Janet Anderson

Janet Anderson MP
Member of Parliament for Rossendale and Darwen
Incumbent
Assumed office 9 April 1992
Preceded by	Sir David Trippier
Personal details
Born	(1949-12-06) 6 December 1949 Newcastle upon Tyne
Nationality	British
Political party	Labour
Alma mater	University of Westminster

Janet Anderson (born 6 December, 1949) is a British politician. She is the British Member of Parliament for Rossendale and Darwen. She is a member of the Labour Party. She lives in Darwen.

Early life and career

She was born in 1949 in Newcastle upon Tyne and educated in the south west at the Trowbridge Girls' High School (now John of Gaunt School) and the Kingswood Grammar School (now Kingsfield School) in Kingswood, South Gloucestershire. She attended the Polytechnic of Central London and the Université de Nantes.

In 1971, she joined the offices of the The Scotsman and The Sunday Times as a secretary. In 1974 she became the personal assistant to the MP for Blackburn, Barbara Castle and to her successor Jack Straw until 1987 when she fought the marginal seat of Rossendale and Darwen. She ran her own public relations company, with clients such as the Royal College of Nursing and Safeway plc.

Entry into politics

At the 1987 general election, she was unsuccessful and the seat was won by David Trippier by a clear 5,000 votes. She became a campaigns organiser for the Parliamentary Labour Party. Anderson then became the northern regional organiser for the Shopping Hours Reform Council campaigning to extending the Sunday trading laws.

Janet Anderson fought Rossendale and Darwen again at the 1992 General Election, and this time she was successful, albeit very narrowly. She ousted Trippier by just 120 votes. She is a member of the GMB Union. She was a secretary of the Tribune Group. In 1996, she was the Shadow Minister for Women. She was notorious for having done an interview with Petronella Wyatt, claiming that women would become more promiscuous under a Labour government.

Political career

Almost immediately she became the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Margaret Beckett, which she held for a year. Following the 1997 general election she was given a job in Tony Blair's new government as the Vice-Chamberlain of the Household, a grand title for a junior whip.

In 1998, she was promoted as the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at The Department for Culture, Media and Sport where she was the Minister for Tourism, Film and Broadcasting and was responsible for bringing in the popular free TV licences for the over-75s. She left government following the 2001 general election.

In February 2007, when MP's travel expenses were unearthed, she had the highest mileage of all MPs, claiming £16,612 for 60,118 miles to her Lancashire constituency; an average of 1156 miles per week at 28 pence a mile. This was £4,500 more than the next highest, the MP for Tewkesbury. Assuming a car will give thirty miles per gallon, this is around £8.30 per gallon, or £1.82 per litre (4.55 litres to a gallon). According to the AA, the distance from Darwen to Westminster is 225 miles: she averaged this distance five times a week (costing £124 each round trip - £60 saver return on the train).

She used to be married to the solicitor Vincent Humphreys and they have three children together. She lives in London with her partner, English MP Jim Dowd. As well as speaking fluent French, she plays the piano and is very keen on opera.

External links

• ePolitix - Janet Anderson official site
• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Janet Anderson MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Janet Anderson MP
• Voting record at the Public Whip
• Profile at BBC Politics
• Independent article
• Parliamentary Yearbook biography & latest election results