Barbara Roche - Biography

Barbara Maureen Roche (née Margolis, born 13 April 1954) is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hornsey and Wood Green from 1992 until 2005, when she lost the seat, despite having previously enjoyed a majority of over 10,500.

During her time in Government, she held several ministerial offices; Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry, 1997–1998; Financial Secretary to the Treasury, 1999; Minister of State, Home Office, 1999–2001; Cabinet Office, 2001–2002; Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, 2002-2003.

She was educated at the Jews Free School, Camden Town and Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford where she achieved a Bachelor of Arts. She trained to be a barrister and was called to the bar at the Middle Temple, 1977.

She first stood for Parliament in the 1984 Surrey South-West by-election, before standing in Hornsey and Wood Green in 1987. First elected to Parliament in 1992, she saw her majority soar to 20,500 in 1997 (including polling 26,000 votes more than the Lib Dem candidate who eventually unseated her). However, by 2001 her majority had almost halved to 10,500, and in 2005 she unexpectedly lost her seat on a large 14.6% swing. Factors in her defeat include her association with many of the government's more unpopular policies, such as the crucial 26 March 2003 vote on the war on Iraq, with The Times describing her in 2005 as "a fiercely loyal Labour MP, who has only rebelled against the Government in four out of 1570 votes."

She is an avid theatre-goer and reader of detective fiction. Since her defeat in 2005, she has recently been attempting to re-enter the Commons, seeking the Labour Party nomination and being shortlisted in the 'safe' Labour seats of Stockton North, Houghton & Sunderland South, Wigan, and Stalybridge & Hyde but has not been selected for any of them, despite the support of the Labour-affiliated Unite union.

External links

External links

• They Work For You - Barbara Roche
• Barbara Roche