Ruth Cadbury


Ruth Margaret Cadbury is a British Labour Party politician who has been Member of Parliament for Brentford and Isleworth since gaining the seat from the Conservative Party at the 2015 general election. Cadbury has been a Brentford councillor for 25 years, and was deputy leader of the Hounslow London Borough Council from 2010–2012 where she was known for her work on a Living Wage for its staff as well as her opposition to any expansion to the nearby London Heathrow Airport.

Early life and career

Cadbury, the eldest child of Charles Lloyd Cadbury and Jillian Stafford Ransome, is one of three Quakers elected at the 2015 general election, the others being Labour's Catherine West and the Conservatives' Tania Mathias. She was educated at The Mount School, York, Bournville College, and graduated from the University of Salford, BSc in 1981. Having worked from 1983–1989 for Covent Garden Community Association she was a Planning Advisor at Planning Aid for London for the next seven years, then had the same title but in directly applicable policy at the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames for five years, progressing to a freelance consultant 2006–2014.

Career

At the 2015 general election, she defeated the sitting Conservative MP Mary Macleod. In her maiden speech to the House of Commons on 2 June 2015, she made much of her Quaker background and its relevance to social justice. Her speech also referenced her distant ancestor, the chocolate producer and Quaker George Cadbury. She is an honorary associate of the National Secular Society,
In October 2016, she was appointed by Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn as a Shadow Housing Minister. Commenting on the appointment she said "As a result of this Government's policies, owning a home is an unattainable dream for so many youngsters, and for countless people even having somewhere stable and affordable to call home is impossible". She supported Owen Smith in the failed attempt to replace Jeremy Corbyn in the 2016 Labour Party leadership election.
Cadbury was ousted as Shadow Housing Minister on 29 June 2017 for contravening a whipped vote on an amendment to the Queen's speech calling for the UK to remain in the European Single Market: whilst the Labour position was to abstain, she voted to support the motion.
Cadbury voted in the unsuccessful no lobby in a key House of Commons division of 25 June 2018 as to the National Policy Statement: Airports which laid out government support for a third runway, and was among 28 of the 46 London Labour MPs opposing the runway.