British politician (born 1983)
Laura Kyrke-Smith
Official portrait, 2024
Assumed office 4 July 2024Preceded by Rob Butler Majority 630 (1.3%)
Born Laura Elizabeth Kyrke-Smith
(1983-09-15 ) 15 September 1983 (age 41) Political party Labour Website www .lauraforaylesbury .org
Laura Elizabeth Kyrke-Smith (born 15 September 1983) is a British politician, academic and charity worker who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Aylesbury since 2024 . A member of the Labour Party , she is the first Labour MP for Aylesbury as well as the first female MP to represent Aylesbury in the House of Commons .[ 1]
Biography
Kyrke-Smith was born in September 1983 to Peter St. L Kyrke-Smith, son of BHS Kyrke-Smith of Penbedw estate near Nannerch in Wales, and to Lyndsay Madeleine Pelly, daughter of Peter Jeremy Pelly and his wife Dorothy Joan Hill.[ 2] On her maternal side, through her grandfather her four-times great grandfather was the Hudson's Bay Company governor Sir John Pelly , 1st Baronet, and through her grandmother her three-times great-grandfather was Sir Robert Keith Alexander Dick-Cunyngham , 7/9th Baronet.[ 2]
Kyrke-Smith was state educated before attending Robinson College, Cambridge , from 2002 to 2005, where she read history and volunteered with the charity Student Action for Refugees.[ 3] She then went on to study for an MSc in international relations at the London School of Economics (LSE), graduating in 2007.[ 4]
She was chair of the socialist society Labour Campaign for International Development from 2013 to 2017, and also worked at Portland Communications and in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as a policy analyst.
In 2019 she became the UK Executive Director of the International Rescue Committee . From 2021-2024 she was on the Board of the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC). [ 5] [ 6] [ 7] She previously worked as an assistant to Professor Charlie Beckett[ 8] at the Polis media project at the LSE.[ 9]
She is credited as a reader-contributor to the 3rd edition of Lonely Planet 's Tanzania[ 10] and 2nd edition of The Rough Guide to Tanzania[ 11] guidebooks.
In the 2021 Buckinghamshire Council elections Kyrke-Smith ran for Labour in the Little Chalfont & Amersham Common ward coming 8th out of the eleven candidates with 448 votes.[ 12] [ 13]
Since 2013, Kyrke-Smith has served as UK Executive Director of the International Rescue Committee . In the 2024 general election, she gained the Aylesbury seat from Rob Butler , a member of the Conservative Party . Her victory ended a century streak of Conservative and Unionist MPs in Aylesbury, starting in the 1924 general election .[ 14]
In September 2024, Kyrke-Smith was appointed to the role of Labour's National Health Mission Delivery Champion.[ 15]
Bibliography
Editor
Author
Kyrke-Smith, Laura (October 2007). Berry, Craig (ed.). "Information Intervention and the case of Kosovo: Realising the Responsibility to Protect" (PDF) . Knowledge Politics Quarterly . 1 (1). Knowledge Politics. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 October 2007. Retrieved 8 July 2024 .
Kyrke-Smith, Laura (11 December 2007). " "Information intervention": A Test of Democratic Intent" . openDemocracy . London . Archived from the original on 8 July 2024. Retrieved 8 July 2024 .
Kyrke-Smith, Laura (12 December 2007). "Kosovo: is the media wishing for war?" (PDF) . Polis Blog (London School of Economics and Political Science ) . London : London School of Economics . p. 1. Archived from the original on 24 May 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2024 .
Beckett, Charlie; Kyrke-Smith, Laura (2007). "1 - 'On the eve of something big in media' ". In Beckett, Charlie; Kyrke-Smith, Laura (eds.). Development, governance and the media: The role of the media in building African society (PDF) (1st ed.). London : POLIS – Journalism and Society (London School of Economics and Political Science ). pp. 12–20. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 July 2024. Retrieved 8 July 2024 .
