Wera Hobhouse | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2024 | |
| Member of Parliament forBath | |
| Assumed office 8 June 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Ben Howlett |
| Majority | 11,218 (23.3%) |
| Rochdale Borough Councillor forNorden | |
| In office 2004–2014 | |
| Liberal Democrat portfolios | |
| 2017–2019 | Communities and Local Government |
| 2019–2020 | Environment and Climate Change |
| 2019, 2020–2022 | Justice |
| 2019–2020, 2022–2024 | Transport |
| 2020, 2022–2024 | Energy and Climate Change |
| 2020–2022 | Women and Equalities |
| 2020–2024 | Leader of the House of Commons |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Wera Benedicta von Reden (1960-02-08)8 February 1960 (age 65) Hanover,Lower Saxony,West Germany |
| Citizenship |
|
| Political party | Liberal Democrats (2005–present) |
| Other political affiliations | Conservative (until 2005) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 4 |
| Alma mater | |
| Website | www |
Wera Benedicta Hobhouse (néevon Reden, 8 February 1960) is a British-GermanLiberal Democrat politician who has been theMember of Parliament (MP) forBath since2017.
Hobhouse has previously served on theLiberal Democrat front bench as spokesperson forCommunities and Local Government,Environment, Food and Rural Affairs,Transport,Energy and Climate Change, and as the ShadowLeader of the House of Commons.[1]
Wera von Reden was born on 8 February 1960 inHanover.[2] She studied history and fine art at theUniversity of Münster and then studied art for two years at theÉcole des Beaux-Arts inParis. She then moved back to Germany, completing amaster's degree in history and fine art at theFree University of Berlin.[3] She married William Hobhouse in 1989 and moved to England the following year. They first lived inLiverpool, where she opened an art gallery onFalkner Street;[3] in 1999 they moved toRochdale.[4] Prior to her political career, she was a teacher, radio journalist and artist.[2][5][6][7]
Hobhouse was first elected in 2004 as aConservative councillor for the ward ofNorden onRochdale Council,Greater Manchester. Her political career in Rochdale was defined by theSpodden Valley asbestos controversy, which was the proposed development of 650 homes on an asbestos-contaminated site.[8] Hobhouse and her husband opposed the proposals, leading them to defect to theLiberal Democrats in 2005. They were criticised at the time for not triggering by-elections to seek fresh mandates as Liberal Democrat councillors.[9][10] The development was successfully blocked in 2011.[11]
Hobhouse was re-elected in 2006 and 2010 for the Liberal Democrats in Norden.[12][13] The Liberal Democrats assumed majority control of Rochdale Council in 2007; Hobhouse served as the cabinet member for the environment between 2006 and 2009 and chaired the health scrutiny committee from 2009 to 2010. After the Liberal Democrats lost majority control of the council in 2010, Hobhouse was elected as the leader of the much-reduced Liberal Democrat group on Rochdale Council in May 2011.[14] In July 2011, Hobhouse accused a council officer of failing to act impartially but later apologised after the council officer began legal action for defamation.[15]
In 2014, she retired as a councillor for Norden and moved toBath.[3] In the local elections of May 2015 she stood unsuccessfully for election to theBath and North East Somerset Council in thePeasedown ward.[16] On the same day, at the2015 general election, Hobhouse unsuccessfully contested the constituency ofNorth East Somerset,[17] finishing fourth with 7.9% of the vote behind the incumbent Conservative MPJacob Rees-Mogg, the Labour candidate, and theUKIP candidate.[18][19]
Hobhouse stood as the Liberal Democrat candidate inHeywood and Middleton at the2010 general election,[20] coming third with 22.7% of the vote behind the incumbentLabour MPJim Dobbin and theConservative candidate.[21]
In 2017, Hobhouse was selected as the Liberal Democratprospective parliamentary candidate for the constituency ofBath.[22] Hobhouse stood on a pro-European platform which emphasised housing, education, congestion and pollution concerns, as well as opposition to the incumbent Conservative MP's plans to link theA46 andA36 roads together. Her party emphasised the need forLabour supporters to vote tactically for Hobhouse to defeat the Conservatives.[5][23] At the snap2017 general election, Hobhouse was elected to Parliament as the MP for Bath with 47.3% of the vote and a majority of 5,694 votes.[24][25]
Following her election, Hobhouse was appointed as the Liberal Democrat spokesperson forhousing, communities and local government.[26][27] She made hermaiden speech on 29 June 2017, and sat on theCommittee on Exiting the European Union.[28][27]
