Member of Parliament
Cates described a family friend asking her to stand as a Conservative candidate for Penistone &Stocksbridge in October 2018. [8] [1] [16] Though unsuccessful in her bid,she found she enjoyed campaigning,and decided to go to the next Conservative party conference. [8]
At that conference,in 2019,Cates met Anne Jenkin,who was recruiting for women candidates,and identified a seat near her home. [7] Cates was subsequently selected,and campaigned to be the MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge in the 2019 general election. [4] [17] The seat was targeted as part of Boris Johnson's red wall strategy,with Cates and Johnson appearing together in the local campaign. [17]
Cates won the seat,with a majority of 7,210 (14.5%) on a swing of 8.6% from Labour to the Conservatives. [18] As such,Cates became the first Conservative MP in South Yorkshire since 1992. [4]
After her election,it was reported that a mobile app for foodbanks,developed by a company co-owned by Cates and her husband,was charging charities for its services. [19] It was confirmed that the app had been offered to the first foodbank at no cost. However,there was a set-up charge for sub help defray development and training costs. [20] Media accused her of breaking Covid rules by attending an event in December 2020,though a later inquiry was "satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the event included both business and social elements". [21] [22]
Once in Parliament,Cates served as a member of the Ecclesiastical Committee and the Education Select Committee. [23] In the latter role,she submitted a report to the Prime Minister presenting evidence that many schools routinely misapply equality law "in favour of gender ideology." [24] In its place,Cates argue for a more strongly pro-parent outlook from Britain's schools. [25]
Cates also co-chaired a local advancement initiative,the Stocksbridge Towns Fund,with local property developer Mark Dransfield. [26] Alongside national-conservative figure Danny Kruger,Cates was elected to the Executive of the 1922 Committee on 11 July 2022. [27] [28] [29]
Halfway through her term,Boris Johnson resigned from the leadership,and Cates participated in the July 2022 Conservative Party leadership election [30] During the contest,Cates advocated for Suella Braverman,though the leadership eventually passed briefly to Liz Truss,followed by Rishi Sunak. [31]
Even so,Cates continued to support Braverman when she was criticised. [32] When Braveman accused London's Metropolitan Police of being more lenient with pro-Palestine protesters than supporters of Israel,Cates argued:"Suella Braverman’s views may be distasteful to Westminster liberals but they're utterly mainstream in the rest of UK". [33]
At the 2024 general election,Cates competed against four candidates. [34]
Mirroring the national trend,Cates lost a significant share of votes on polling day (down 23.7%),to both the right-wing Reform UK candidate (taking 21.5%) and to left-wing candidates,with Labour (up 10.3%) and the Green Party of England and Wales (up 4.6%),though the Liberal Democrats also lost ground overall (down 3.7%). [34] As such,the seat passed to the Labour candidate Marie Tidball. [35]
In an opinion piece about the election,Cates wrote,"Reader,we blew it." [36] Offering that her party was "staring into the abyss" because it had failed,or forgotten,voters in post-industrial towns who wanted economic regeneration,patriotism,cultural security family,neighbourhood and nation. [36]
