Thangam Debbonaire

Thangam Debbonaire MP
Member of Parliament for Bristol West
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 May 2015
Preceded by	Stephen Williams
Majority	5,673 (8.8%)
Personal details
Born	(1966-08-03) 3 August 1966
Political party	Labour
Alma mater	University of Oxford University of Bristol
Website	Official website

Thangam Rachel Debbonaire (born 3 August 1966) is a British Labour Party politician. She has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bristol West since the 2015 General Election, when she beat incumbent Liberal Democrat MP Stephen Williams. She is a shadow minister for Culture, Media and Sport.

Shortly after winning Bristol West, Debbonaire was diagnosed with breast cancer, and did not attend a Parliamentary vote from June 2015 until March 2016. In January 2016 she started to plan a phased return to Westminster from February, and was appointed as a shadow minster.

Early life and Education

Born in 1966 to an Tamil father and an English mother, Debbonaire was educated at Bradford Girls' Grammar School and Chetham's School of Music, then took the first stage of a Mathematics degree at the University of Oxford, and at the same time trained as a cellist at the Royal College of Music. Subsequently she gained an M.Sc in Management, Development and Social Responsibility at the University of Bristol.

Career

Before becoming an MP, she performed professionally as a classical cellist, including for the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. She has worked as National Children’s Officer for the Women's Aid Federation of England (1991-1998), for which she moved to St Werburghs in Bristol, and later as National Research Manager for Respect, an anti-domestic violence organisation (2006-2008).

She has co-authored two books, and a number of papers, about domestic violence. She was a trustee of the University of Bristol Students’ Union.

Selected bibliography

Papers

• Pdf.

References

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Stephen Williams	Member of Parliament for Bristol West 2015–present	Incumbent