Katie Ghose

Last updated

Katie Ghose
Born
Katie Sushila Ratna Ghose

1970
Shoreham by Sea, Sussex, England, UK
Alma mater Somerville College, Oxford
Known forcharity chief executive

Katie Sushila Ratna Ghose (born July 1970) is a British charity chief executive and campaigner. In September 2019 she was appointed chief executive of KIDS, a national charity for disabled children and young people. [1]

Contents

She was previously Chief Executive of the Women's Aid Federation of England [2] [3] and the Electoral Reform Society. [4]

Personal life and education

Ghose was born in Shoreham by Sea, Sussex, to an Indian father and English mother. She went to Boundstone Community College in Lancing, Sussex and Brighton, Hove & Sussex Sixth Form College. Ghose read law at Somerville College, Oxford. During her time at Oxford, she was editor of the student newspaper Cherwell. [5] She then studied for a master's degree in Political Science at the University of California, Riverside. [6]

Career

In the early part of her career Ghose worked in politics, law and charities. [6] She worked as a parliamentary researcher and senior caseworker for a Labour MP Greville Janner (1992-1994) and was then Parliamentary Officer for the National Association of Citizens Advice Bureaux (1994–1995). Ghose qualified and practised as a barrister (1997–1999), specialising in immigration, family and Human Rights law. Following her two-year law career she wrote Beyond the Courtroom: a lawyer's guide to campaigning, which was published by the Legal Action Group in 2005.

On her return to the charity sector Ghose worked for the Child Accident Prevention Trust (1999–2000) and for Age Concern (2000–2005) as their National Campaigns and Parliamentary Affairs Manager, leading campaigns to protect older workers from discrimination and to oppose unfair hospital charges.

In 2005 she was appointed Director of the British Institute of Human Rights, providing charities, hospitals and care homes with practical support and training about human rights in England.

She joined the Electoral Reform Society as Chief Executive in 2010, and was a regular media commentator on elections and voter disengagement. Ghose is currently an independent council member of the University of Sussex and a trustee of St George's House, Windsor Castle. She was a board member of the US democracy group Fair Vote (2010–2017) and a trustee and Company Secretary of Stonewall (2005–2011) and was chair of two charities, Asylum Aid (1997–1999) and Bail for Immigration Detainees (2002–2004). She also served as a Commissioner on the Independent Asylum Commission from 2006 to 2008.

Politics

Ghose served as CEO of Women's Aid from 2017 to 2019. She left by mutual agreement after video emerged of her online thanking UKIP and particularly the party's then-MP Douglas Carswell for their support for electoral reform . [7]

After serving as a parliamentary aide to Labour MP Greville Janner Ghose sought selection as a Labour Party Parliamentary candidate in a number of constituencies prior to the 2015 general election. Her applications to represent constituencies as diverse as Grimsby, Stoke-on-Trent North, Brighton Kemptown and York were all unsuccessful.

2011 AV referendum

Ghose became Chief Executive of the Electoral Reform Society in the autumn of 2010, during which she worked for six months as chair of the unsuccessful 'Yes! to Fairer Votes' campaign.[ citation needed ]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greville Janner</span> British politician and barrister (1928–2015)

Greville Ewan Janner, Baron Janner of Braunstone, was a British politician, barrister and writer. He became a Labour Party Member of Parliament for Leicester in the 1970 general election as a last-minute candidate, succeeding his father. He was an MP until 1997, and then elevated to the House of Lords. Never a frontbencher, Janner was particularly known for his work on Select Committees; he chaired the Select Committee on Employment for a time. He was associated with a number of Jewish organisations including the Board of Deputies of British Jews, of which he was chairman from 1978 to 1984, and was later prominent in the field of education about the Holocaust.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbara Follett (politician)</span> British Labour Party politician

Daphne Barbara Follett is a British Labour Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Stevenage from 1997 to 2010. During this time she held several parliamentary and ministerial positions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meg Hillier</span> British Labour Co-op politician

Dame Margaret Olivia Hillier, known as Meg Hillier, is a British Labour and Co-operative politician who was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hackney South and Shoreditch at the 2005 general election, was a junior government minister (2007–10) and was succeeded by Caroline Flint as Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change in the Labour Party October 2011 reshuffle. She has chaired the Public Accounts Committee since 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electoral Reform Society</span> British advocacy group for electoral reform

The Electoral Reform Society (ERS) is an independent campaigning organisation based in the United Kingdom which promotes electoral reform. It seeks to replace first-past-the-post voting with proportional representation, advocating the single transferable vote, and replacing the House of Lords. It is the world's oldest operating organisation concerned with political and electoral reform.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hartlepool (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom

Hartlepool is a borough constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Jill Mortimer of the Conservative Party from 2021. The constituency covers the town of Hartlepool plus nearby settlements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darren Hughes</span> New Zealand politician

Darren Colyn Hughes is a New Zealand former Member of Parliament between 2002 and 2011, first elected at the age of 24. He represented the Labour Party and was a Minister outside Cabinet in the Fifth Labour Government of New Zealand.

