Angela Eagle

Angela Eagle MP
File:Angelaeagle.jpg
Member of Parliament for Wallasey
Incumbent
Assumed office 9 April 1992
Preceded by	Lynda Chalker
Majority	9,109 (24.8%)
Personal details
Born	(1961-02-17) 17 February 1961 Bridlington
Nationality	British
Political party	Labour
Spouse	Maria Exall
Alma mater	St John's College, Oxford

Angela Eagle (born 17 February 1961) is Labour Member of Parliament for Wallasey. She is currently the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury based in the HM Treasury.

Education

Born in Bridlington, the daughter of a printworker, she was educated at the St Peter's Church of England Primary School, Formby and the Formby High School, before studying at St John's College, Oxford where she was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics in 1983, and where she was also chairwoman of the Oxford University Fabian Society 1980-1983. She worked briefly in the economic directorate of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) in 1984, before working for the Confederation of Health Service Employees (COHSE) later in the year. At COHSE, she held several positions, leaving on her election to parliament in the capacity of parliamentary officer. She was elected secretary for the Constituency Labour Party in Peckham for two years from 1989.

Parliamentary career

Eagle was first elected in the 1992 election when she defeated the Minister for Overseas Development at the Foreign Office Lynda Chalker by 3,809 votes, and has remained an MP since. She made her maiden speech on 11 May 1992. [4]

In parliament she became a member of the Employment Select Committee in 1994, and was promoted by Tony Blair in 1996 to the position of an Opposition Whip, and became a member of the Blair government following the 1997 General Election as the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, moving to the Department of Social Security in 1998. Following the 2001 General Election, she was a junior minister at the Home Office but was sacked by Blair in 2002. She has been a member of the Treasury Select Committee since 2003. She returned to the government under Gordon Brown on 29 June 2007 in a new position within the HM Treasury, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury.

Personal life

Eagle was joint winner of the British Girls' Under-18 chess championship in 1976. She gained the distinction of becoming British Parliament's first, and thus far only, openly lesbian member by coming out in September 1997 in an interview with The Observer. Maureen Colquhoun, another lesbian MP, did not declare her sexuality until after she left parliament. She has announced her impending civil partnership to Maria Exall, planned for September 2008, and the ceremony took place on 27 September.

She was joined in the House of Commons at the 1997 General Election by her identical twin sister, Maria Eagle, thus becoming the first set of twins to sit in the House. She and her sister are one of only two pairs of sisters in the Commons, the other sister pair are Sylvia Heal and Ann Keen. She is also an avid cricketer.

External links

• Angela Eagle official site
• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Angela Eagle MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Angela Eagle MP
• The Public Whip - Angela Eagle MP voting record