Laura Jean Moffatt (''
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
'' Field; born 9 April 1954) is a British
Labour Party politician who was 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
Crawley
Crawley () is a large town and borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a population of 106,597 at the time of th ...
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 t ...
until
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
.
Early life
Born Laura Jean Field in London in 1954, she was educated at
Hazelwick School
Hazelwick School is a co-educational comprehensive school with academy status for pupils aged 11 to 18, located in Crawley, West Sussex, England.
History
Hazelwick School was built in 1953 as part of developing Crawley as a new town and wa ...
in
Crawley
Crawley () is a large town and borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a population of 106,597 at the time of th ...
,
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...
before attending the Crawley College of Technology (now renamed
Central Sussex College
Crawley College is a college of further education in West Sussex. It offers courses ranging from Sixth form and Adult education to undergraduate courses through partnerships with universities.
History
Crawley College was formed in 2017 after a ...
).
From 1975 until her election to 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. ...
in 1997, she worked as a
state registered nurse
Nursing in the United Kingdom has a long history. The current form of nursing is often considered as beginning with Florence Nightingale who pioneered modern nursing. Nightingale initiated formal schools of nursing in the United Kingdom in the l ...
at
Crawley Hospital
Crawley Hospital is a National Health Service hospital in Crawley, a town and borough in West Sussex, England. Since 2006 it has been part of the Sussex Community NHS Trust, which has overall management responsibility. Surrey and Sussex Healthc ...
. She joined the Labour Party in 1979 and was elected to
Crawley Borough Council
Crawley Borough Council is the local authority for the borough of Crawley, in the county of West Sussex, England. The council consists of 35 councillors, either two or three for each of the 13 wards in the district. It is currently controlled by t ...
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
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 ...
MP
Nicholas Soames
Arthur Nicholas Winston Soames, Baron Soames of Fletching, (born 12 February 1948) is a British Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Mid Sussex from 1997 to 2019, having previously served as the MP for ...
. For the following election she was again selected as the Labour candidate, though this time through an
all-women shortlist
All-women shortlists (AWS) is an affirmative action practice intended to increase the proportion of female Members of Parliament (MPs) in the United Kingdom, allowing only women to stand in particular constituencies for a particular political p ...
.
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 served variously as a
Parliamentary Private Secretary
A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...
(PPS) to the
Lord Chancellor
The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. The ...
Derry Irvine (2001–03); the
Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs
The secretary of state for constitutional affairs was a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the business of the Department for Constitutional Affairs. The position existed from 2003 to 2007 ...
Charles Falconer (2003–05); the
Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
The secretary of state for work and pensions, also referred to as the work and pensions secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the business of the Department for Work and P ...
David Blunkett
David Blunkett, Baron Blunkett, (born 6 June 1947) is a British Labour Party politician who has been a Member of the House of Lords since 2015, and previously served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough ...
(2005); the
Minister of State
Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...
at the
Department for Education and Skills Jacqui Smith
Jacqueline Jill Smith (born 3 November 1962) is a British broadcaster, political commentator and former Labour Party politician. She was Member of Parliament (MP) for Redditch from 1997 to 2010. She served as Home Secretary from 2007 to 2009 ...
(2005–06), and from 2006 served as the PPS to
Alan Johnson
Alan Arthur Johnson (born 17 May 1950) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Education and Skills from 2006 to 2007, Secretary of State for Health from 2007 to 2009, Home Secretary from 2009 to 2010, and Shadow Chancel ...
initially as
Secretary of State for Education and Skills
The secretary of state for education, also referred to as the education secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department for Education. The incumbent is a member of the Ca ...
and since 2007 as
Secretary of State for Health
The secretary of state for health and social care, also referred to as the health secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, responsible for the work of the Department of Health and Social Care. The incumbent ...
. From 1997 to 2001 she served as a member of the
Defence Select Committee
The Defence Select Committee is one of the Select Committees of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, having been established in 1979. It examines the expenditure, administration, and policy of the Ministry of Defence and its associated pub ...
.
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.
Personal life
She married Colin Moffatt in 1975 in Crawley and they have three sons. She lives in the
Broadfield area of the town.
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 wrote: "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."
Moffatt has said she has felt unsafe travelling late at night on trains as she has been the victim of a
flasher on two occasions on a late night train. 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.
References
External links
Official Website*
ttps://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/laura_moffatt/crawley TheyWorkForYou.com – Laura Moffatt MPbr>
BBC Politics Profile
News items
Supporting Muslim women after London bombings in 2005Having the support of John Prescott in 2005
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moffatt, Laura
1954 births
20th-century British women politicians
21st-century British women politicians
People educated at Hazelwick School
Councillors in West Sussex
English nurses
Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
Living people
Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Mayors of places in West Sussex
People from Battersea
People from Crawley
UK MPs 1997–2001
UK MPs 2001–2005
UK MPs 2005–2010
Women mayors of places in England
20th-century English women
20th-century English people
21st-century English women
21st-century English people
Women councillors in England