Catherine Atkinson

Catherine Atkinson

Catherine Helen Atkinson is a British Labour Party politician and barrister serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Derby North since (/wiki/2024UnitedKingdomgeneralelection). She defeated Conservative Amanda Solloway.

Early life

Catherine Atkinson

Two of her grandparents were Mexican-American. Atkinson attended Sacred Heart High School, Hammersmith and Benenden School. She graduated a Master of Divinity from the University of Edinburgh.

She studied law at City, University of London. She was called to the bar at Deka Chambers in 2006; her colleague Jake Richards was also elected as a Labour MP at the 2024 General Election.

Political career

Catherine Atkinson

Atkinson first stood to become a Member of Parliament in the 2005 general election in the London constituency of Kensington and Chelsea, where she lost to incumbent Conservative MP Sir Malcolm Rifkind.

In 2006, she was elected as a Labour Councillor for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. In May 2009, an unsuccessful motion was put forward to elect Atkinson as the next Mayor of Kensington and Chelsea. Her tenure on the council ended in 2010.

Following a brief time away from public politics in the early 2010s, Atkinson stood for election three successive times at the (/wiki/2015UnitedKingdomgeneralelection), (/wiki/2017UnitedKingdomgeneralelection) and (/wiki/2019UnitedKingdomgeneralelection) general elections in Erewash, coming second on each occasion.

Following her candidacy in Erewash, Atkinson was selected as the Labour candidate for Derby North in July 2022, where she would later successfully win the seat with 18,619 votes in the 2024 general election.

As Derby North's MP, she is now a member of the Commons' Transport Select Committee and an officer of four All Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs), focused on justice, rail and nuclear energy.

Personal life

Catherine Atkinson

Her husband, Daniel, served in Afghanistan and worked as a firefighter with Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service.