Margot Cathleen James Member of Parliament is a British politician and entrepreneur.
Background
The younger daughter of a self-made businessman, James was born in Coventry. James worked in sales and marketing for her father"s business, Maurice James Industries (MJI), a haulage, waste management, and property group based around Birmingham.
Education
London School of Economics.
Career
She is the first openly lesbian Member of Parliament in the Conservative Party. She served as a local councillor in Kensington & Chelsea from 2006 to 2008. Educated privately in Leamington Spa, she was in the sixth form at Millfield School.
James is a graduate of the London School of Economics (London School of Economics) with a degree in Economics and Government.
After working for a consulting firm, in 1986 she co-founded Shire Health Group, a public relations and clinical trials organisation. Shire Health was voted "Consultancy of the Year" three times, while James was voted Communicator of the Year in 1997.
The company was sold to WPP Group in 2004, with James appointed Head of European Healthcare for WPP subsidiary Ogilvy & Mather. James joined the Conservative Party aged 17, and chaired the London School of Economics Conservative Association.
During her studies, she acted as a researcher for Member of Parliament Sir Anthony Durant, and after graduation spent a gap year working in the press office of Conservative Central Office.
James resigned from the Conservative Party after Margaret Thatcher was ousted as Prime Minister. She rejoined the Conservative Party in 2004. At the May 2005 general election, she was the Conservative candidate for the Holborn and Saint Pancras constituency.
She came third behind the sitting Member of Parliament, Labour"s Frank Dobson, and the Liberal Democrat candidate Jill Fraser.
In May 2006, James was elected a local councillor for the Brompton ward of Kensington & Chelsea, becoming one of the Conservative Party"s few "out" lesbian office holders. She resigned from the council in 2008.
She was placed on the "A-List" of Conservative Party parliamentary candidates ahead of the 2010 general election, and was selected as the candidate for the marginal Labour-held constituency of Stourbridge, from where she was elected. This made her the second "out" lesbian in the House of Commons, after Angela Eagle, and the first to have come out before her election.
James served on the board of Parkside National Health Service Trust, and worked as a Mental Health Manager.
She spent ten years as a trustee of Abantu, an African women"s charity, during which time she trained women from more than 40 different African countries in communications and lobbying skills. She has also worked as a mentor for The Prince"s Trust and Young Enterprise. She sits on the Court of Governors at London School of Economics. She is a Vice-President of the Debating Group.
She ranked in the top 50 on The Independent"s "Pink List" of the 101 most influential British gay men and women in 2009.
Membership
55th United Kingdom Parliament. 56th United Kingdom Parliament]
She is the Member of Parliament (Member of Parliament) for the constituency of Stourbridge and was Parliamentary Private Secretary to Stephen Green, Baron Green of Hurstpierpoint during his period as Minister for Trade and Investment.