Sarah Teather | |
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Minister of State for Children and Families | |
In office 13 May 2010 – 4 September 2012 |
|
Prime Minister | David Cameron |
Preceded by | Dawn Primarolo |
Succeeded by | Liz Truss (as Parliamentary Undersecretary of State for Education and Childcare) |
Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Housing | |
In office 8 October 2008 – 13 May 2010 |
|
Leader | Nick Clegg |
Preceded by | Lembit Opik |
Succeeded by | Position abolished |
Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform | |
In office 20 December 2007 – 8 October 2008 |
|
Leader | Nick Clegg |
Preceded by | Lembit Opik |
Succeeded by | Lord Thurso |
Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Innovation, Universities and Skills | |
In office 4 July 2007 – 20 December 2007 |
|
Leader | Menzies Campbell |
Preceded by | Department Created |
Succeeded by | Stephen Williams |
Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Education and Skills | |
In office 3 March 2006 – 4 July 2007 |
|
Preceded by | Edward Davey |
Succeeded by | Department Abolished |
Member of Parliament for Brent Central Brent East (2003–2010) |
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In office 18 September 2003 – 7 May 2015 |
|
Preceded by | Paul Daisley |
Succeeded by | Dawn Butler |
Majority | 1,345 (3.0%) |
Islington Borough Councillor for Hillrise Ward | |
In office 2 May 2002 – 18 September 2003 |
|
Preceded by | Sheila Camp |
Succeeded by | Jayashankar Sharma |
Personal details | |
Born |
Enfield, London, England |
1 June 1974
Political party | Liberal Democrats |
Alma mater | St John's College, Cambridge |
Religion | Roman Catholic |
Website | Official site |
Sarah Louise Teather (born 1 June 1974) is a former British Member of Parliament and Minister. As a Liberal Democrat politician, she founded the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Guantanamo Bay and was Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Refugees. On stepping down as an MP, she joined the Jesuit Refugee Service as an advocacy adviser and was appointed as Country Director of JRS UK in December 2015.
She was first elected as an MP on 18 September 2003 in the Brent East by-election and re-elected with an increased majority on 5 May 2005 in the 2005 general election. After the seat was abolished due to boundary changes she was selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate for the new constituency of Brent Central. Her main opponent was sitting Labour MP Dawn Butler, whose seat of Brent South was also abolished. Teather won by a small margin, and after the election she served as Minister of State in the Department for Education in the coalition between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats until she returned to the backbenches on 4 September 2012. On 7 September 2013, she announced that she would leave the Commons in 2015.
Teather was educated at the independent Leicester Grammar School and St John's College, Cambridge, where she gained a 2:1 degree in Natural Sciences specialising in pharmacology.