Kyrke-Smith, Laura (2007). "7 - The view from the Nigerian newsroom". In Beckett, Charlie; Kyrke-Smith, Laura (eds.). Development, governance and the media: The role of the media in building African society (PDF) (1st ed.). London : POLIS – Journalism and Society (London School of Economics and Political Science ). pp. 56–57. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 July 2024. Retrieved 8 July 2024 .
Beckett, Charlie; Kyrke-Smith, Laura (2007). "8 - The future of African journalism". In Beckett, Charlie; Kyrke-Smith, Laura (eds.). Development, governance and the media: The role of the media in building African society (PDF) (1st ed.). London : POLIS – Journalism and Society (London School of Economics and Political Science ). pp. 58–66. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 July 2024. Retrieved 8 July 2024 .
Kyrke-Smith, Laura (June 2015). "Social Philanthropists". In Kyrke-Smith, Laura ; Le Masson, Charlotte (eds.). Communicating Global Giving: The Power of Communications in the Era of Philanthropy (PDF) (1st ed.). Strand, London : Thinking Publications (Portland Communications ). pp. 24–25. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 July 2024. Retrieved 8 July 2024 .
Kyrke-Smith, Laura (2017). "7 - Making the Case for Aid: Trump and International Development". In Kearns, Ian [in German] ; Murray, Kate (eds.). The Age of Trump: Foreign Policy Challenges for the left (1st ed.). London: Fabian Society . pp. 49–57. ISBN 9780716341291 . Retrieved 8 July 2024 .
References
^ Lowson, James (5 July 2024). "General Election 2024 results: Aylesbury has its first ever Labour MP" . The Bucks Herald . Retrieved 5 July 2024 .
^ a b Kidd, Charles; Williamson, David; Collins, Lydia; Bierbrier, Morris, eds. (2002). Debrett's Peerage & Baronetage 2003 (2003 ed.). London : Pan Macmillan . pp. 790–792. ISBN 978-0-333-66093-5 . Retrieved 9 July 2024 .
^ "Bin Brook" , Easter 2023, p. 5. Robinson College, Cambridge . Retrieved 20 July 2024.
^ "Laura Kyrke-Smith" . LinkedIn . Retrieved 20 July 2024.
^ Legraien, Léa (11 March 2024). "Charity leader selected as Labour Party candidate" . Civil Society . Retrieved 5 July 2024 .
^ Preston, Rob (24 May 2024). "Charity leaders take leave to campaign as parliamentary candidates" . Civil Society .
^ "IRC announces Laura Kyrke-Smith as new UK Executive Director" , International Rescue Committee, 22 January 2020. Retrieved on 5 July 2024.
^ Beckett, Charlie (2008). "Acknowledgments". SuperMedia: Saving Journalism So It Can Save the World (1st ed.). Malden, Massachusetts : Blackwell Publishing . pp. x. ISBN 9781405179232 . Retrieved 8 July 2024 .
^ Kyrke-Smith, Laura (11 December 2007). "Laura Kyrke-Smith profile" . openDemocracy . London . Archived from the original on 8 July 2024. Retrieved 8 July 2024 .
^ Fitzpatrick, Mary (2005). "Behind the Scenes" . Tanzania (3rd ed.). Lonely Planet . p. 352. ISBN 978-1-74059-518-6 . Retrieved 8 July 2024 .
^ Finke, Jens (April 2006). "Small Print - Readers Letters" . The Rough Guide to Tanzania (2nd ed.). London : Rough Guides . p. 802. ISBN 978-1-84353-531-7 . Retrieved 8 July 2024 .
^ "Election results for Little Chalfont & Amersham Common, 6 May 2021" . Buckinghamshire.ModernGov.co.uk . Buckinghamshire . 6 May 2021. Archived from the original on 9 July 2024. Retrieved 9 July 2024 .
^ Wareham, Stephanie (5 May 2021). "Everyone you can vote for in the Buckinghamshire Council elections on May 6" . Bucks Free Press . Loudwater, Buckinghamshire : Newsquest . Archived from the original on 9 July 2024. Retrieved 9 July 2024 .
^ "Aylesbury | General Election 2024" . Sky News . Retrieved 5 July 2024 .
^ "Aylesbury MP given new role by government to help 'rebuild' NHS" .
External links
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