Women's Aid Federation of England, commonly called Women's Aid within England, is one of a group of charities across the United Kingdom. There are four main Women's Aid Federations, one for each of the countries of the United Kingdom. Its aim is to end domestic violence against women and children. The charity works at both local and national levels to ensure women's safety from domestic violence and promotes policies and practices to prevent domestic violence.

Oxford Student Publications Limited (OSPL) is an independent student publishing house in Oxford that publishes the Cherwell student newspaper, The Isis student magazine, The Oxford Scientist, formerly Bang Science Magazine, PHASER, Keep Off the Grass freshers' magazine and Industry fashion magazine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barnett Janner</span> British politician (1892–1982)

Barnett Janner, Baron Janner was a British politician who was elected as a Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) and later as a Labour MP.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zerbanoo Gifford</span>

Zerbanoo Gifford is a British writer and human rights campaigner of Indian Zoroastrian origin. She is honorary director of the ASHA Foundation, which she founded.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bridget Phillipson</span> British Labour politician

Bridget Maeve Phillipson is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Houghton and Sunderland South since 2010. She was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Education in the Shadow Cabinet of Keir Starmer in 2021. Prior to this, she served as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2020 to 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan Elan Jones</span> British Labour politician

Susan Elan Jones is a former British Labour Party politician, who was elected at the 2010 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Clwyd South, replacing the previous Labour MP Martyn Jones after his retirement. She returned to the voluntary sector after leaving Parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kate Parminter, Baroness Parminter</span> British politician (born 1964)

Kathryn Jane Parminter, Baroness Parminter is a Liberal Democrat life peer, and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords of the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">YES! To Fairer Votes</span> UK political campaign

YES! To Fairer Votes was a political campaign in the United Kingdom whose purpose was to persuade the public to vote in favour of the Alternative Vote (AV) in the referendum on Thursday, 5 May 2011. YES! To Fairer Votes was unsuccessful in changing the voting system, with 32.1% of votes cast in favour. It was opposed by the anti-reform campaign NOtoAV.

On 15 November 2012, a by-election was held for the UK House of Commons constituency of Corby. The election was held on the same day as by-elections in Cardiff South and Penarth and Manchester Central, the first direct election for the post of Mayor of Bristol, and the first Police and Crime Commissioner elections. Andy Sawford, the Labour Party candidate, won with 48% of the vote. The Conservatives' and Liberal Democrats' vote dropped significantly and UKIP came third with their highest-ever vote in a parliamentary by-election to that date.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarah Champion</span> British Labour politician

Sarah Deborah Champion is a British Labour Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rotherham since 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jane Collins</span> Brexit Party politician

Jane Maria Collins is a British politician and horse show-jumper who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Yorkshire and the Humber from 2014 to 2019. She was elected in May 2014 as a member of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), but defected to the Brexit Party in 2019 in the last months of her membership of the European Parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maria Caulfield</span> British Conservative politician

Maria Colette Caulfield is a British politician and nurse serving as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Mental Health and Women's Health Strategy and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Women since October 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vote Leave</span> Organization that campaigned for UK withdrawal from the EU

Vote Leave was a campaigning organisation that supported a "Leave" vote in the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum. On 13 April 2016 it was designated by the Electoral Commission as the official campaign in favour of leaving the European Union in the Referendum.

Daniel Joseph Mitchell Janner is a British King's Counsel, specialising in criminal law. He is the founder of the FAIR campaign, through which he has played a key role in pushing for legislation to give anonymity to those accused of sex offences.

References

  1. "KIDS Appoints New Chief Executive". KIDS. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  2. "Our CEO". Women's Aid. Retrieved 2 October 2017.
  3. "Women's Aid chief Katie Ghose steps down after publicly praising Ukip". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  4. "ERS - meet our staff". Electoral Reform Society . Retrieved 20 July 2011.
  5. "Cherwell Staff". Cherwell . Vol. 196, no. 1. 12 January 1990. p. 7.
  6. 1 2 Slawson, Nicola (13 March 2018). "Katie Ghose: 'Risky proposals are coming on top of cuts that led many refuges to close'". The Guardian . Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  7. Batty, David (7 February 2019). "Women's Aid chief Katie Ghose steps down after publicly praising Ukip". The Guardian . Retrieved 11 September 2019.