On 6 March 2018, Hobhouse presented aPrivate Members' Bill to amend theSexual Offences Act 2003; her bill aimed to outlaw acts ofvoyeurism, especiallyupskirting, which were not then explicitly covered by UK law.[29][30]Justice SecretaryDavid Gauke signalled that the government would support Hobhouse's bill,[31] which was later supported by thePrime Minister,Theresa May.[32] Hobhouse's bill was not debated at its presentation in theHouse of Commons.[33] At its second reading in the Commons on 15 June 2018, Conservative MPChristopher Chope objected to Hobhouse's bill, preventing its passage through the Commons.[34] The Prime Minister,Theresa May, expressed her disappointment at the objection.[35] Following his objection, the government reaffirmed its commitment to introduce legislation to outlaw upskirting.[36] A government bill to outlaw upskirting was introduced to the House of Commons on 21 June 2018;[37][38] and passed its second reading on 3 July 2018 to become theVoyeurism (Offences) Act 2019.[38]
In an interview withHuffPost UK published in May 2018, Hobhouse warned against what she described as a "toxic" immigration debate in the UK. She acknowledged her party's limited resources following its electoral collapse at the2015 general election, and affirmed that she was happy withVince Cable as the party's leader. She urged the party to do more to increase its diversity.[26] In July 2018, Hobhouse was criticised for claiming £4,800 in parliamentary expenses for a heavy duty colour printer. Defending her actions, Hobhouse said that she had saved the taxpayer £40,000 by taking over the lease from Bath's previous MP and that she required the printer for her constituency letters.[39][40] In October 2018, Hobhouse's constituency office announced that it had completed 6,000 pieces of casework.[41]
In February 2019, Hobhouse was made theLiberal Democrat spokesperson for the environment and climate change.[42] In this capacity, Hobhouse pushed for an end to mostcarbon emissions by 2030, and for net-zero carbon emissions to be achieved by 2045 at the latest.[43] This became the policy position of the Liberal Democrats at their conference in September 2019, where Hobhouse gave a keynote speech on tackling theclimate crisis.[44] Among the proposals that she has promoted to meet these targets, Hobhouse has called for a permanent ban on fracking, for increased investment in renewable energy, for greater powers to be given to local authorities to cut emissions, and for all airport expansion to be halted until a replacement can be found for jet fuel.[43]
At the2019 general election, Hobhouse was re-elected as MP for Bath with an increased vote share of 54.5% and an increased majority of 12,322.[45][46]
In February 2020, Hobhouse announced that she would stand in the2020 Liberal Democrats leadership election, before withdrawing in June and endorsingLayla Moran.[47][48]
Hobhouse is a former member of the governing council of theElectoral Reform Society.[49] She supports proportional representation for UK elections and claims that thecoalition government's failure to secure electoral reform was its "biggest disappointment".[7]
Hobhouse supportedabortion reform inNorthern Ireland,[50] and has supported a campaign to improve the treatment of eating disorders, including by leading a parliamentary debate on destigmatising them.[51][52][53] In local politics, she launched a petition to fund a large police station for the city.[54]
In May 2021, alongside celebrities and other public figures, Hobhouse was a signatory to an open letter fromStylist magazine which called on the government to address what it described as an "epidemic of male violence" by funding an "ongoing, high-profile, expert-informed awareness campaign on men's violence against women and girls".[55]
Hobhouse introduced a Private Members' Bill, theWorker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Bill, in the House of Commons to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace, which was thought would force a culture change in employment. The Bill was passed on 20 October 2023.[56][57]
At the2024 general election, Hobhouse was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 41.3% and a decreased majority of 11,218,[58] but lost her place in the frontbench team. She is a member of theEnergy Security and Net Zero Select Committee.
Hobhouse has been married to the businessman William Hobhouse since 1989.[3] They both cite the fall of theBerlin Wall as a pivotal moment in their lives, which they witnessed when they lived in Germany.[7][59] They have four children, two sons and two daughters.[2][5] Shenaturalised as a British citizen in 2007.[26][60]
Hobhouse is a Christian.[26] Although her mother and grandmother identified as Christian, her great-grandfather wasJewish; which meant that her family waspersecuted under theNuremberg Laws.[6] Hobhouse is fluent in English, German and French.[23] She citesBarack Obama andWilliam Wilberforce as her political idols.[61]
In April 2025, on arriving inHong Kong to visit her son and newborn grandson who are resident there, Hobhouse was refused entry to Hong Kong and was deported. She was given no explanation.[62]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forBath 2017–present | Incumbent |
