Angela Eagle

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Angela Eagle (born February 17, 1961) is Labour Member of Parliament for Wallasey.

Born in Bridlington, the daughter of a printworker, she was educated at the St Peter's Church of England Primary School, Formby and the Formby High School, before studying at St John's College, Oxford where she was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics in 1983, and where she was also chairwoman of the Oxford University Fabian Society 1980-1983. She worked briefly in the economic directorate of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) in 1984, before working for the Confederation of Health Service Employees (COHSE) later in the year. At COHSE, she held several positions, leaving on her election to parliament in the capacity of parliamentary officer. She was elected secretary for the Constituency Labour Party in Peckham for two years from 1989.

Eagle was first elected in the 1992 election when she defeated the Minister for Overseas Development at the Foreign Office Lynda Chalker by 3,809 votes, and has remained an MP since. She made her maiden speech on May 11, 1992. [1] In parliament she became a member of the Employment Select Committee in 1994, and was promoted by Tony Blair in 1996 to the position of an Opposition Whip, and became a member of the Blair government following the 1997 General Election as the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, moving to the Department of Social Security in 1998. Following the 2001 General Election, she was a junior minister at the Home Office but was sacked by Blair in 2002. She has been a member of the Treasury Select Committee since 2003.

Angela was joint winner of the British Girls' Under-18 chess championship in 1976. She gained the distinction of becoming British Parliament's first - and thus far only - openly lesbian member by coming out in September 1997 in an interview with The Observer.[2] Maureen Colquhoun, another lesbian MP, did not declare her sexuality until after she left parliament [3]. She was joined in the House of Commons at the 1997 General Election by her identical twin sister, Maria Eagle, thus becoming the first set of twins to sit in the House. She and her sister are one of only two pairs of sisters in the Commons, the other sister pair are Sylvia Heal and Ann Keen. She is also an avid cricketer.