Laura Kyrke-Smith
British politician (born 1983)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Laura Elizabeth Kyrke-Smith (born 15 September 1983) is a Labour politician, academic and charity worker who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Aylesbury since 2024. A member of the Labour Party, she is the first Labour MP for Aylesbury as well as the first female MP to represent Aylesbury in the House of Commons.[1]
15 September 1983
Laura Kyrke-Smith | |
|---|---|
Official portrait, 2024 | |
| Member of Parliament for Aylesbury | |
| Assumed office 4 July 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Rob Butler |
| Constituency | Aylesbury |
| Majority | 630 (1.3%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Laura Elizabeth Kyrke-Smith 15 September 1983 |
| Party | Labour |
| Education | Robinson College, Cambridge (BA) London School of Economics (MSc) |
| Website | www |
Early life
Kyrke-Smith was born in September 1983 to Peter St. L Kyrke-Smith, son of BHS Kyrke-Smith of Penbedw estate near Nannerch in Wales, and to Lyndsay Madeleine Pelly, daughter of Peter Jeremy Pelly and his wife Dorothy Joan Hill.[2].
Kyrke-Smith was state educated before attending Robinson College, Cambridge, from 2002 to 2005, where she read history and volunteered with the charity Student Action for Refugees.[3] She then went on to study for an MSc in international relations at the London School of Economics (LSE), graduating in 2007.[4]
She was chair of the socialist society Labour Campaign for International Development from 2013 to 2017, and also worked at Portland Communications and in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office as a policy analyst.
Professional career
From 2016 to 2024 Kyrke-Smith worked for the International Rescue Committee. From 2021 to 2024 she was on the Board of the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC).[5][6][7]
Political career
In the 2021 Buckinghamshire Council elections Kyrke-Smith stood for Labour in the Little Chalfont & Amersham Common ward coming 8th out of the eleven candidates with 448 votes.[8][9]
In the 2024 general election, she gained the Aylesbury seat from Rob Butler, a member of the Conservative Party. Her victory ended a century-long streak of Conservative and Unionist MPs in Aylesbury, starting in the 1924 general election.[10]
In September 2024, Kyrke-Smith was appointed to the role of Labour's National Health Mission Delivery Champion.[11] In February 2025, she was appointed as a Parliamentary Private Secretary to Steve Reed, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.[12] In September 2025, she was appointed as a Parliamentary Private Secretary to Steve Reed MP, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government.
On 22 October 2025, Kyrke-Smith introduced 'Sophie's Law'[13], a Private Members' Bill that advocated for more rigorous NHS mental health checks for mothers during pregnancy and after birth. Perinatal mental health has been a focus throughout Kyrke-Smith's parliamentary career, after the postpartum suicide of her close friend, Sophie Middlemiss.[14][15]
On 20 May 2026, she was appointed Parliamentary private secretary to the Department of Health and Social Care.[16]
Select bibliography
- Kyrke-Smith, Laura (October 2007). Berry, Craig (ed.). "Information Intervention and the case of Kosovo: Realising the Responsibility to Protect" (PDF). Knowledge Politics Quarterly. 1 (1). Knowledge Politics. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 October 2007. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
- Kyrke-Smith, Laura (11 December 2007). ""Information intervention": A Test of Democratic Intent". Open Democracy. London.
- Kyrke, Laura, ed. (2007). "Kosovo: is the media wishing for war?; On the eve of something big in media; The view from the Nigerian newsroom; The future of African journalism". Development, governance and the media: The role of the media in building African society (PDF) (1st ed.). POLIS – Journalism and Society (London School of Economics and Political Science).
- Kyrke-Smith, Laura (June 2015). "Social Philanthropists". In Kyrke-Smith, Laura; Le Masson, Charlotte (eds.). Communicating Global Giving: The Power of Communications in the Era of Philanthropy (PDF) (1st ed.). Strand, London: Thinking Publications (Portland Communications). pp. 24–25. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 July 2024. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
- Kyrke-Smith, Laura (2017). "7 - Making the Case for Aid: Trump and International Development". In Kearns, Ian; Murray, Kate (eds.). The Age of Trump: Foreign Policy Challenges for the left (1st ed.). London: Fabian Society. pp. 49–57. ISBN 9780716341291. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
