Georgia Gould (politician)

The Honourable
Georgia Gould
OBE MP
Official portrait, 2024
Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office
Incumbent
Assumed office
9 July 2024
Serving with Abena Oppong-Asare
Prime MinisterKeir Starmer
Preceded byAlex Burghart
Member of Parliament
for Queen's Park and Maida Vale
Incumbent
Assumed office
4 July 2024
Preceded byConstituency established
Majority14,913 (38.9%)
Leader of Camden Council
In office
17 May 2017 – 11 July 2024
Preceded bySarah Hayward
Succeeded byRichard Olszewski
Member of Camden Council
for Kentish Town South
Kentish Town (2010–2022)
In office
6 May 2010 – 11 July 2024
Personal details
Born
Georgia Anne Rebuck Gould

(1986-05-18) 18 May 1986 (age 38)
London, England
Political partyLabour
Parents
EducationCamden School for Girls
Alma materSt Catherine's College, Oxford
London School of Economics
WebsiteOfficial website

Georgia Anne Rebuck Gould OBE (born 18 May 1986)[1][2] is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Queen's Park and Maida Vale since the 2024 general election.[3]

Following the election, Gould was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office.[4]

Gould served as Leader of Camden Council from 2017 until 2024.[5] A councillor since from 2010 to 2024, she chaired the London Councils association from 2020 until 2024.[6]

As the daughter of two life peers she is styled The Honourable for life.[7][8]

Early life

Gould was born at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, London, in 1986.[9][1] She is the daughter of Philip Gould, Baron Gould of Brookwood, an adviser to the Labour Party who was particularly associated with former prime minister Tony Blair and his New Labour project. Lord Gould died in 2011.[10][11] Her mother is Gail Rebuck, Baroness Rebuck, chair of Penguin Random House UK and a Labour peer. Owing to her background, Gould has been labelled a "red princess" by the media.[12] Through her mother, she is Jewish, and is a member of the Jewish Labour Movement.[13][14][10] As a baby, Gould was featured on the cover of Private Eye being held by Leader of the Opposition Neil Kinnock in the run up to the 1987 general election.[15]

She grew up in Kentish Town, north west London;[16] Gould and her younger sister, Grace, attended a local comprehensive secondary school, Camden School for Girls.[11][17] She has spoken of growing up in a "tribal Labour household"; holidays were spent with Alastair Campbell and his wife Fiona Millar, Tessa Jowell, and the family of Tony Blair.[2]

Prior to university, Gould spent a year as a full-time Labour Party organiser.[2] She then studied history and politics at St Catherine's College, Oxford.[18] Whilst at Oxford, she succeeded Blair's son Nicky, a childhood friend, as secretary of the Oxford University Labour Club.[2] Gould holds a master's degree in global politics from the London School of Economics.[19][20]

Career

Camden Council

Before becoming an elected politician, Gould worked for the Tony Blair Faith Foundation as a digital manager.[21][2] Politically, she has been described as a centrist, as well as a close "ally" and mentee of Alastair Campbell.[22][2] She was selected as a Labour candidate for Kentish Town on Camden London Borough Council in 2009, and, aged 24, she became a Labour councillor at the 2010 elections. The ward's three seats were gained by Labour from the Liberal Democrats.[21][11][23]

Gould became the leader of Camden Council in May 2017.[24]

In December 2019, under Gould's leadership, a FOI request revealed that Veolia, a Camden Council contractor for waste removal have never met their cleanliness targets; yet for the two previous years, the firm was only fined 0.5% from their £11.6 million payment for street cleaning.[25] It was said that this pointed "to a local authority who have lost control of their contractor."[25]

Following boundary changes, she has represented Kentish Town South since 2022.[26] Gould resigned as a Camden councillor, and Leader of Camden Council, on 11 July 2024 a week after becoming an MP.[27]

Author

Gould authored the book Wasted: How Misunderstanding Young Britain Threatens Our Future, which was published by Little, Brown Book Group in February 2015.[28] Reviewing it in The Observer, Bidisha described the book as "an easy-to-read manifesto that debunks the derogatory tabloid stereotype of useless, narcissistic hoodies, thugs, yobs and chavs." Bidisha wrote that Wasted was "inspiring", whilst noting of Gould that "she is not a natural writer and Wasted has a tendency to sound like a standard, sweeping speech".[29]

Member of Parliament

In April 2012, Gould lost out in her attempt to challenge incumbent Labour MP Teresa Pearce to become Labour's parliamentary candidate for Erith and Thamesmead, a safe seat for the party, with Pearce being reselected. "I was the victim of a well orchestrated and vicious smear campaign," Gould said. "Every day, I'd wake to articles in the media, and they came from both the Left and the Right, assailing me for being too rich, too young, too inexperienced, but mostly — too well connected." According to Gould, amongst the "lies" were that Blair's former spokesman Alastair Campbell was calling local party members on her behalf, and that she had engaged the services of an expensive public relations company to unfairly bolster her campaign.[30]

In May 2024, prior to the general election on 4 July, Gould was selected as Labour's parliamentary candidate for Queen's Park and Maida Vale, a newly created constituency which borders her borough of Camden.[13] She won the seat with 52.5% of the votes cast, and a majority of 14,913 (38.9%) over her nearest rival.[3]

Following her election to Parliament, Gould was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office.[4]

