the Lib-Dems. It is not yet known if she will contest it or seek a winnable seat elsewhere.

In June 2006, she introduced the Regulation of Sale and Display of Sexually Explicit Material Bill to stop newsagents selling certain men's magazines. It never became law due to lack of parliamentary time.

[edit] Personal life

She married Philip Tansley in December 1984 in South Glamorgan. She married Michael Lewis Jakub in December 1996 in Cheshire; they have a son (born January 1998) and two daughters (born February 1988 and September 1990). Michael Jakub was levied a fixed penalty notice for vandalising posters promoting Tory candidate Debi Jones on the day of the 2005 General Election.

Curtis-Thomas stood for the 1997 election as Claire Curtis-Tansley.


Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Malcolm Thornton		 Member of Parliament for Crosby
1997 – present		 Incumbent

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