| Sarah Teather MP | |
|---|---|
| Minister of State for Children and Families | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 13 May 2010 |
|
| Prime Minister | David Cameron |
| Preceded by | Dawn Primarolo |
| Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Housing | |
| In office 8 October 2008 – 13 May 2010 |
|
| Leader | Nick Clegg |
| Preceded by | Lembit Opik |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform | |
| In office 20 December 2007 – 8 October 2008 |
|
| Leader | Nick Clegg |
| Preceded by | Lembit Opik |
| Succeeded by | John Thurso |
| Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Innovation, Universities and Skills | |
| In office 4 July 2007 – 20 December 2007 |
|
| Leader | Menzies Campbell |
| Preceded by | Department Created |
| Succeeded by | Stephen Williams |
| Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Education and Skills | |
| In office 3 March 2006 – 4 July 2007 |
|
| Preceded by | Edward Davey |
| Succeeded by | Department Abolished |
| Member of Parliament for Brent Central Brent East (2003-2010) |
|
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 18 September 2003 |
|
| Preceded by | Paul Daisley |
| Majority | 1,345 (3.0%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1 June 1974 Enfield, London, England |
| Political party | Liberal Democrats |
| Alma mater | St John's College, Cambridge |
| Religion | Roman Catholic[1] |
| Website | Official site |
Sarah Louise Teather (born 1 June 1974,[2] Enfield, London) is a British Liberal Democrat politician, Member of Parliament for Brent Central, Minister of State at the Department for Education, and Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Guantanamo Bay.[3][4]
She was first elected on 18 September 2003 in the Brent East by-election and re-elected with an increased majority on 5 May 2005 in the 2005 general election.[2] After the seat was abolished due to boundary changes she was selected as the Liberal Democrat Candidate for the new constituency of Brent Central. Her main opponent was sitting Labour MP Dawn Butler, whose seat of Brent South was also abolished. After that election Teather became Minister of State in the Department for Education in the coalition between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.
Contents |
Teather was educated at the independent Leicester Grammar School and St John's College, Cambridge, where she gained a 2:1 degree in Natural Sciences specialising in pharmacology.[5]
Teather initially embarked on a PhD at University College London, but left the course at the end of her first year. She went on to work as a policy advisor for a number of prominent groups including the Royal Society and the charity Macmillan Cancer Relief.[6]
Teather first contested an election on 7 June 2001 in the seat of Finchley and Golders Green. On 3 May 2002 she became a councillor on Islington London Borough Council.[7]
In 2003 she was selected as the party's candidate in the Brent East by-election, which was called after death of the Labour MP Paul Daisley.[8]
The by-election took place during the early stages of the Iraq War, in which Britain's involvement had proved a controversial decision with voters and dented support for the Labour government. The Liberal Democrats came from third place behind Labour and the Conservatives, with a 39.12% share of the total and 1,118 majority. At 29, Teather was the youngest Member of Parliament in Britain at the time.
She successfully defended her seat in the 2005 general election, increasing her majority to over 2,700.[9] On 6 May 2010, Sarah Teather defeated Labour's Dawn Butler, a former Brent MP, by over 1,000 votes in the new Parliamentary constituency of Brent Central.[10]
The by-election was Labour's first by-election defeat in 15 years. Teather was the youngest member of the House, informally known as the Baby of the House.[11]
She subsequently resigned her seat on Islington Council, as well as her candidature for the GLA seat in North East London.
In May 2009, she was listed by The Daily Telegraph as one of the "Saints" in the expenses scandal.[12] However, in September 2010 The Sunday Times reported that she had been accused by several Members of Parliament of lobbying her boss, the Education Secretary Michael Gove, for two schools in her constituency to be spared from the government's plans to cancel refurbishment projects on over 700 schools nationwide.[13] The plans for refurbishment of the two schools, which had been previously cancelled, were reinstated.
In parliament Teather became one of the highest profile Liberal Democrat MPs. Initially acting as her party's spokesperson on London, after the 2005 general election she was promoted to the front bench to serve as the Liberal Democrat Spokeswoman on Community and Local Government.[14]
On 6 January 2006, 25 Liberal Democrat MPs signed a letter drafted by Teather and fellow frontbencher Ed Davey, indicating their unwillingness to continue working under party leader Charles Kennedy. The Guardian claimed the letter to be "the most damning" of the publicly expressed sentiments regarding Kennedy's position,[15] and later that day Kennedy announced his resignation. Teather supported Menzies Campbell in the subsequent leadership election.[16][17]
She was promoted again to Shadow Secretary of State for Education[18] following Menzies Campbell's election as leader on 2 March 2006.[14] In 2007 Teather became Shadow Secretary of State for Business, followed by becoming Shadow minister for Housing from 2008 until her appointment as Minister of State for Children and Families in the formation of the coalition government.
In her maiden speech when first elected as an MP in 2003, Teather made clear her opposition to tuition fees:[19]
| “ | I feel intense frustration when we talk of widening participation, only then to debate introducing a policy which would deter the very students we hope to attract. Fear of debt is as real to many people as real debt. Top-up and tuition fees are serious issues of concern to my constituents. All the evidence suggests that fear of debt will deter those from lower income families and ethnic minority communities. This is particularly the case for Muslims - a large community in my constituency - where attitudes to debt are very different. Fundamentally, I believe that this is about whether we want to encourage a world class education system, or a class based education system where students choose universities according to their ability to pay, and universities are judged on the level of their fees. That is not a system I am comfortable with. It is an issue of great concern to my constituents, and many millions of people around this country. I hope honourable members will oppose the measures when the time comes. |
” |
In April 2011, Teather was questioned on BBC Question Time over replacing the Education Maintenance Allowance. Arguing against the claim that fewer poor pupils would be served by its replacement, Teather claimed that it would actually be targeted better at those who actually needed government support.[20]
In Autumn 2006, she spent a week observing in schools, writing a daily blog of the experience for Guardian Unlimited.[21]
She established the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Guantanamo Bay in March 2007, and has used the group to campaign against the detention without charge of Jamil el-Banna, a constituent. She has visited Washington twice to lobby on his behalf, and also works closely on the case with the anti-death penalty charity, Reprieve and Amnesty International.[22][23]
Brent East and neighbouring Brent South were abolished at the 2010 general election. On 31 August 2006 Teather announced her intention to stand for the new Brent Central constituency.[24] She faced, and defeated, Labour MP Dawn Butler, who had been member for Brent South, despite Butler having a notional majority of 7,000 in the redrawn constituency.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Paul Daisley |
Member of Parliament for Brent East 2003–2010 |
Constituency abolished |
| New constituency | Member of Parliament for Brent Central 2010– |
Incumbent |
| Preceded by David Lammy |
Baby of the House 2003–2005 |
Succeeded by Jo Swinson |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Beverley Hughes |
Minister of State for Children and Families 2010– |
Incumbent |