Louise Mensch
Louise Bagshawe | |
---|---|
Personal details | |
Born | London, United Kingdom | 28 June 1971
Political party | Conservative |
Relations | Tilly Bagshawe (sister) |
Children | 3 |
Alma mater | Christ Church, Oxford |
Profession | Author |
Louise Bagshawe (born 28 June 1971) is a British author and politician. She is a writer of "chick-lit" fiction and the Conservative Party Member of Parliament for Corby as of May 2010.
Biography
Louise Bagshawe | |
---|---|
Occupation | Novelist Politician |
Genre | "Chick lit" |
Bagshawe was born in London in 1971; her family moved to the country when she was seven. After being educated at Woldingham School, a Catholic girls' boarding school in Surrey, she was named 'Young Poet of the Year' in 1989 at the age of 18. She studied English literature at Christ Church, Oxford. After a period in the music industry, she became an author specialising in the "chick lit" genre aimed at young women. Her first novel, Career Girls, was published in 1995. Her latest novel 'Desire' was released in April 2010 in the UK.
Alongside her other activities, Bagshawe became a political activist. At the age of fourteen she joined the Conservative Party, after being inspired by then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.[1] In 1996, however, she briefly switched to Tony Blair's Labour Party believing him to be "socially liberal but an economic Tory".[2] By 1997 she had returned to the Conservatives and helped her mother, Daphne, win a seat in East Sussex County Council from the Liberal Democrats.[1] In 2001, Louise co-founded the Oxonian Society with Joseph Pascal and HRH Princess Badiya bint El Hassan of Jordan.[3]
Bagshawe was placed on the A List of Conservative candidates for the next general election. This move was criticised by some as favouring minor celebrities, such as Bagshawe, over local candidates when selecting who to stand in constituencies.[4] In October 2006 she was selected to stand in Corby.[5] As part of her campaigning for the upcoming election, she has recently been appearing on BBC One's "The Big Questions".[6]
An article in the Sunday Telegraph in 2009 reported "Some high-profile women are already installed in winnable seats: Louise Bagshawe, Annunziata Rees-Mogg, Priti Patel, Laura Sandys and Joanne Cash will all make colourful additions to the Tory benches."[7]
She is involved with charities which support the homeless, child welfare and victims of HIV and AIDS. Bagshawe is a primary school governor and has been involved in hospital and hospice fundraising. With other bestselling authors she has supported War Child, a charity which provides relief for orphaned victims of the conflict in Bosnia.
Personal life
Bagshawe is divorced. She is the mother of three children. [1][8]. She is the sister of Tilly Bagshawe, a freelance journalist who published Adored in July 2005.
References
- ^ a b c Louise Bagshawe profile, Conservatives.com.
- ^ "'He sees women as equals'". BBC News. 2006-06-05. Retrieved 2008-04-28.
- ^ http://www.oxoniansociety.com/About.asp
- ^ "'Beautiful' Tory list under fire". The Guardian. 2006-04-19. Retrieved 2008-04-28.
{{cite news}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help) - ^ 'Chick-lit' author to stand at next general election, Northampton Chronicle, 13 October 2006. Retrieved on 28 April 2008.
- ^ [1] BBC - BBC One Programmes - The Big Questions, Series 2, Episode 21
- ^ Melissa Kite, The softly, softly fight for the women's vote at the general election in Sunday Telegraph, 25 October 2009
- ^ "'Chick lit Tory candidate Louise Bagshawe splits from husband '". The Telegraph. 2007-05-27. Retrieved 2009-07-27.
{{cite news}}
: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=
(help)
Bibliography
- Career Girls (1995)
- The Movie (1996)
- Tall Poppies (1997)
- Venus Envy (1998)
- A Kept Woman (2000)
- When She Was Bad... (2001)
- The Devil You Know (2003)
- Monday's Child (2004)
- Tuesday's Child (2005)
- Sparkles (2006)
- Glamour (2007)
- Glitz (2008)
- Passion (2009)
- Desire (2010)