View source for Charlotte Atkins

{{Short description|British Labour Party politician|bot=PearBOT 5}}
{{BLP sources|date=January 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2016}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix =
| name = Charlotte Atkins
| image = Liz Atkins (Lambeth councillor).jpg
| office = [[Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State]] [[Department for Transport|for Transport]]
| primeminister = [[Tony Blair]]
| 1blankname = [[Secretary of State for Transport|Sec. of State]]
| 1namedata = [[Alistair Darling]]
| term_start = 10 September 2004
| term_end = 10 May 2005
| predecessor = [[Tony McNulty]]
| successor = [[Karen Buck]]
| constituency_MP1 = [[Staffordshire Moorlands (UK Parliament constituency)|Staffordshire Moorlands]]
| parliament1 = 
| predecessor1 = [[David Knox (UK politician)|David Knox]]
| successor1 = [[Karen Bradley]]
| term_start1 = 1 May 1997
| term_end1 = 12 April 2010
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1950|9|24}}
| birth_place = [[Chelmsford]], [[Essex]], England
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = British
| spouse = Gus Brain 
| party = [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]
| parents = [[Ronald Atkins]]<br>Elizabeth Atkins
| children = 1
| residence =
| alma_mater = [[London School of Economics]]
| occupation =
| profession =
| religion =
| signature =
| website =
| footnotes =
}}
'''Charlotte Jean Scott Atkins''' (born 24 September 1950) is a [[British Labour Party]] politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for [[Staffordshire Moorlands (UK Parliament constituency)|Staffordshire Moorlands]] from [[1997 United Kingdom general election|1997]] until [[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010]].

==Early life==
Atkins is the daughter of [[Ron Atkins]], the left wing former Labour MP for [[Preston North]], and the [[Records of members of parliament of the United Kingdom#Longest-lived MP|longest-lived British MP ever]]. Atkins was educated at the [[Colchester County High School]], and is a graduate of the [[London School of Economics]], gaining a [[BSc]] in Economics. From the University of London, she also gained an [[Master of Arts|MA]] in Area Studies. She worked as a community relations officer with the [[Luton]] Community Research Council from 1974 to 1976, before joining the trade union movement.

For four years she was a researcher with the [[Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians|UCATT union]] (from 1976 to 1980), then a researcher from 1980 to 1984 for the [[Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union|TASS and AUEW]], before becoming a press officer for [[UNISON]] and [[COHSE]] from 1984 to 1987.

Atkins joined the Labour Party in 1965. In 1982, she was elected as a councillor in the [[London Borough of Wandsworth]], and was the Deputy Leader of the Labour Group from 1983 to 1986. In 1981 she wrote a book with [[Chris Mullin (politician)|Chris Mullin]] entitled ''How to Select or Reselect Your MP''.

==Parliamentary career==
In 1990, Atkins unsuccessfully contested the [[1990 Eastbourne by-election|Eastbourne by-election]] caused by the assassination of the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] MP [[Ian Gow]] by the [[Provisional IRA]]. She entered the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] at the [[1997 United Kingdom general election|1997 general election]] in the Labour landslide as the Member of Parliament for [[Staffordshire Moorlands (UK Parliament constituency)|Staffordshire Moorlands]], a seat held previously by the retiring [[David Knox (UK politician)|David Knox]] and which had been Conservative-held for 27 years.

After the [[2001 United Kingdom general election|2001 general election]], Atkins was appointed a [[Parliamentary Private Secretary]] to the [[Foreign and Commonwealth Office]]. She was promoted to [[Parliamentary Under Secretary of State]] at the [[Department for Transport]] in 2004, but was dropped after the [[2005 United Kingdom general election|2005 general election]]. In July 2005 she became a member of the [[Health Select Committee]].

