Kali Mountford

Kali Mountford
Member of Parliament
for Colne Valley
In office
2 May 1997 – 12 April 2010
Preceded by Graham Riddick
Succeeded by Jason McCartney
Personal details
Born (1954-01-12) 12 January 1954
Crewe, Cheshire, England
Nationality British
Political party Labour
Spouse(s) Ian Leedham

Carol Jean Mountford (born 12 January 1954), née Newton, is a British Labour Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Colne Valley from 1997 until she retired from the House of Commons at the 2010 general election.

Early life

Mountford was born in Crewe, the daughter of an engine driver, She attended Crewe Grammar School for Girls (became King's Grove High School in the late 1970s and The Oaks Academy in 2016) on Buchan Grove in Crewe. In 1986, whilst working at the Crewe Jobcentre, she stood as the Liberal candidate in a County Council bye-election in Crewe Central ward on 18 September. At Crewe and Alsager College (now the Alsager Campus of Manchester Metropolitan University), she gained a DipHE and a BA in Philosophy, Psychology and Sociology in 1988 as a mature student. Mountford served as a Sheffield City Councillor for four years and worked as a civil servant benefits clerk for twenty years prior to entering Parliament. She was also active in the CPSA (became the PCS in 1998) as a shop steward.

Parliamentary career

Mountford was selected as a Labour candidate through an all-women shortlist.[1] She was first elected at the 1997 general election for Colne Valley and served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Des Browne MP.

She retired from the Commons at the 2010 general election.[2] The Colne Valley seat was then won by the Conservative Party candidate, Jason McCartney.

Controversies

Mountford was suspended from the House of Commons for five working days in 1998 for leaking a Social Security Select Committee report to the government. The House of Commons Standards and Privileges Committee stated that although there were some mitigating circumstances for her behavior, she had in fact "aggravated her original offence by denying responsibility". In addition to the suspension Mountford was forced to apologise for her conduct.[3]

As a result of the controversy Mountford also resigned from the Social Security Select Committee.

Personal life

Mountford married her third husband Ian Leedham[4] in July 1995 in Sheffield; she has a son and daughter.

References

  1. ↑ http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19960109/ai_n9634358?tag=content;col1. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  2. ↑ Colne Valley MP Kali Mountford to stand down at election; Huddersfield Daily Examiner, 17 January 2009
  3. ↑ House of Commons - Standards and Privileges - Tenth and Eleventh Report
  4. ↑ Huddersfield Examiner - News - Local West Yorkshire News - Kali Mountford MP's expenses - sofas, TV and questions from the Fees Office

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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Graham Riddick		 Member of Parliament for Colne Valley
1997 – 2010 		Succeeded by
Jason McCartney
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