In the recent UK General Election, four members of the University of Kent’s alumni community were elected to the House of Commons.
The newly elected MP’s represent four of the major UK parties (Labour, Conservative, Liberal Democrat, and SNP) highlighting the political diversity that exists at Kent.
The Kent alumni elected on 4 July 2024 are:
Allison Gardener (Biochemistry, 1987)
Allison was elected as the Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent South. She is an expert in data ethics and a scientific adviser at the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. In 2018 she co-founded Women Leading in AI and since 2013 has been a research academic at Keele University. Allison spent six years as a councillor in Newcastle-under-Lyme, where she was also Chair of the Newcastle-under-Lyme Labour Party.
Blake Stephenson (Industrial Relations and Human Resource Management, 2005)
Blake was elected as the Conservative MP for Mid Bedfordshire. After training as a barrister, Blake spent 16 years working in financial regulation, ethics, and compliance at the Financial Services Authority , Nasdaq, and the London Stock Exchange. He was a Councillor in Central Bedfordshire between 2023 and 2024, and Chairman of the Mid Bedfordshire Conservative Association from 2021 until 2024.
James MacCleary (Politics and International Relations, 2002)
James was elected as the Liberal Democrat MP for Lewes. He is the co-founder and director of Breakthrough Communications & Strategies, having previously worked for a number of large charities and campaigning organisations. He was leader of Lewes District Council between 2022 and 2023 and a Councillor for East Sussex County Council since 2021.
Stephen Gethins (Politics & Government, 2007)
Stephen was elected as the SNP MP for Arbroath & Broughty Ferry. He was previously MP for North East Fife, SNP foreign affairs spokesperson at Westminster, and former adviser to Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon. Between 2019 and 20214 he was Professor of Practice in International Relations at St Andrews University, and in 2020 was Chair of the EU & ME campaign, which urged for closer ties between Scotland and the EU.