Name Seema Kennedy Majority 5,945 (11.4%) Role Politician | Website Official website | |
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Alma mater Pembroke College,Cambridge Profiles | ||
Seema kennedy maiden speech june 11th 2015
Seema Louise Ghiassi Kennedy (born 6 October 1974) is a British Conservative Party politician. She has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Ribble in Lancashire since 2015, and Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister since 2017.
Contents
- Seema kennedy maiden speech june 11th 2015
- Women2Win Spotlight Seema Kennedy MP
- Early life
- Early career
- Parliamentary career
- Personal life
- References
Women2Win Spotlight | Seema Kennedy MP
Early life
Seema Kennedy was born in Lancashire in 1974, daughter of an Iranian father and British mother. At six weeks old she and her family moved to Iran, but were forced to leave as a result of the Islamic revolution. Kennedy was educated at the independent Westholme School in Blackburn before studying Oriental Studies (French and Persian) at Pembroke College, Cambridge, where she graduated with a First Class Honours degree in 1997. After Cambridge, she took a Legal Practice Course.
Early career
Kennedy began her legal career at city law firm Slaughter and May, where she trained and qualified as a solicitor, before moving to Bevan Brittan LLP. Soon after, she became a board director at her family business, Tustin Developments, which owns commercial properties across the North West.
Parliamentary career
Kennedy fought Ashton-under-Lyne at the 2010 general election, coming second to Labour's David Heyes.
Kennedy has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Ribble since May 2015. She is also the first Member of Parliament of Iranian descent with an Iranian father.
Kennedy was opposed to Brexit prior to the 2016 referendum. Following Theresa May's reshuffle upon becoming Prime Minister, Kennedy was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to Nick Gibb, the Minister of State for Schools. In June 2017 she was promoted to Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister, a role she will share with George Hollingbery.
In 2016, Kennedy and the late Jo Cox began work to set up a commission to tackle loneliness. After Cox's murder, Rachel Reeves, Labour MP and close friend of Cox's carried on her work. 'The Jo Cox Commission on Loneliness' was launched in January 2017. The two are now co-chairs of the commission.
Personal life
Kennedy is married with 3 children. For over 22 years, she has been a trustee at St Giles Trust for Children, which organises an annual holiday for children with special needs. A multilingual, she also speaks French and Persian.