Jacqueline Anne Harkness Lait (born 16 December 1947) is a British Conservative Party politician and former

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 o ...

(MP) for the constituencies of Hastings and Rye (1992–1997) and

Beckenham Beckenham () is a town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley, in Greater London. Until 1965 it was part of the historic county of Kent. It is located south-east of Charing Cross, situated north of Elmers End and E ...

(1997–2010).

Early life

Lait was born in Paisley,

Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () ( sco, Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Re ...

, attending

Paisley Grammar School Paisley Grammar School is a secondary school in Paisley, the largest town in Renfrewshire, Scotland. The school was founded in 1576 by royal charter of King James VI and is situated on Glasgow Road. The school is recognised as one of Scotland ...

and the

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...

, where she received a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in business management. After graduating, Lait worked in

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. ...

for the jute industry in Dundee later working for the television news agency

Visnews {{nofootnotes, date = March 2016 Visnews was a London-based international news agency. It began as the British Commonwealth International Newsfilm Agency (BCINA), which was setup with help from The Rank Organisation when that company closed its cin ...

. Lait worked for the Government Information Service and later the

Department of Employment The Secretary of State for Employment was a position in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom. In 1995 it was merged with Secretary of State for Education to make the Secretary of State for Education and Employment. In 2001 the employment functions w ...

in 1974. In 1980, Lait joined the Chemical Industries Association as parliamentary adviser. She has also run her own parliamentary consultancy.

Political career

Lait was a candidate for Strathclyde West for the 1984 European elections and the following year stood in the

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

for

Tyne Bridge The Tyne Bridge is a through arch bridge over the River Tyne in North East England, linking Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead. The bridge was designed by the engineering firm Mott, Hay and Anderson, who later designed the Forth Road Bridge, ...

where she finished in third place behind

David Clelland David Gordon Clelland (born 27 June 1943) is a British Labour Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tyne Bridge from the 1985 by-election until the 2010 general election. Early life David Clelland was born in Gateshea ...

and Rod Kenyon. She was selected as the Conservative candidate for Hastings and Rye in April 1991. Lait won the Hastings and Rye seat in the 1992 general election and in 1996 became the first female Conservative Whip. She lost her seat at the 1997 general election, following a dispute with local

fishermen A fisher or fisherman is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishers may be professional or recreati ...

, but later in the same year was elected MP for

via a

after the resignation of

Piers Merchant Piers Rolf Garfield Merchant (2 January 1951 – 21 September 2009) was a British Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Newcastle upon Tyne Central from 1983 to 1987, and then MP for Beckenham from 1992 until he ...

. Upon the election of the new Conservative leader

Iain Duncan Smith Sir George Iain Duncan Smith (born George Ian Duncan Smith; 9 April 1954), often referred to by his initials IDS, is a British politician who served as Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from 2001 to 2003. He was ...

in September 2001, Lait was appointed

Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland The Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland is a member of the UK Shadow Cabinet responsible for the scrutiny of the Secretary of State for Scotland and his/her department, the Scotland Office. The incumbent holder of the office is Ian Murray. ...

. The position had been vacant since 1997 as the Conservatives had no representation in the UK Parliament from Scottish constituencies. Peter Duncan was elected to a Scottish constituency in the 2001 election and he took over as Shadow Scottish Secretary from Lait in 2003 when she became shadow Home Affairs Minister. A

reshuffle A cabinet reshuffle or shuffle occurs when a head of government rotates or changes the composition of ministers in their cabinet, or when the Head of State changes the head of government and a number of ministers. They are more common in parli ...

after the 2005 general election saw her appointed as shadow Minister for London. Two years later, she was handed the additional duties of shadow Minister for Planning. She over-claimed for the mortgage interest on her second home, and was ordered to pay back over £7,000. Lait stood down as an MP at the 2010 general election.

Personal life

Lait is married to Peter Jones, former leader of

East Sussex County Council East Sussex County Council is the local authority for the non-metropolitan county of East Sussex. East Sussex is divided into five local government districts. Three are larger, rural, districts (from west to east: Lewes; Wealden; and Rother). ...

References

External links

Guardian Unlimited Politics – Ask Aristotle: Jacqui Lait MPTheyWorkForYou.com
– Jacqui Lait, MP *
The Public Whip
Jacqui Lait, MP's voting record {{DEFAULTSORT:Lait, Jacqui 1947 births Living people Scottish politicians Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 Scottish businesspeople Alumni of the University of Strathclyde People educated at Paisley Grammar School Politicians from Paisley, Renfrewshire 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