Joanna Mary Gideon (born 7 November 1952) is a British

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 ...

politician, who has been the

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 Stoke-on-Trent Central constituency since the 2019 general election.

Early life and career

Gideon studied at Stourbridge High School, and then earned a degree (BA Hons in German) from the

University of Birmingham , mottoeng = Through efforts to heights , established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...

. She has worked in higher education as a small business owner and a social entrepreneur: she ran a business importing and selling handmade paper.

Political career

Gideon contested the

marginal seat A marginal seat or swing seat is a constituency held with a small majority in a legislative election, generally one conducted under a single-winner voting system. In Canada, they may be known as target ridings. The opposite is a safe seat. The ...

Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an industrial town and unparished area in the unitary authority of North Lincolnshire in Lincolnshire, England of which it is the main administrative centre. Scunthorpe had an estimated total population of 82,334 in 2016. A pre ...

at the 2015 general election, but lost to the

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

incumbent,

Nic Dakin Sir Nicholas Dakin (born 10 July 1955) is a British Labour politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Scunthorpe from 2010 to 2019. He was the Shadow Minister for Schools from 2015 to 2016, Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of C ...

. At the

2017 general election This national electoral calendar for 2017 lists the national/federal elections held in 2017 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 November ...

, she stood in another marginal seat, Great Grimsby, and finished 2,565 votes behind Labour's sitting MP,

Melanie Onn Melanie Onn (born 19 June 1979) is a British former politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Great Grimsby from 2015 to 2019. A member of the Labour Party, she previously served as Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Commons from ...

. Gideon was elected to

Ashford Borough Council Ashford may refer to: Places Australia *Ashford, New South Wales *Ashford, South Australia *Electoral district of Ashford, South Australia Ireland *Ashford, County Wicklow *Ashford Castle, County Galway United Kingdom *Ashford, Kent, a town **B ...

in May 2019 as a borough councillor, where she was a cabinet member for Community Safety & Wellbeing. She stood down as councillor following her election to Parliament in December 2019, when she narrowly gained Stoke-on-Trent Central from Labour for the Conservatives, it being the third marginal seat she had stood for election in. She has also worked as an aide to

Damian Green Damian Howard Green (born 17 January 1956) is a British politician who served as First Secretary of State and Minister for the Cabinet Office from June to December 2017 in the Second May government. A member of the Conservative Party, he has b ...

, former Cabinet minister and MP for

Ashford Ashford may refer to: Places Australia *Ashford, New South Wales *Ashford, South Australia *Electoral district of Ashford, South Australia Ireland *Ashford, County Wicklow *Ashford Castle, County Galway United Kingdom * Ashford, Kent, a town ** ...

since

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 t ...

Personal life

Gideon was previously married, she has two sons, and a daughter, actress

Ingrid Oliver Ingrid Oliver (born 25 February 1977) is a British actress and comedian, and one half of the comic double act ''Watson & Oliver''. She is known for playing List of UNIT personnel#Petronella Osgood, Petronella Osgood, a supporting character in th ...

. She lists her recreations as "theatre, travel, family".

References

External links

* * https://www.politicshome.com/thehouse/article/class-of-2019-meet-the-new-mps 1952 births Living people UK MPs 2019–present Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies 21st-century British women politicians Alumni of the University of Birmingham Conservative Party (UK) councillors Councillors in Kent Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies People from Birmingham, West Midlands 21st-century English women 21st-century English people Women councillors in England {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1950s-stub