Emma Dent Coad (born Margaret Mary Dent, 2 November 1954) is a British politician who served as

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

from 2017 to 2019. A member of the Labour Party, she has been a Member of

Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council is the local authority for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. Kensington and Chel ...

since 2006.

Early life and education

Dent Coad was born in

Stepney Stepney is a district in the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The district is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name appl ...

, the youngest of six children. Her father, Charles Enrique Dent CBE, was a professor of medicine of half

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

descent, and her mother, Margaret Ruth Coad, was an Anglican vicar's daughter who converted to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

to marry him. She grew up in

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. She went to Sacred Heart High School, a selective grammar school in

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. ...

, London. She graduated from the

Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It offe ...

with an MA in History of Design in 1992. Dent Coad has written or contributed to a number of books on architecture and design, including on

Javier Mariscal Francisco Javier Errando Mariscal (born 9 February 1950) better known as Javier Mariscal is a Spanish artist and designer whose work has spanned a wide range of mediums, ranging from painting and sculpture to interior design and landscaping. H ...

, and is studying at the

University of Liverpool School of Architecture The School of Architecture is an architecture school in Liverpool, England, and part of the University of Liverpool. It was the first architecture school in the United Kingdom to be affiliated with a university, and the first to have degree pro ...

for a PhD on "Constructing Modern Spain: Architecture, Politics and Ideology under

Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ref ...

, 1939–1975", which she put on hold on being elected MP.

Political career

Local government

Dent Coad was first elected to represent Golborne ward on

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, and served as the leader of the opposition and leader of the council's Labour Group from 2014 to 2015. As a councillor, she has held the following committee and group memberships: *

Kensington and Chelsea TMO Kensington and Chelsea TMO (KCTMO) was the largest tenant management organisation (TMO) in England, managing nearly 10,000 properties on behalf of Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council – the entire council housing stock in the Royal B ...

, the

tenant management organisation A tenant management organisations (TMO) is an organisation set up under the UK Government's Housing (Right to Manage) Regulations 1994, which allow residents of council housing or housing association homes in the UK to take over responsibility for t ...

which manages the council's housing stock, from 27 June 2008 to 31 October 2012 (council appointed) * Housing and Property Scrutiny Committee in 2013/14 * Planning Applications Committee from May 2013 to June 2017 * Planning Committee since June 2014 to June 2017 *

London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority The London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA) was a functional body of the Greater London Authority (GLA), established under the Greater London Authority Act 1999. Its principal purpose was to run the London Fire Brigade. The 17 members ...

Grenfell Tower

Just days after Dent Coad's election, the

Grenfell Tower fire On 14 June 2017, a high-rise fire broke out in the 24-storey Grenfell Tower block of flats in North Kensington, West London, at 00:54 BST and burned for 60 hours. 72 people died, two later in hospital, with more than 70 injured and 223 escapin ...

took place in her then constituency. On 16 June, she blamed the Kensington and Chelsea council for failings which led to the fire. Dent Coad considers the fire an "entirely preventable" tragedy. Dent Coad said, “I can't help thinking that poor quality materials and construction standards may have played a part in this hideous and unforgivable event.” Dent Coad links the council's intention to redevelop the area to the tragedy, she said, “The council want to develop this area full of social housing, and in order to enable that they have prettified a building that they felt was ugly ... The idea that that has led to this horrendous tragedy is just unthinkable.” She has campaigned for permanent new homes in the area for victims of the tragedy rather than, "some mucky

bedsit A bedsit, bedsitter, or bed-sitting room is a form of accommodation common in some parts of the United Kingdom which consists of a single room per occupant with all occupants typically sharing a bathroom. Bedsits are included in a legal category ...

