Catherine West

West was born on 14 September 1966 in Sydney, Australia. Her parents were both teachers. She is the great-great niece of Italian actress Italia Conti. She grew up in Sydney and was privately educated at the Ravenswood School for Girls. West studied modern languages and social work at the University of Sydney.[2] While studying there, she met her future husband Colin Sutherland and they lived together in Darwin, Northern Territory where she worked as a social worker in a refuge for survivors of childhood sexual abuse. They moved to the United Kingdom (UK) in 1998 when her husband gained a job at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.[2] She then gained a master's degree in Chinese Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.[3]

West joined the Labour Party in 1998 and became a caseworker for MP David Lammy two years later.[2] From 2 May 2002 to 22 May 2014, West was a member of the Islington London Borough Council representing the Tollington Ward. She was leader of the council's Labour Party group from 2004 to 10 October 2013 and Council Leader from 6 May 2010 to 10 October 2013. She resigned as councillor in order to contest the 2015 general election.

She was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Hornsey and Wood Green in the 2015 general election.[4]

West opposes the renewal of Trident nuclear weapon system.[5] In September 2015, West along with Tulip Siddiq and Keir Starmer wrote a letter to British prime minister David Cameron seeking urgent action to address the refugee crisis due to the Syrian Civil War.[6][7][8]

Following the election of Jeremy Corbyn as Leader of the Labour Party, whose campaign she supported, West was promoted to the Official Opposition Frontbench as a Shadow Foreign Office Minister.[9]

During the 2016 EU membership referendum Campaign, West was involved with Britain Stronger In Europe, campaigning for the UK to remain within the European Union, arguing that "Britain would be stronger, more prosperous, more secure and more peaceful" if they were to remain within the EU. West's constituency of Hornsey and Wood Green secured the highest remain vote in the UK with 81.5% voting to remain.[10] Following the EU referendum, West confirmed she would vote against invoking Article 50 should a vote come before parliament.[11]

In September 2016, she founded the All-Party Parliamentary Group on UK-EU Relations, that seeks to secure a positive and progressive relationship between Britain and the EU.[12] This group has cross-party support with Green Party Leader Caroline Lucas, former Conservative Secretary of State for Education Nicky Morgan and former Labour Higher Education Minister David Lammy among its elected officers.

In January 2017, West voted against triggering Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, the process by which EU Member States may use to withdraw from the European Union, along with 46 other Labour Party Members of Parliament.[13]

West was sacked from the Labour frontbench in June 2017 after she voted in favour of an amendment to the Queen's Speech which called on the UK to remain in the European Single Market, in defiance of the Labour whip.[14]

West is a Quaker. She is one of three Quakers elected during the 2015 general election, the others being Ruth Cadbury and Tania Mathias.[15] She is married to Colin Sutherland, co-director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine's Malaria Centre.[2][16] They met while studying at the University of Sydney. They have a daughter and a son.[17]

She is a dual British and Australian national.[18]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Catherine West.

• Official website
• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Voting record at Public Whip
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou