Angela Watkinson

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Angela Eileen Watkinson (born Angela Eileen Ellicott 18 November 1941, Leytonstone) is a politician in the United Kingdom. She is Conservative Party Member of Parliament for Upminster, and was first elected in 2001, beating Keith Darvill who had taken the seat from the Conservatives in 1997. She was re-elected with an increased majority in 2005.

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[edit] Early life

She went to Wanstead County High School (a grammar school, and now known as Wanstead High School) on Redbridge Lane West in Wanstead. In 1989, she gained a Public Administration HNC from Anglia Higher Education College. She worked for the Bank of New South Wales (since 1982 the Westpac Banking Corporation) from 1958-64. She became a secretary of a Special School in Essex in 1976, helping physically handicapped children with riding lessons. In 1988, she became a clerk to a school governing body, then committee clerk to Barking and Dagenham council from 1988-9. From 1989-94, she was a committee manager for Basildon District Council. She was a councillor for Havering Borough Council from 1994-8, and on Essex County Council from 1997-2001.

[edit] Parliamentary career

Watkinson was a member of the right wingConservative Monday Club, but was forced to resign her membership in October 2001 when the newly-elected Conservative leader Iain Duncan-Smith suspended his party's links with the Monday club. He declared that that the club's views on race and immigration were incompatible with his plans to reform the party, and Watkinson was one of three Conservative MPs forced to leave the group.[1][2]

[edit] Campaigning

On 14 June 2006, Watkinson introduced a Private Member's Bill which would have forced doctors offering abortion or contraception advice to under-16s to inform the child's parents. MPs voted by 159 to 87 to reject the bill.

[edit] Personal life

She lives in Hornchurch and is a member and elder of the United Reformed Church. She supports pro-life issues and votes on Christian lines on matters of conscience. She is a member of the Conservative Christian Fellowship. She is married to Roy, a retired Metropolitan Police officer, and they have a son and two daughters. She married in 1961 in Essex.

[edit] Views

At a press conference on 13 March 2007, Angela Watkinson stated that "the whole premise of sex education was wrong".[3]

[edit] References

  1. ^ White, Michael (2001-10-08). Duncan Smith orders three MPs to quit Monday Club. The Guardian. Retrieved on 2007-10-16.
  2. ^ Brogan, Benedict (2001-10-07). Leader orders three to leave Monday Club. The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved on 2007-10-16.
  3. ^ Teen abortion 'right to know' bid. BBC News (14 March 2007). Retrieved on 2007-11-18.

[edit] External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Keith Darvill		 Member of Parliament for Upminster
2001 – present		 Incumbent


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