Celia Barlow

Infobox MP
honorific-prefix =
name = Celia Barlow
honorific-suffix =

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constituency_MP = Hove
parliament =
majority = 420 (0.9%)
predecessor = Ivor Caplin
successor = Incumbent
term_start = 5 May 2005
term_end =
birth_date = Birth date and age|1955|9|28|mf=y
birth_place = Cardiff, Wales
death_date =
death_place =
nationality = British
spouse =Sam Jaffa
party = Labour
relations =
children =
residence =
alma_mater = Cardiff University
occupation =
profession =
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website =
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Celia Anne Barlow (born 28 September 1955) British Labour Party politician and is the Member of Parliament for Hove.

Early life

Celia Barlow was born in Cardiff, Wales, and was educated at the University of Cambridge and Cardiff University. She began her career as a reporter on the "Bradford Telegraph and Argus" in 1979. She was appointed an assistant editor with Asia Television in Hong Kong in 1982. She returned to Britain in 1983 to become the Home News Editor with the BBC. She left the BBC in 1995. She became a freelance video producer in 1998 before lecturing in video production at the Chichester College of Art and Design from 2000.

Parliamentary career

She was elected Secretary of the Chelsea Constituency Labour Party in 1993, and became the Chair of the Chichester Constituency Labour Party in 1998. She was selected to fight the safe Tory seat of Chichester at the 2001 General Election coming third and way behind the winner Andrew Tyrie.

Ivor Caplin, the Labour MP for the very marginal Hove, retired and Celia Barlow was chosen to fight the seat. It was widely assumed that she would be defeated by Nicholas Boles, considered a rising star of the Conservative Party, but was elected at the 2005 General Election by just 420 votes. Despite her low majority, Celia Barlow became the first of 2005's new MPs to make her maiden speech in the House of Commons.

She is currently the Parliamentary Private Secretary to Ian Pearson, the Minister of State for Science and Innovation in the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills. She is a member of the Environmental Audit and Procedure Select Committees.

Personal life

Celia Barlow married the former BBC North America foreign correspondent and University of Hull-educated Yorkshireman Sam Jaffa in August 1988 in Bromsgrove. Her husband stood for the Eastleigh seat in 2001 as a Labour candidate. He is now seeking a seat in Yorkshire. They have two sons (one born February 1992) and a daughter (born January 1995). They have several properties in London, as well as houses in West Wittering and Hove.

External links

* [http://www.celiabarlow.org.uk Her website]
* [http://www.myspace.com/celiabarlowmp MySpace]
* [http://www.brighton-hove-labour.org.uk Brighton & Hove Labour Party]
* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-6341,00.html Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Celia Barlow MP]
* [http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/celia_barlow/hove TheyWorkForYou.com - Celia Barlow MP]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/mpdb/html/328.stm BBC Politics page]