British politician (born 1983)
Laura Elizabeth Kyrke-Smith (born 15 September 1983) is a British politician, academic and charity worker who has been theMember of Parliament (MP) forAylesbury since2024 . A member of theLabour Party , she is the first Labour MP for Aylesbury as well as the first female MP to represent Aylesbury in theHouse of Commons .[ 1]
Kyrke-Smith was born in September 1983 to Peter St. L Kyrke-Smith, son of BHS Kyrke-Smith ofPenbedw estate nearNannerch in Wales, and to Lyndsay Madeleine Pelly, daughter of Peter Jeremy Pelly and his wife Dorothy Joan Hill.[ 2] Hudson's Bay Company governor SirJohn Pelly , 1st Baronet, and through her grandmother her three-times great-grandfather was SirRobert Keith Alexander Dick-Cunyngham , 7/9th Baronet.[ 2]
Kyrke-Smith was state educated before attendingRobinson College, Cambridge , from 2002 to 2005, where she read history and volunteered with the charity Student Action for Refugees.[ 3] London School of Economics (LSE), graduating in 2007.[ 4]
She was chair of the socialist societyLabour Campaign for International Development from 2013 to 2017, and also worked atPortland Communications and in theForeign and Commonwealth Office as a policy analyst.
In 2019 she became the UK Executive Director of theInternational Rescue Committee . From 2021-2024 she was on the Board of theDisasters Emergency Committee (DEC).[ 5] [ 6] [ 7] [ 8] [ 9]
She is credited as a reader-contributor to the 3rd edition ofLonely Planet 's Tanzania[ 10] [ 11]
In the2021 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 theInternational Rescue Committee . In the 2024 general election, she gained the Aylesbury seat fromRob Butler , a member of theConservative Party . Her victory ended a century streak of Conservative and Unionist MPs in Aylesbury, starting in the1924 general election .[ 14]
In September 2024, Kyrke-Smith was appointed to the role of Labour's National Health Mission Delivery Champion.[ 15]
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 fromthe original (PDF) on 6 October 2007. Retrieved8 July 2024 .Kyrke-Smith, Laura (11 December 2007)." .openDemocracy London . Archived fromthe original on 8 July 2024. Retrieved8 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 fromthe original on 24 May 2017. Retrieved9 July 2024 .Beckett, Charlie;Kyrke-Smith, Laura (2007). "1 - 'On the eve of something big in media'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 fromthe original (PDF) on 8 July 2024. Retrieved8 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 fromthe original (PDF) on 8 July 2024. Retrieved8 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 fromthe original (PDF) on 8 July 2024. Retrieved8 July 2024 . Kyrke-Smith, Laura (June 2015). "Social Philanthropists". InKyrke-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 fromthe original (PDF) on 8 July 2024. Retrieved8 July 2024 .Kyrke-Smith, Laura (2017). "7 - Making the Case for Aid: Trump and International Development". InKearns, Ian [in German] ; Murray, Kate (eds.).The Age of Trump: Foreign Policy Challenges for the left Fabian Society . pp. 49– 57.ISBN 9780716341291 . Retrieved8 July 2024 .^ Lowson, James (5 July 2024)."General Election 2024 results: Aylesbury has its first ever Labour MP" .The Bucks Herald . Retrieved5 July 2024 . ^a b Kidd, Charles; Williamson, David; Collins, Lydia; Bierbrier, Morris, eds. (2002).Debrett's Peerage & Baronetage 2003 London :Pan Macmillan . pp. 790– 792.ISBN 978-0-333-66093-5 . Retrieved9 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 . Retrieved5 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 Malden, Massachusetts :Blackwell Publishing . pp. x.ISBN 9781405179232 . Retrieved8 July 2024 . ^ Kyrke-Smith, Laura (11 December 2007)."Laura Kyrke-Smith profile" .openDemocracy London . Archived fromthe original on 8 July 2024. Retrieved8 July 2024 . ^ Fitzpatrick, Mary (2005)."Behind the Scenes" .Tanzania (3rd ed.).Lonely Planet . p. 352.ISBN 978-1-74059-518-6 . Retrieved8 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 . Retrieved8 July 2024 . ^ "Election results for Little Chalfont & Amersham Common, 6 May 2021" .Buckinghamshire.ModernGov.co.uk .Buckinghamshire . 6 May 2021. Archived fromthe original on 9 July 2024. Retrieved9 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 fromthe original on 9 July 2024. Retrieved9 July 2024 . ^ "Aylesbury | General Election 2024" .Sky News . Retrieved5 July 2024 .^ "Aylesbury MP given new role by government to help 'rebuild' NHS" .
Labour Party members of Parliament
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