". She has added “People are very afraid of what is going to happen next. They need to be kept within Kensington. The fear I was hearing yesterday was "they're going to send us to

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

or to

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

", all the other places that the council has tried to send them before. People want to stay near their networks where their children go to school, where their families are.” Poverty in Kensington and the fire were the subjects of her

maiden speech A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament. Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...

in 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. ...

on 22 June 2017. On 4 July 2017, Dent Coad said that residents had no confidence in Sir

Martin Moore-Bick Sir Martin James Moore-Bick (born 6 December 1946) is a retired judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales. Early and private life Moore-Bick was born in Wales, the son of John Ninian Moore-Bick and his wife Kathleen (''née'' Beall). ...

to lead the Grenfell Tower Fire Inquiry, describing him as "a technocrat" who lacked "credibility". She supported calls for "reparations" to the community in the form of restoring local assets and services such as a college and a library which were under threat, and claims that many on the council see those in social housing as "lesser beings." Dent Coad supports a call for the leaders of

to resign so that there could be fresh elections. Her predecessor, Victoria Borwick, has claimed that she shared "collective responsibility" for the Grenfell Tower refurbishment, since Dent Coad had (until October 2012) sat on the board of the

which managed the tower. In a council meeting on 8 November 2012, Dent Coad praised the refurbishment announcement of the Grenfell Tower which she said showed that the council had listened to residents. This is usually taken to mean the refurbishment that includes installing the cladding, however as the cladding was installed in the summer of 2016, 4 years after the alleged comment. However, Dent Coad has asked Borwick to retract this claim, arguing that she supported refurbishment in principle to respond to complaints about conditions, but left the TMO around the time that the broad principles of the refurbishment were agreed. She was not present when Rydon was provided with the contract, or when the decision was reportedly taken to save money on external cladding. In a 2014/15 report, in which Dent Coad's name appears, it is reported that the housing scrutiny committee looked at the refurbishment. It is often used to ascribe responsibility to Dent Coad for the cladding, even though the cladding was installed May–June 2016 so the report is actually about a completely different refurbishment. Facing the claim that she was partly responsible, she angrily refuted the accusation, saying: "I didn't make any of the decisions. I didn't sign the document,". Dent Coad issued a detailed rebuttal via a local blog, ''From the Hornet's Nest'', refuting the most common accusations. Dent Coad has been critical of

Universal Credit Universal Credit is a United Kingdom social security payment. It is means-tested and is replacing and combining six benefits for working-age households with a low income: income-related Employment and Support Allowance, income-based Jobseeker's ...

generally and also critical of a decision to roll out Universal Credit in Kensington shortly before Christmas 2018. Claimants must wait five weeks for the first payment which Dent Coad maintains is unacceptable. Dent Coad did not want yet more pain inflicted on families that have, "already lost so much" in the Grenfell fire. Dent Coad said, "It's unthinkable, they're going to have another Christmas now wondering whether they can afford to buy food, let alone presents for their children." Dent Coad stated that asking for advances for Christmas would result in people experiencing, "many future months without enough income to cover their expenses". On 17 June 2022 Dent Coad said, "On this day in 2017, 72 people lost their lives in the Grenfell Tower fire. Half a decade on, families are still waiting for justice – and those with the power to prevent a repeat still aren't willing to use it."

Parliamentary career

Dent Coad was elected as the

(MP) for

at the 2017 snap election when she defeated the sitting

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 i ...

Victoria Borwick Victoria Lorne Peta Borwick, Baroness Borwick (''née'' Poore, 26 April 1956) is a British politician. A member of the Conservative Party, she served as the Member of Parliament for Kensington from 2015 to 2017, losing her seat and becoming the ...

, with a majority of 20 votes, overturning a 7,361 majority from the previous election two years earlier. The declaration was made after three recounts, and was the final result declared of the 2017 UK general election. Dent Coad supported

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialist ...

in the 2016 Labour leadership election. She identifies as a

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

and was a member of the

Socialist Campaign Group The Socialist Campaign Group, officially the Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs and also known as the Campaign Group, is a left-wing, democratic socialist grouping of the Labour Party's Members of Parliament in the House of Commons of the ...

of Labour MPs during her time in parliament. On 29 June 2017, Dent Coad voted against the Labour party whip and for an amendment to the

Queen's Speech A speech from the throne, or throne speech, is an event in certain monarchies in which the reigning sovereign, or a representative thereof, reads a prepared speech to members of the nation's legislature when a Legislative session, session is ...

calling for the UK's continued membership of the Single Market and the

Customs Union A customs union is generally defined as a type of trade bloc which is composed of a free trade area with a common external tariff.GATTArticle 24 s. 8 (a) Customs unions are established through trade pacts where the participant countries set up ...

