Angela Eagle
Angela Eagle (born
February 17,
1961) is
Labour Member of Parliament for
Wallasey.
Born in
Bridlington, the daughter of a printworker, she was educated at the
St Peter's Church of England Primary School,
Formby and the Formby High School, before studying at
St John's College, Oxford where she was awarded a
Bachelor of Arts degree in
Philosophy, Politics and Economics in
1983, and where she was also chairwoman of the Oxford University
Fabian Society 1980-1983. She worked briefly in the economic directorate of the
Confederation of British Industry (CBI) in
1984, before working for the
Confederation of Health Service Employees (COHSE) later in the year. At COHSE, she held several positions, leaving on her election to
parliament in the capacity of parliamentary officer. She was elected secretary for the Constituency Labour Party in
Peckham for two years from
1989.
Eagle was first elected in the
1992 election when she defeated the Minister for Overseas Development at the
Foreign Office Lynda Chalker by 3,809 votes, and has remained an MP since. She made her
maiden speech on
May 11,
1992. [
1] In parliament she became a member of the Employment
Select Committee in
1994, and was promoted by
Tony Blair in
1996 to the position of an
Opposition Whip, and became a member of the Blair government following the
1997 General Election as the
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the
Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, moving to the
Department of Social Security in
1998. Following the
2001 General Election, she was a junior minister at the
Home Office but was sacked by Blair in
2002. She has been a member of the
Treasury Select Committee since
2003.
Angela was joint winner of the British Girls' Under-18
chess championship in
1976. She gained the distinction of becoming British Parliament's first - and thus far only - openly
lesbian member by
coming out in September
1997 in an interview with
The Observer.[
2]
Maureen Colquhoun, another lesbian MP, did not declare her sexuality until after she left parliament [
3]. She was joined in the
House of Commons at the 1997 General Election by her
identical twin sister,
Maria Eagle, thus probably becoming the first set of
twins to sit in the House, but certainly the first set of twin sisters. She and her sister are one of only two pairs of sisters in the Commons, the other sister pair are
Sylvia Heal and
Ann Keen. She is also a keen
cricketer.
*
Angela Eagle official site
*
Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Angela Eagle MP*
TheyWorkForYou.com - Angela Eagle MP*
The Public Whip - Angela Eagle MP voting record
