Laura Moffatt

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Laura Moffatt
RN
Laura Moffatt, 6 March 2006, launching the 2006 local election campaign in Crawley.
Member of Parliament
for Crawley
In office
1 May 1997 – 6 May 2010
Preceded by Nicholas Soames
Succeeded by Henry Smith
Mayor of Crawley
In office
1989–1990
Preceded by RG Rudd
Succeeded by BA Smith
Personal details
Born (1954-04-09) 9 April 1954
Battersea, London
Nationality British
Political party Labour
Spouse(s) Colin Moffatt
Website www.lauramoffattmp.co.uk

Laura Jean Moffatt (born 9 April 1954) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Crawley from 1997 until 2010.

Early life

Born Laura Jean Field in London in 1954, she was educated at Hazelwick School in Crawley, West Sussex before attending the Crawley College of Technology (now renamed Central Sussex College).

From 1975 until her election to the House of Commons in 1997, she worked as a state registered nurse at Crawley Hospital.[citation needed] She joined the Labour Party in 1979 and was elected to Crawley Borough Council in 1984, remaining as a councillor until 1997 and serving as the town's mayor in 1990.

Parliamentary career

Moffatt stood in Crawley at the 1992 general election, but lost out to the sitting Conservative MP Nicholas Soames. For the following election she was again selected as the Labour candidate, though this time through an all-women shortlist.[1]

At the 2005 general election she was elected to the Commons on the smallest majority in the country with 37 votes, with her share of the vote falling by over 10 percent from the 2001 general election result. After an epic count, and numerous re-counts, Moffatt broke down in tears after being returned to Parliament.

In the Commons, Moffatt has served variously as a Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Lord Chancellor Derry Irvine (2001–03); the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs Charles Falconer (2003–05); the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions David Blunkett (2005); the Minister of State at the Department for Education and Skills Jacqui Smith (2005–06), and since 2006 has served as the PPS to Alan Johnson initially as Secretary of State for Education and Skills and since 2007 as Secretary of State for Health. From 1997-2001 she served as a member of the Defence Select Committee.

On 15 March 2010, Moffatt announced her intention to stand down at the 2010 General Election because the job had taken a toll on her family life.[2]

Personal life

She married Colin Moffatt in 1975 in Crawley and they have three grown up sons, Russell, Alistair and Edward. She lives in the Broadfield area of the town.

She has a tattoo on her left foot of a Labour rose with the number '37' in order to remind her of her slim majority in 2005.[3]

In May 2009, Moffatt made the news during the MPs' expenses row for giving up her flat in London because she said that the "annual cost did not sit comfortably with me", in her blog she writes: "I never travel first class when commuting and since getting rid of my flat I more often sleep on a camp bed in my office when the house sits late … and have only made one claim for personal goods in 2007/08, under £20, I think, to replace some towels."[4]

Moffatt has said she has felt unsafe travelling late at night on trains as she has been flashed on two occasions on a late night train.[5]

References

  1. ↑ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19960109/ai_n9634358?tag=content;col1.  Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. ↑ Mulholland, Hélène (15 March 2010). "Labour MP Laura Moffatt to quit in one of Labour's most marginal seats". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 7 May 2010. 
  3. ↑ Parkinson, Justin (14 November 2008). "http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7693834.stm". BBC News Online. 
  4. ↑ Watt, Nicholas (22 May 2009). "Expenses row: MP who claimed for 500 trees accuses constituents of 'jealousy'". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 7 May 2010. 
  5. ↑ "MP claims £20,000 in expenses...because flashers put her off travelling by train". Daily Mail (London). 8 November 2007. 

External links

News items

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Nicholas Soames		 Member of Parliament for Crawley
1997–2010 		Succeeded by
Henry Smith
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