Jane Griffiths (politician)
| Jane Griffiths | |
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Member of Parliament for Reading East |
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In office 2 May 1997 – 11 April 2005 |
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| Preceded by | Gerard Vaughan |
| Succeeded by | Rob Wilson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 17 April 1954 |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Labour |
| Spouse(s) | Andrew Tattersall |
| Alma mater | University of Durham |
| Profession | Politician |
| Website | Jane Griffiths' blog |
Jane Patricia Griffiths (born 17 April 1954) is a British linguist and politician. She was elected as the Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for the Reading East parliamentary constituency in the 1997 General Election. In 2004, Griffiths was deselected as the Labour candidate for Reading East by her local party. Consequently, she did not stand for re-election.
Attending Cedars Grammar School in Leighton Buzzard, Griffiths later studied at the University of Durham, gaining a degree in Russian. From 1977 to 1985, she was a linguist at Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), and from 1984 to 1997 the Asia editor for BBC Monitoring. At one stage, she was also an English teacher.
Griffiths' political career began in 1989 when she was elected to Reading Borough Council. She sat on the Council, as a Labour member, until 1999.
Prior to the 1997 general election, Griffiths was selected as the Labour Prospective Parliamentary Candidate (PPC) for the Reading East constituency. This had been a safe Conservative seat since its creation in 1983. The retiring Tory incumbent Gerard Vaughan had a majority of 14,555. Despite this, Griffiths emerged as one of the surprise winners of the general election.
In Parliament, she established a reputation as a fervent pro-European. Andrew Roth of The Guardian described her as a "pro-EU partisan loyalist with an international outlook". As a backbench Labour MP, she was largely supportive of the Tony Blair administration. Griffiths acquired a reputation for being somewhat confrontational, voicing disagreement with Speaker Betty Boothroyd. Notably, she also called for legalized brothels.
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