Kate Hollern

Kate Hollern
Official portrait, 2020
Member of Parliament
for Blackburn
In office
7 May 2015 – 30 May 2024
Preceded byJack Straw
Succeeded byAdnan Hussain
Leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council
In office
14 September 2010 – 1 April 2015
Preceded byMichael Lee
Succeeded byMohammed Khan
In office
1 July 2004 – 17 May 2007
Preceded byBill Taylor
Succeeded byColin Rigby
Member of Blackburn with Darwen Council
In office
4 May 1995 – 7 May 2015
Preceded byChristine Cramsie
Succeeded byQuesir Mahmood
ConstituencyBank Top (1995–1997)
Wensley Fold (1997–2015)
Personal details
Born
Catherine Malloy Hollern

(1955-04-12) 12 April 1955 (age 69)
Dumbarton, Scotland
Political partyLabour
SpouseJohn Roberts (c.1990; died 2017)
Children2

Catherine Malloy Hollern (born 12 April 1955) is a British Labour Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Blackburn from 2015 to 2024. She was Leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council from 2004 to 2007 and 2010 to 2015.

Early life and career

Catherine Hollern was born on 12 April 1955 in Dumbarton.[1] She moved to Blackburn in the late 1970s.[2] Hollern worked in management at a Blackburn footwear factory and later Blackburn College.[2]

At the 1995 local elections, Hollern was elected to represent Bank Top on Blackburn with Darwen Council.[3] She defeated the incumbent councillor, a former Labour representative standing as an independent.

Hollern was re-elected to represent Wensley Fold following boundary changes in 1997,[4] and in 2004 she succeeded Bill Taylor to become Council Leader. She continued as group leader after Labour lost control in 2007, she returned to lead the Council once they regained power in 2010.[5]

Hollern stepped down as Council Leader and as a councillor in March 2015.[6]

Parliamentary career

In March 2014, Hollern was selected, using an all-women shortlist, to succeed former cabinet minister Jack Straw as the Labour candidate for Blackburn.[7] At the 2015 general election, Hollern was elected to Parliament as MP for Blackburn with 56.3% of the vote and a majority of 12,760.[8][9][10][11]

Hollern served as a Shadow Defence Minister from January 2016 to October 2016.

She supported Owen Smith in the failed attempt to replace Jeremy Corbyn in the leadership election.[12] On 10 October 2016, she was appointed Shadow Minister for Communities and Local Government.[13]

At the snap 2017 general election, Hollern was re-elected as MP for Blackburn with an increased vote share of 69.8% and an increased majority of 20,368.[9]

In July 2017, Hollern was appointed as Corbyn's Parliamentary private secretary (PPS).[14]

Hollern was again re-elected at the 2019 general election, with a decreased vote share of 64.9% and a decreased majority of 18,304.[15]

Following Keir Starmer's election as Labour leader, Hollern served as Shadow Minister for Communities and Local Government from 2020. She resigned on 12 May 2021 after being accused of trying to "isolate a parliamentary worker who had made allegations of sexual harassment" against former Labour MP Mike Hill.[16]

In January 2024, Hollern was re-selected as the Labour candidate for Blackburn at the 2024 general election.[17] She lost in that election to Independent candidate Adnan Hussain by 132 votes.[18]

Personal life

Hollern's partner of 26 years was politician and trade unionist John Roberts, with whom she had two daughters.[19] Roberts served as a Member of Blackburn with Darwen Council and Chair of Blackburn Labour. He died in 2017 at the age of 61, having been diagnosed with cancer shortly after Hollern's election to Parliament in 2015.

References

  1. ^ "No. 61230". The London Gazette. 18 May 2015. p. 9123.
  2. ^ a b Hollern, Kate (April 2015). Elect Kate Hollern leaflet. Labour Party.
  3. ^ "Blackburn Borough Council Election Results 1973-1996" (PDF).
  4. ^ "Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council Election Results 1997-2012" (PDF).
  5. ^ "About Kate". Blackburn Labour Party. Archived from the original on 3 February 2015. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  6. ^ "Blackburn with Darwen Council leader Kate Hollern steps down to fight election". Lancashire Telegraph. 30 March 2015. Archived from the original on 16 December 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  7. ^ "Kate Hollern replaces Jack Straw as Labour Blackburn candidate". BBC. 31 March 2014. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  8. ^ "Blackburn". UK Polling Report. Archived from the original on 12 April 2015. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  9. ^ a b "Blackburn parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
  10. ^ "Blackburn". Election 2015. BBC. Archived from the original on 8 May 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  11. ^ Labour holds Blackburn Archived 18 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine, lancashiretelegraph.co.uk; accessed 15 May 2015.
  12. ^ "Full list of MPs and MEPs backing challenger Owen Smith". LabourList. 21 July 2016. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  13. ^ "New Frontbench role for Kate Hollern MP". Archived from the original on 14 November 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  14. ^ Jacobs, Bill (15 July 2017). "Blackburn MP Kate gets job as Labour leader's key aide". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
  15. ^ "Blackburn Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  16. ^ Syal, Rajeev (12 May 2021). "Shadow minister steps down after MP accuses her of meddling in harassment case". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  17. ^ "Ex-Hyndburn MP and veteran Rossendale councillor chosen by Labour". Lancashire Telegraph. 13 March 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2024.
  18. ^ "Blackburn - General election results 2024". BBC News. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  19. ^ "Tributes paid to Councillor John Roberts after he loses battle with cancer". Lancashire Telegraph. 28 February 2017. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Blackburn
2015–2024 		Succeeded by