Gen Kitchen | |
---|---|
Assistant Government Whip | |
Assumed office 10 July 2024 | |
Prime Minister | Keir Starmer |
Member of Parliament for Wellingborough and Rushden[a] | |
Assumed office 15 February 2024 | |
Preceded by | Peter Bone |
Majority | 5,486 (12.5%) |
Member of Newham London Borough Council for Boleyn | |
In office 3 May 2018 – 5 May 2022 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Genevieve Victoria Kitchen 5 May 1995 |
Political party | Labour |
Alma mater | Queen Mary University of London (BA) |
Genevieve Victoria Kitchen[1] (born 5 May 1995)[2][3] is a British politician who has served as Assistant Government Whip since 2024. She is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wellingborough and Rushden (formerly named Wellingbrough) since the 2024 Wellingborough by-election. A member of the Labour Party,[4] she was a member of Newham London Borough Council in Greater London from 2018 to 2022.
Genevieve Kitchen was born on 5 May 1995,[3] the daughter of two Royal Navy veterans.[5] She grew up in Northamptonshire, and attended Caroline Chisholm School in Northampton,[6] John Hellins Primary School in Towcester, and Kingsbrook Secondary School (now Elizabeth Woodville School) in Deanshanger.[7] She studied history and politics at Queen Mary University of London,[8] and graduated in 2016.[9]
Kitchen has been a fundraiser in the charity sector,[10][11] working with organisations including The Salvation Army, Sarcoma UK, a children's hospice and a children's health charity.[12] From 2018 to 2022, she was a councillor in the London Borough of Newham[13] representing the ward of Boleyn.[14]
In the 2019 general election, Kitchen stood for Labour in South Northamptonshire,[15] finishing in second place with 20.9 per cent of the vote behind Andrea Leadsom, the incumbent Conservative MP and business secretary.[16]
In November 2023, she was selected as the prospective parliamentary candidate for Wellingborough.[17] When the recall petition to remove Peter Bone was successful, she launched her campaign in the 2024 Wellingborough by-election.[18] She was endorsed by the former Conservative leader of the local council.[2] Kitchen was elected as MP for Wellingborough, winning with 45.9 per cent of the vote and a majority of 6,436.[19]
She is the Labour candidate for the renamed constituency of Wellingborough and Rushden in the 2024 general election.[20]
Kitchen married her husband Joe in October 2023. She cut short her honeymoon in Suffolk to campaign in the 2024 Wellingborough by-election.[21]