Colleen Fletcher

Colleen Fletcher
OBE
Official portrait, 2017
Member of Parliament
for Coventry North East
In office
7 May 2015 – 30 May 2024
Preceded byBob Ainsworth
Succeeded byMary Creagh[a]
Personal details
Born
Colleen Margaret Dalton

(1954-11-23) 23 November 1954 (age 70)
Coventry, England
Political partyLabour

Colleen Margaret Fletcher OBE (née Dalton; born 23 November 1954) is a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Coventry North East from 2015 to 2024. A member of the Labour Party, she served as a Member of Coventry City Council prior to her election to Parliament.

Early life

Colleen Margaret Dalton was born on 23 November 1954 in Coventry, England to William Charles and Dot Dalton.[1] Her mother was a Labour councillor on Coventry City Council. She grew up in Coventry and attended Richard Lee Primary School, Lyng Hall School, and the further education college Henley College.[2]

Political career

Fletcher represented Wyken ward on Coventry City Council from 1992 to 2000 and between 2002 and 2004.[3] In 2011, Fletcher was elected as a Labour Party councillor for the Upper Stoke ward on the same council.[4]

In December 2013, she was selected as the Labour candidate for Coventry North East. The seat had been represented by a Labour MP since its formation in 1974.[5] Fletcher was elected as MP with a majority of 11,775 (29.1%). She supported Owen Smith in the 2016 Labour leadership election,[6] and was re-elected at the 2017 general election.[7]

Fletcher served as an opposition whip from 2017 to 2024, under the leadership of Corbyn and later Keir Starmer.[8] As an opposition whip, she served on the Administration Committee and numerous bill committees.

Fletcher supported the United Kingdom (UK) remaining within the European Union (EU) in the 2016 UK EU membership referendum. In the indicative votes in March 2019, she voted for a referendum on a Brexit withdrawal agreement, for the Norway-plus model, and for a customs union with the EU.[9]

On 5 September 2022, she announced she would be standing down at the 2024 general election.[10]

Personal life

Fletcher was married to Ian Fletcher from 1972 until his death in 2018; the couple had two sons.[11][12]

Notes

  1. ^ As MP for Coventry East.

References

  1. ^ Fletcher, Colleen Margaret. A & C Black. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U283917. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  2. ^ Reid, Les (14 December 2013). "Colleen Fletcher selected as Labour candidate for Coventry North East". Coventry Telegraph. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  3. ^ Reid, Les (18 November 2013). "Four make shortlist to fight Coventry North-East for Labour". Coventry Telegraph. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  4. ^ "Upper Stoke Ward - Labour hold". Coventry City Council. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  5. ^ "Coventry North East". UK Polling Report. Archived from the original on 5 March 2014. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  6. ^ "Full list of MPs and MEPs backing challenger Owen Smith". LabourList. 21 July 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  7. ^ "Coventry North East". BBC News. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  8. ^ "Colleen Fletcher MP". parliament.uk. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  9. ^ "How MPs voted on May's withdrawal deal defeat". Financial Times. 29 March 2019. Archived from the original on 2 September 2019.
  10. ^ Brown, Ellie (5 September 2022). "Coventry MP to stand down at next general election". CoventryLive. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  11. ^ Gilbert, Simon (3 June 2015). "Coventry's first female MP in 35 years speaks of juggling her new career with supporting her husband through his cancer battle". Coventry Telegraph. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  12. ^ "Coventry MP's heartbreak at death of husband". 22 August 2018.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Coventry North East
2015–2024 		Constituency abolished