Lauren Edwards | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2024 | |
| Member of Parliament for Rochester and Strood | |
| Assumed office 5 July 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Kelly Tolhurst |
| Majority | 2,293 (5.4%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Lauren Rae Edwards Altona,Victoria,Australia |
| Political party | Labour |
| Alma mater | University of Adelaide London School of Economics |
Lauren Rae Edwards is an Australian-born British Labour Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament for Rochester and Strood since 2024. [1]
Edwards was born in Altona,Melbourne,Australia,and was educated at the University of Adelaide before moving to the UK in 2005 to study for a master's at the London School of Economics. [2] [3]
Edwards worked as a parliamentary researcher for a number of Labour MPs including Barbara Keeley,Teresa Pearce and Lisa Nandy from 2008 to 2013. [4] [5] During this time she was Political Officer for Unite the Union's Parliamentary Staff Branch. [6] From 2013 to 2016 she worked as a researcher at the postal section of the Communication Workers Union. [7]
Edwards worked at the Bank of England before her selection as a parliamentary candidate,as a manager in financial regulation including a secondment to HM Treasury for about six months working on Brexit related legislation. [2]
Edwards has an English-born mother and holds British citizenship. [2]
In 2021,Edwards was elected to Medway Council in a by-election from Rochester East ward. [8] She was cabinet member for economic and social regeneration and inward investment. [9]
In 2024,she defeated incumbent Conservative MP Kelly Tolhurst to gain Rochester and Strood.
On 8 August 2024,Edwards issued an apology on Twitter following the emergence of tweets she wrote between 2009 and 2011 in which she used offensive language,described by The Guardian as a "series of 'racist' tweets",stating it was a "significant error of judgement". [10] [11]
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