following Brexit. Dent Coad has stated that she "will always campaign to remain in the EU" as " erwish for

and for the country is to stay within the EU, reform regulations that do not work for us, and spend revenue fairly across the country." Dent Coad is a

republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

: she joined pressure group

Republic A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

in 2005 and is a former board member. In June 2018, she suggested that the Royal family move out of

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

and that it should be open to public access, given the public contribution of one third of a billion pounds to its cost of refurbishment. In the

2019 United Kingdom general election The 2019 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 12 December 2019. It resulted in the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party receiving a Landslide victory, landslide majority of 80 seats. The Conservatives made a net gain of 4 ...

, Dent Coad was defeated by the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

candidate

Felicity Buchan Felicity Christiana Buchan (born 1970) is a British politician serving as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Housing and Homelessness since October 2022. She served as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury from Sep ...

, who at 17,768 votes had a majority over Dent Coad of 150.

Controversy

In September 2017, Dent Coad was the subject of press criticism for comments about

Prince Harry Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, (Henry Charles Albert David; born 15 September 1984) is a member of the British royal family. He is the younger son of Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales. He is fifth in the line of succ ...

and his role as a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

Apache helicopter pilot which she then withdrew. She later said that her remarks had been "a joke" which had been "taken the wrong way". In November 2017, Dent Coad was criticised for retweeting a post on Twitter using a quotation from

Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British novelist, short-story writer, poet, screenwriter, and wartime fighter ace of Norwegian descent. His books have sold more than 250 million copies worldwide. Dahl has be ...

's children's book ''

The Twits ''The Twits'' is a humorous children's book written by Roald Dahl and illustrated by Quentin Blake. It was written in 1979, and first published by Jonathan Cape in 1980. The story features The Twits (Mr. and Mrs. Twit), a spiteful, idle unke ...

'' to suggest that the Prime Minister

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cab ...

was 'ugly' due to her 'ugly thoughts', whereas

had 'good thoughts' and was 'lovely'. Conservative MP George Freeman said: "The re-appearance of misogyny and racial prejudice in Corbyn's Labour Party isn't a surprise". In November 2017, it emerged that Dent Coad had, in 2010, described Shaun Bailey, then a Conservative parliamentary candidate, now a

London Assembly The London Assembly is a 25-member elected body, part of the Greater London Authority, that scrutinises the activities of the Mayor of London and has the power, with a two-thirds super-majority, to amend the Mayor's annual budget and to reject ...

member, as a "token ghetto boy". In the same blog post, she quoted an anonymous former neighbour of Bailey who had described him as a "free-loading scumbag". She wrote that Bailey was being "used" by the Conservative Party and asked: "Who can say where this man will ever fit in, however hard he tries?" She proceeded to state that if Bailey were to win his seat "he will no longer be welcome in North Ken ington. Bailey subsequently called the comments "racist" and "hate-filled". Dent Coad later apologised for "any offence caused".

Personal life

Dent Coad was married to Sir Hadley Gregory D'Oyly, 15th Baronet from 1978 to 1982. In 1984, she married David Blott, with whom she had three children; the couple divorced in 1997. She has lived in

North Kensington North Kensington is an area of west London. It is north of Notting Hill and south of Kensal Green and in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The names North Kensington and Ladbroke Grove describe the same area. North Kensington is w ...

since 1986. After the

, she announced that she had been diagnosed with

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...

on 14 November 2019, and had surgery to remove it on 9 December. Dent Coad stated that she had not announced her diagnosis earlier as she did not want to impact her re-election campaign.

References

External links

Emma Dent Coad
personal blog * * at Official Jeremy Corbyn Channel {{DEFAULTSORT:Dent Coad, Emma 1954 births 21st-century British women politicians Alumni of the Royal College of Art Alumni of the University of Liverpool Councillors in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea English people of Spanish descent English republicans Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Labour Party (UK) councillors Living people People educated at Sacred Heart High School, Hammersmith People from Stepney People from Chelsea, London People from Kensington UK MPs 2017–2019 British republicans English socialists Wives of baronets Women councillors in England