| Christine McCafferty | |
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament for Calder Valley |
|
| In office 1 May 1997 – 6 May 2010 |
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| Preceded by | Sir Donald Thompson |
| Succeeded by | Craig Whittaker |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 14 October 1945 Manchester, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Labour |
| Spouse(s) | David Tarlo |
Christine McCafferty (née Livesley; born 14 October 1945) is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Calder Valley from 1997 to 2010, when the seat was won by the Conservative Party candidate, Craig Whittaker, at that year's general election.
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She attended Whalley Range Grammar School for Girls (now Whalley Range High School) on Wilbraham Road in Whalley Range, Manchester, then the Footscray High School in Melbourne, Australia. She worked as welfare worker for disabled people for the CHS Manchester from 1963–70. From 1970–2, she was an education welfare officer for the Manchester Education Committee. From 1978–80, she was Registrar of Marriages for Bury Registration District. From 1989–96, she was a project worker for Calderdale Well Woman Centre.
Before her election to parliament, McCafferty was a member of Hebden Royd Town Council 1991–95. She was also a councillor on Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council 1991–7, where she was chair of the Adoption Panel 1992–6. She served as member of the West Yorkshire Police Authority 1994–7.
McCafferty was selected to stand for election for Labour through an all-women shortlist.[1] This method of selection was subsequently declared illegal in January 1996 as it breached sex discrimination laws,[2] Despite the ruling she remained in place as the candidate for the following year's election. She was elected in the 1997 Labour landslide, replacing the Conservative Sir Donald Thompson who had held the seat since 1979. She held the seat in the 2001 and 2005 general elections despite Tory resurgence.
In Parliament, she was a member of the Procedure Committee 1997-9, and of the International Development Committee 2001-5. Since 1999, she has also been a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, chairing the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Population, Development and Reproductive Health.[3] She has won some notoriety for the so-called [[McCafferty Report[],[4] in which it was proposed to legally restrict the free exercise of conscientious objection against participating in controversial medical practices (such as abortion, euthanasia, and IVF) by doctors and nurses. The initiative was finally defeated when, on 7 October 2010, a narrow majority of Members adopted a number of amendments that turned it into its opposite: it now re-affirms the free exercise of conscientious objection, instead of restricting it.[5]
In 2007, McCafferty announced that she would retire at the next general election.[2]
She married Michael McCafferty. They had a son. She then married David Tarlo.