By Graham Taylor.
In the General Election of July 2024 there were 6 Quaker MPs elected to Parliament, 4 from the Labour Party, 1 from the Green Party and 1 Liberal Democrat. Ruth Cadbury and Catherine West were already MPs but the other 4 were elected for the first time. This is a good number In terms of Quaker history and especially good in terms of the last 4 or 5 decades. There have been 81 Quaker MPs elected in all of parliamentary history but in recent decades there have on one or two occasions been no Quaker MPs at all, or only 1. The six MPs elected in 2024 were:
Steffan Aquarone – Liberal Democrat (North Norfolk); Ruth Cadbury – Labour (Brentford & Isleworth); Carla Denyer – Green (Bristol Central); Josh Fenton-Glynn – Labour (Calder Valley); Catherine West – Labour (Hornsey & Friern Barnet); Yuan Yang – Labour (Earley & Woodley). These elected MPs were joined in 2026 by a Quaker MP appointed to the House of Lords: Ann Limb (Labour).
Steffan Aquarone (1984-) is a Liberal Democrat MP for North Norfolk. He has also been an entrepreneur in film and technology. His projects involved collaboration between large groups of people with a common interest, often crowd-sourced, the most notable example being feature-film Tortoise in Love which was made by a village in Oxfordshire. He graduated in 2006 with a BA in Politics and International Relations from Warwick University.
Carla Denyer was the first Quaker MP who was also a party leader (co-leader of the Green Party).
Josh Fenton-Glynn is Labour MP for Calder Valley, before de-industrialisation a historic centre of the labour movement. He attended Calder High School and then took a degree at Liverpool University. Before becoming MP he worked for Oxfam, Child Poverty Action Group, the Public and Commercial Services Union, USDAW, Church Action on Poverty and the General Medical Council.
Yuan Yang is Labour MP for the new constituency of Earley and Woodley.
Quaker MPs in history:
First Quaker MP elected was John Archdale (1698) – but blocked by law.
First Quaker MP to take his seat was Joseph Pease (1832)
The second Quaker MP in Plt was John Bright (1843)
The first Quaker MP in the Cabinet was John Bright (1869)
Were 9 Quaker MPs elected in 1906 (Liberals)
Were 9 Quaker MPs elected in 1945 (mostly Labour)
Was only 1 Quaker MP elected In 1997 (Conservative, Richard Body)
Were 3 Quaker MPs elected in 2015 (two Labour, one Conservative, all women)
Were two Quaker MPs elected in 2017 and 2019 (both Labour, both women)
Were 6 Quaker MPs elected in 2024
The most famous Quaker MPs are probably John Bright (Liberal) and Dr Alfred Salter (Labour). Alfred Salter is particularly important for the Quaker Socialists because QSS’s Salter Lecture is named after Alfred and Ada Salter. But here are more recent examples of Quaker MPs:
Ruth Cadbury (Labour)
Ruth Cadbury is MP for Brentford and Isleworth, having been a member since 2015. She served as Shadow Housing Minister from 2016 – 2017 and has been particularly outspoken in campaigns against the expansion of Heathrow Airport.
She was previously an elected councillor in Hounslow for 25 years where she was well known for campaigns for the living wage for all employees.
In her ‘maiden speech’ to parliament she spoke of the Quaker values of the Cadbury family, and the expectation that working people should receive good pay, good training, decent housing and adequate welfare support and job security.
She gave the Salter Lecture at Yearly Meeting in 2022
Catherine West (Labour)
Catherine West is MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, having been elected to that role in May 2015. Amongst many causes, she has been a prominent spokesperson in campaigns for nuclear disarmament, for the better treatment of asylum seekers and against Brexit.
She was an elected member of Islington Council from 2002 to 2014 and leader there from 2010 to 2013. While leader, she set up the country’s first Fairness Commission, chaired by Professor Richard Wilkinson, co-author of The Spirit Level.
Catherine West became a Quaker in the 1990s. She gave the Swarthmore Lecture in 2017 and the Salter Lecture in 2019. She is one of only two Quakers to have given both a Swarthmore Lecture and a Salter Lecture (the other being Jonathan Dale)
As well as many Quakers serving as MPs at Westminster, there were also two Quakers MPs in the European Parliament.
Former MEPs
Jude Kirton Darling MEP (Labour)
Jude Kirton-Darling was an MEP for the North East of England. She has especially focussed on trade during that time, as a member of the international trade committee.
She worked previously for the Quaker Council for European Affairs, then the European Trade Union Confederation.
She gave the Quaker Socialist Society Salter Lecture in 2015.
Molly Scott Cato MEP (Green)
Molly Scott Cato was an MEP for the South West of England. Amongst the causes she has championed are urgent action on climate change, demilitarisation and peace in the Middle East.
Previously a university teacher she has published widely on green economics.
She gave the Quaker Socialist Society Salter Lecture in 2017.
[Please note that articles on this website represent only the views of their named authors, and not necessarily the views of Quaker Socialists in general, or of the Quaker Socialist Society in particular.]
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