Atkins was largely loyal to the Labour government during her time in Parliament and rarely rebelled.<ref>[http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/mp.php?mpn=Charlotte_Atkins&mpc=Staffordshire_Moorlands Public Whip – Charlotte Atkins MP voting record] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207101723/http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/mp.php?mpn=Charlotte_Atkins&mpc=Staffordshire_Moorlands |date=7 December 2008 }}</ref>

Atkins was vice-chair of the All-Party Hill Farmers Group, and took part in a series of [[adjournment debate]]s on government funding for [[British Waterways|inland waterways]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Adjournment debate on future of canals |work=Boating Business |url=http://www.boatingbusiness.com/archive101/2008/november/news/the_future_of_the_canals |accessdate=28 October 2008 }}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> She is a volunteer for the Manchester-based British Fluoridisation Society.

Atkins lost her seat at the [[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010 general election]] to [[Karen Bradley]] of the Conservative Party.

==Post-parliamentary career==
In March 2012, Atkins was appointed as the chair of the Central Shires Canal and River Trust Partnership Board. The CRT is the charity which has taken over the work and role of British Waterways. She was heavily involved in campaigning for more funds and the regeneration of England's waterways while in Parliament, and won the first ever Inland Waterways Association Parliamentarian of the Year Award in 2008.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}}

Atkins was elected as a councillor for the Leek North ward of [[Staffordshire County Council]] in a 2012 by-election, and continued to represent the ward until her defeat in 2025.<ref>{{cite web |title=Local Elections Archive Project — Leek North Ward |url=https://www.andrewteale.me.uk/leap/ward/5213/#2012-02-09 |website=www.andrewteale.me.uk |access-date=3 February 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-05-01 |title=Election results for Staffordshire Moorlands - Leek South, 1 May 2025 |url=https://staffordshire.moderngov.co.uk/mgElectionAreaResults.aspx?XXR=0&ID=536&RPID=0 |access-date=2025-05-11 |website=staffordshire.moderngov.co.uk |language=en}}</ref>

==Personal life==
She married Gus Brain in June 1990 in [[Bromley]] and has one child, Emma, born in October 1986.{{cn|date=August 2021}}

Her twin sister, Liz, is a Lambeth Councillor.{{cn|date=August 2021}}

==Publications==
* ''How to Select or Reselect Your Member of Parliament'' by Chris Mullin and Charlotte Atkins, 1981, Institute of Workers' Control {{ISBN|0-901740-74-8}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://archive.today/20130420150455/http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-152,00.html Guardian Unlimited Politics – Ask Aristotle: Charlotte Atkins MP]
* [https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/charlotte_atkins/staffordshire_moorlands TheyWorkForYou.com – Charlotte Atkins MP]
* [http://www.charlotteatkins.co.uk Official Website]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080907064015/http://www.waterways.org.uk/News/Pressreleases/ParliamentarianoftheYear IWA Parliamentarian of the Year]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/mpdb/html/534.stm BBC Politics]{{Dead link|date=June 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

===News items===
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/vote_2005/england/4474141.stm Claiming Labour wanted to ditch the council tax in 2005]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/leicestershire/4096721.stm Opening the Rearsby bypass in December 2004]

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{s-bef|before = [[David Knox (UK politician)|David Knox]]}}
{{s-ttl|title  = Member of Parliament for [[Staffordshire Moorlands (UK Parliament constituency)|Staffordshire Moorlands]]|years  = [[1997 United Kingdom general election|1997]]–[[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010]]}}
{{s-aft|after  = [[Karen Bradley]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atkins, Charlotte}}
[[Category:Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1997–2001]]
[[Category:UK MPs 2001–2005]]
[[Category:UK MPs 2005–2010]]
[[Category:Councillors in the London Borough of Wandsworth]]
[[Category:Alumni of the London School of Economics]]
[[Category:1950 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Chelmsford]]
[[Category:Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies]]
[[Category:People educated at Colchester County High School]]
[[Category:20th-century British women politicians]]
[[Category:21st-century British women politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century English women]]
[[Category:20th-century English politicians]]
[[Category:21st-century English women]]
[[Category:21st-century English politicians]]
[[Category:Women councillors in England]]