Catherine Helen Atkinson is a British Labour Party politician and barrister serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Derby North since

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

. She defeated Conservative

Amanda Solloway Amanda Jane Solloway (née Edghill, 6 June 1961) is a British politician who served as Lord Commissioner of the Treasury from September 2022 to July 2024 and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Affordability and Skills from February 202 ...

Early life

Two of her grandparents were

Mexican-American Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United State ...

. Atkinson attended Sacred Heart High School, Hammersmith. She graduated a

Master of Divinity For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and ...

from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

. She studied law at

City, University of London City, University of London was a public university from 1966 to 2024 in London, England. It merged with St George's, University of London to form City St George's, University of London in August 2024. The names "City, University of London" an ...

. She was called to the bar at Deka Chambers in 2006; her colleague Jake Richards was also elected as a Labour MP at the 2024 General Election.

Political career

Atkinson first stood to become a Member of Parliament in the

2005 United Kingdom general election The 2005 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 5 May 2005, to elect List of MPs elected in the 2005 United Kingdom general election, 646 members to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons. The governing Labo ...

in the London constituency of Kensington and Chelsea, where she lost to incumbent Conservative MP Sir Malcolm Rifkind. In 2006, she was elected as a Labour Councillor for the

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (often known by its initialism as RBKC) is an Inner London, Inner London borough with Royal borough, royal status. It is the List of English districts by area, smallest borough in London and the secon ...

. In May 2009, an unsuccessful motion was put forward to elect Atkinson as the next

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

of Kensington and Chelsea. Her tenure on the council ended in 2010. After a brief time away from public politics in the early 2010s, Atkinson stood for election three successive times at the

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

and

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

general elections in Erewash, coming second on each occasion. Following her candidacy in Erewash, Atkinson was selected as the Labour candidate for Derby North in July 2022, where she would later successfully win the seat with 18,619 votes in the

2024 United Kingdom general election The 2024 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 4 July 2024 to elect all 650 members of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons. The opposition Labour Party (UK), Labour Party, led by Keir Starmer, won a lan ...

. As Derby North's MP, she is now a member of the Commons' Transport Select Committee and an officer of four All Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs), focused on justice, rail and nuclear energy.

Personal life

Her husband, Daniel, served in Afghanistan and worked as a firefighter with Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service.

References

External links

* Living people Alumni of City, University of London Alumni of the University of Edinburgh UK MPs 2024–present Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies English people of American descent English people of Mexican descent British women lawyers Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Year of birth missing (living people) {{Labour-UK-MP-stub