Charlotte Jean Scott Atkins (born 24 September 1950) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for

Staffordshire Moorlands Staffordshire Moorlands is a local government district in Staffordshire, England. Its council, Staffordshire Moorlands District Council, is based in Leek and is located between the city of Stoke-on-Trent and the Peak District National Park. The ...

from

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

until 2010.

Early life

Atkins is the daughter of Ron Atkins, the left wing former Labour MP for Preston North, and the longest-lived British MP ever. Atkins was educated at the Colchester County High School, and is a graduate of the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

, gaining a

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

in Economics. From the University of London, she also gained an MA in Area Studies. She worked as a community relations officer with the

Luton Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable a ...

Community Research Council from 1974 to 1976, before joining the trade union movement. For four years she was a researcher with the UCATT union (from 1976 to 1980), then a researcher from 1980 to 1984 for the TASS and AUEW, before becoming a press officer for

UNISON In music, unison is two or more musical parts that sound either the same pitch or pitches separated by intervals of one or more octaves, usually at the same time. ''Rhythmic unison'' is another term for homorhythm. Definition Unison or per ...

and COHSE from 1984 to 1987. Atkins joined the Labour Party in 1965. In 1982, she was elected as a councillor in the London Borough of Wandsworth, and was the Deputy Leader of the Labour Group from 1983 to 1986. In 1981 she wrote a book with

Chris Mullin Christopher Paul Mullin (born July 30, 1963) is an American former professional basketball player, executive and coach. He is a two-time Olympic Gold medalist and a two-time Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee (in 2010 as a memb ...

entitled ''How to Select or Reselect Your MP''.

Parliamentary career

In 1990, Atkins unsuccessfully contested the Eastbourne by-election caused by the assassination of the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Ian Gow Ian Reginald Edward Gow (; 11 February 1937 – 30 July 1990) was a British politician and solicitor. As a member of the Conservative Party, he served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Eastbourne from 1974 until his assassination by the ...

by the

Provisional IRA The Irish Republican Army (IRA; ), also known as the Provisional Irish Republican Army, and informally as the Provos, was an Irish republicanism, Irish republican paramilitary organisation that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland, fa ...

. She entered the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

at the 1997 general election in the Labour landslide as the Member of Parliament for

, a seat held previously by the retiring David Knox and which had been Conservative-held for 27 years. After the 2001 general election, Atkins was appointed a Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. She was promoted to

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (or just Parliamentary Secretary, particularly in departments not led by a Secretary of State) is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the UK government, immediately junior to a Minister ...

at the Department for Transport in 2004, but was dropped after the 2005 general election. In July 2005 she became a member of the

Health Select Committee The Health and Social Care Select Committee (abbreviated to HSC, HSCC and HSCSC) is a Departmental Select Committee of the British House of Commons, the lower house of the United Kingdom Parliament. Its remit is to examine the policy, administra ...

. Atkins was largely loyal to the Labour government during her time in Parliament and rarely rebelled. Atkins was vice-chair of the All-Party Hill Farmers Group, and took part in a series of

adjournment debate In the Westminster system, an adjournment debate is a debate on the motion, "That this House do now adjourn." In practice, this is a way of enabling the House to have a debate on a subject without considering a substantive motion. Types of deb ...

s on government funding for

inland waterways Inland navigation, inland barge transport or inland waterway transport (IWT) is a transport system allowing ships and barges to use inland waterways (such as canals, rivers and lakes). These waterways have inland ports, marinas, quays, and wharfs. ...

. She is a volunteer for the Manchester-based British Fluoridisation Society. Atkins lost her seat at the 2010 general election to

Karen Bradley Karen Anne Bradley (''née'' Howarth, born 12 March 1970) is a British Conservative Party politician who served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2018 to 2019, and has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Staffordshire Moorland ...

of the Conservative Party. In March 2012, Atkins was appointed as the chair of the Central Shires Canal and River Trust Partnership Board. The CRT is the charity which has taken over the work and role of British Waterways. She was heavily involved in campaigning for more funds and the regeneration of England's waterways while in Parliament, and won the first ever Inland Waterways Association Parliamentarian of the Year Award in 2008.

Personal life

She married Gus Brain in June 1990 in

Bromley Bromley is a large town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is south-east of Charing Cross, and had an estimated population of 87,889 as of 2011. Originally part of Kent, Bromley became a market town, c ...

and has one daughter, Emma, born in October 1986. Her twin sister, Liz, is a Lambeth Councillor.

Publications

* ''How to Select or Reselect Your Member of Parliament'' by Chris Mullin and Charlotte Atkins, 1981, Institute of Workers' Control

References

External links

Guardian Unlimited Politics – Ask Aristotle: Charlotte Atkins MP

TheyWorkForYou.com – Charlotte Atkins MP

Official Website

IWA Parliamentarian of the Year

BBC Politics

News items

Claiming Labour wanted to ditch the council tax in 2005

Opening the Rearsby bypass in December 2004
{{DEFAULTSORT:Atkins, Charlotte Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 Councillors in the London Borough of Wandsworth Alumni of the London School of Economics 1950 births Living people People from Chelmsford Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies People educated at Colchester County High School 20th-century British women politicians 21st-century British women politicians 20th-century English women 20th-century English people 21st-century English women 21st-century English people Women councillors in England