Louise Ellman

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Louise Ellman MP
Louise Ellman
Member of Parliament
for Liverpool Riverside
Incumbent
Assumed office 
1 May 1997
Preceded by Robert Parry
Born 14 November 1945 (1945-11-14) (age 62)
Manchester
Nationality British
Political party Labour Co-operative
Alma mater University of Hull

Louise Ellman (born 14 November 1945) is the Labour and Co-operative Member of Parliament for Liverpool Riverside.

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[edit] Early life

Louise Ellman was born in Manchester. She was educated at the independent Manchester High School for Girls, before studying at the University of Hull where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and History in 1967, and went on to study Social Administration at the University of York where she was awarded a Master of Philosophy in 1972. From 1970, she worked as a lecturer for the Open University in further education, leaving in 1976. She was elected as a councillor on the Lancashire County Council in 1970, becoming the Labour group leader in 1977, and she led the council from 1981 until her election to Parliament. She was Vice Chair of Lancashire Enterprises.

[edit] Parliamentary career

She unsuccessfully contested the Darwen constituency at the 1979 General Election where she was defeated by the sitting veteran Conservative MP Charles Fletcher-Cooke by 13,026 votes.

She was elected to Parliament at the 1997 General Election for the safe seat of Liverpool Riverside on the retirement of Bob Parry, after being selected by an all-female shortlist. She held the seat with a majority of 21,799 and has held the seat comfortably since. She made her maiden speech on June 9, 1997, [1]. She has been a member of the Transport Committee and its predecessor Transport, Local Government and the Regions since her election in 1997. Ellman is also the Chair of the Jewish Labour Movement and Vice Chair of Labour Friends of Israel and has been an active spokeswoman in Parliament on issues relating to transport, local government and the Middle East. She has also played an active effort in the effort to pressure the Bulgarian government to free Michael Shields and recently, Gillian Gibbons - the teacher jailed in Sudan for blasphemy who has now been pardoned. When elected in 2001, the turnout of the vote in her constituency was the lowest in the country at just 34.1%.

On May 21st 2008, she was selected to become the Chair of the Commons Transport Select Committee - the chair becoming vacant after the death of Gwyneth Dunwoody MP.

[edit] Personal life

Ellman has been married since July 16 1967 to her husband Geoffrey Ellman, a pharmacist. She lived in Leeds then moved to Skelmersdale in 1969. They have a son and a daughter.

[edit] External links

[edit] Audio clips

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Robert Parry		 Member of Parliament for Liverpool Riverside
1997 – present		 Incumbent