In November 2024, Gould voted in favour of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which proposes to legalise assisted suicide.[31]

Personal life

Gould is an active member of West London Synagogue, a Reform synagogue.[14] She married Alex Zatman, a civil servant, at the synagogue in September 2021, in a service conducted by Rabbi Baroness Neuberger.[32] Gould took maternity leave from public office in autumn 2023.[33]

Honours

In the 2024 King's Birthday Honours list, Gould was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire, for services to Local Government.[34]

References

  1. ^ a b Foster, Dawn (26 June 2017). "After Grenfell: two councils, two very different responses". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Cohen, Claire (30 May 2024). "Meet Georgia Gould the smart young Blairite 'heiress' who could be Labour leader one day". The Independent. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Queen's Park and Maida Vale - General election results 2024". BBC News. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Georgia Gould MP". GOV.UK. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  5. ^ "Loading..." Camden New Journal. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  6. ^ "London Councils Chair and Executive confirmed at "important moment for our city"". London Councils. 7 June 2022. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  7. ^ https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/titles-included-in-passports/titles-accessible#:~:text=The%20younger%20sons%20of%20earls,in%20speaking%20to%20the%20person
  8. ^ https://www.thegazette.co.uk/awards-and-accreditation/content/103823#:~:text=What%20is%20a%20life%20peer%20in%20the%20UK?,right%20on%2021%20October%201958.
  9. ^ Foot, Tom (31 May 2024). "Gould is choice for the 'safe seat'". Camden New Journal. Retrieved 4 June 2024.
  10. ^ a b Susannah Butter (26 September 2016). "Camden council leader Georgia Gould: 'Dad gave me strong values'". The Standard. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  11. ^ a b c Adams, Tim (29 April 2012). "Philip Gould: a good life and death | Politics". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
  12. ^ Hookham, Mark (25 June 2017). "Fall and rise of Georgia Gould the 'red princess'". The Times. Archived from the original on 30 May 2024. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  13. ^ a b Harpin, Lee (29 May 2024). "Labour poised to suspend 'Chingford Corbynista' candidate over 'divisive' Gaza campaign". Jewish News. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  14. ^ a b Harpin, Lee (26 April 2018). "Jewish social activism guides my political work, says council leader". The JC. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  15. ^ @PrivateEyeNews (18 June 2019). "She narrowly beats Georgia Gould, Labour leader of Camden Council, who appeared on our cover in January that same year being held by Neil Kinnock" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  16. ^ "Cllr Georgia Gould". Camden Labour. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  17. ^ "Georgia Gould selected for Camden seat". The Standard. 27 May 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
  18. ^ Pierce, Andrew (15 April 2009). "Tony Blair's supporters in vote rigging row". The Telegraph. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
  19. ^ "Mother said 'I don't want you in that dirty world of politics'". The Standard. 22 May 2009. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
  20. ^ RSA (26 March 2015). "Georgia Gould". RSA. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
  21. ^ a b Kenyon, Megan (9 January 2023). "Georgia Gould: 'If we approach broken systems from a place of fear, we won't change'". Local Government Chronicle (LGC). Retrieved 25 June 2024.
  22. ^ Gibbons, Amy (30 May 2024). "Starmer faces Labour Left backlash as flurry of moderate candidates announced". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  23. ^ Teale, Andrew. "Kentish Town Ward". Local Elections Archive Project. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  24. ^ Burns, Iain (3 May 2017). "Georgia Gould elected as new Camden Council leader". Ham & High. Archived from the original on 7 November 2017.
  25. ^ a b Ward, Owen (9 December 2019). "Veolia have never met their Targets". Save Bloomsbury. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
  26. ^ "Local election results 5th May 2022". Camden Council. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  27. ^ Gould, Georgia [@Georgia_Gould] (12 July 2024). "Last night I formally resigned as a Camden councillor. It has been an absolute privilege to represent Kentish Town for 14 years & lead this great borough for 7 years. I am grateful to our community who always step up to help in hard times and make Camden such a special place. We have a group of Labour councillors who represent Camden's diverse community and will take Camden into the future with care, dedication and passion. This community will always be in my heart and I look forward to seeing what you achieve together in the future" (Tweet). Retrieved 22 July 2024 – via Twitter.
  28. ^ Gould, Georgia (5 March 2015). Wasted: How Misunderstanding Young Britain Threatens Our Future. Little, Brown Book Group. ISBN 978-1-4055-2229-8.
  29. ^ Mamata, Bidisha (16 February 2015). "Wasted: How Misunderstanding Young Britain Threatens Our Future review – Georgia Gould's faith in change". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  30. ^ Murphy, Joe; Cohen, David (12 April 2012). "FOCUS: Georgia Gould tells of election sabotage and smears". Evening Standard. Retrieved 28 May 2024.
  31. ^ "Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill: Second Reading". Votes in Parliament. 29 November 2024.
  32. ^ "Dance Me To The End Of Love: Council leader Georgia Gould marries Alex Zatman". Camden New Journal. 3 September 2021. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  33. ^ Osley, Richard (22 April 2023). "Council leader Georgia Gould expecting baby". Camden New Journal. Retrieved 3 January 2024.
  34. ^ "Birthday Honours List 2024 PM List Transparency Data (HTML)". GOV.UK. Retrieved 15 June 2024.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
New constituency Member of Parliament
for Queen's Park and Maida Vale
2024–present 		Incumbent