Janet Anderson

Janet Anderson (born 6 December, 1949) is a British politician. She is the British Member of Parliament for Rossendale and Darwen. She is a member of the Labour Party.

She was born in 1949 in Newcastle upon Tyne and educated in the south west at the Trowbridge Girls' High School and the Kingswood Grammar School in Bristol. She attended the Polytechnic of Central London and the Université de Nantes.

In 1971 she joined the offices of the The Scotsman and The Sunday Times as a secretary. In 1974 she became the personal assistant to the MP for Blackburn, Barbara Castle and to her successor Jack Straw until 1987 when she fought the marginal seat of Rossendale and Darwen.

At the 1987 General Election she was unsuccessful and the seat was won by David Trippier by a clear 5,000 votes. She became a campaigns organiser for the Parliamentary Labour Party. Anderson then became the northern regional organiser for the Shopping Hours Reform Council campaigning to extending the Sunday trading laws.

Janet Anderson fought Rossendale and Darwen again at the 1992 General Election, and this time she was successful, albeit very narrowly. She ousted Trippier by just 120 votes.

Almost immediately she became the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Margaret Beckett, which she held for a year. Following the 1997 General Election she was given a job in Tony Blair's new government as the Vice-Chamberlain of the Household, a grand title for a junior whip.

In 1998 she was promoted as the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at The Department for Culture, Media and Sport where she was responsible for bringing in the popular free TV licences for the over 75s. She was sacked from government following the 2001 General Election.

She used to be married to the solicitor Vincent Humphreys and they have three children together. She lives in London with her partner, English MP Jim Dowd. As well as speaking fluent French, she plays the piano and is very keen on opera.

External links

• ePolitix - Janet Anderson official site
• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Janet Anderson MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Janet Anderson MP