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Barbara Roche

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The Right Honourable
Barbara Roche
Minister of State for Asylum and Immigration
In office
29 July 1999 – 11 June 2001
Prime MinisterTony Blair
Preceded byOffice Created
Succeeded byThe Lord Rooker
Financial Secretary to the Treasury
In office
4 January 1999 – 29 July 1999
Prime MinisterTony Blair
Preceded byDawn Primarolo
Succeeded byStephen Timms
Member of Parliament
for Hornsey and Wood Green
In office
9 April 1992 – 5 May 2005
Preceded byHugh Rossi
Succeeded byLynne Featherstone
Personal details
Born (1954-04-13) 13 April 1954 (age 70)
NationalityBritish
Political partyLabour
Alma materLady Margaret Hall, Oxford

Barbara Maureen Roche (née Margolis, born 13 April 1954) is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hornsey and Wood Green from 1992 until 2005, when she lost the seat, despite having previously enjoyed a majority of over 20,000.[1][2]

Family & Education

The daughter of Barnet and Hanna Margolis[3] she was educated at the Jews Free School, Camden Town and Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford where she read Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE).[4] She trained to be a barrister and was called to the bar at the Middle Temple, 1977.

Parliament

She first stood for Parliament in the 1984 Surrey South-West by-election, before standing in Hornsey and Wood Green in 1987.

First elected to Parliament in 1992, she saw her majority soar to 20,500 in 1997 (including polling 26,000 votes more than the Liberal Democrats' candidate, Lynne Featherstone, who eventually unseated her). However, by 2001 her majority had almost halved to 10,500, and in 2005 she unexpectedly lost her seat on a large 14.6% swing. Factors in her defeat include her association with many of the government's more unpopular policies, such as the crucial 26 March 2003 vote on the war on Iraq,[5] with The Times describing her in 2005 as "a fiercely loyal Labour MP, who has only rebelled against the Government in four out of 1,570 votes."[6]

Government

During her time in Government, she held several ministerial offices; Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry, 1997–1998; Financial Secretary to the Treasury, 1999; Minister of State for Asylum and Immigration, Home Office, 1999–2001; Cabinet Office, 2001–2002; Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, 2002-2003.

In February 2016, a biography of Tony Blair, Broken Vows: Tony Blair -- The Tragedy of Power (serialized in the Daily Mail), by the well-known British author Tom Bower, described Roche's alleged part in the deliberate encouragement of mass immigration into the UK during Blair's time as Prime Minister of the UK.[7]

The Daily Mail, in its serialization, commented thus on the book: "The most incredible revelations concern Barbara Roche, a little-known MP who was immigration minister between 1999 and 2001. During this period, she quietly adopted policies – with Mr Blair’s approval – that changed the face of the UK." and "She changed the rules to allow more work permits to be issued, especially to people who would previously have been considered asylum seekers. Stephen Boys Smith, who was then head of the Home Office’s immigration directorate, said: ‘It was clear that Roche wanted more immigrants to come to Britain. She didn’t see her job as controlling entry into Britain, but by looking at the wider picture in a “holistic way” she wanted us to see the benefit of a multicultural society.’"[8]

Personal

She is an avid theatre-goer and reader of detective fiction. After her defeat in 2005 and prior to the 2010 General Election, she attempted to re-enter the Commons, seeking the Labour Party nomination (and being shortlisted) in the 'safe' Labour seats of Stockton North,[9] Houghton & Sunderland South,[10] Wigan,[11] and Stalybridge & Hyde[12] but was not been selected for any of them, despite the support of the Labour-affiliated Unite union.[13]

References

  1. ^ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-347602/Labour-defeats-Who-lost-out.html
  2. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2005/jun/01/election2005.uk
  3. ^ Dodd's Parliamentary Companion 2005, 173rd edition, London 2004, p.291.
  4. ^ "LMH, Oxford - Prominent Alumni". Retrieved 22 May 2015.
  5. ^ http://www.igreens.org.uk/commons_vote_on_war__26_march.htm
  6. ^ http://www.times-series.co.uk/features/newsfeatures/563148.majority_rules/#
  7. ^ "How Blair cynically let in two million migrants". Mail Online. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
  8. ^ "How Blair cynically let in two million migrants". Mail Online. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
  9. ^ Evening Gazette, 14 January 2008
  10. ^ The Journal, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 20 April 2009
  11. ^ Wigan Today, 4 February 2010
  12. ^ http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article7064751.ece
  13. ^ http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article7064751.ece
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Hornsey and Wood Green
1992–2005 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by Financial Secretary to the Treasury
1999 		Succeeded by
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