Ruth Cadbury

Ruth Margaret Cadbury (born 14 May 1959) is a British Labour Party politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Brentford and Isleworth since gaining the seat at the 2015 general election. Cadbury has been a Brentford councillor for 25 years, and was deputy leader of the Hounslow London Borough Council from 2010-2012 where she was known for her work on a Living Wage for its staff as well as her opposition to any expansion to the nearby London Heathrow Airport. In June 2017 she was re-elected with a majority of over 12,000 votes, defeating Mary Macleod for the second time.

Cadbury, the eldest child of Charles Lloyd Cadbury and Jillian Stafford Ransome, is one of three Quakers elected at the 2015 general election, the others being Labour's Catherine West and the Conservative's Tania Mathias. She was educated at The Mount School, York, Bournville College, and graduated from the University of Salford with a BA in 1981.

At the 2015 general election, she defeated the sitting Conservative MP Mary Macleod. In her maiden speech to the House of Commons on 2 June 2015, she made much of her Quaker background and its relevance to social justice. Her speech also referenced her distant ancestor, the chocolate producer and Quaker George Cadbury.

In October 2016, she was appointed by Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn as a Shadow Housing Minister. Commenting on the appointment she said "As a result of this Government's policies, owning a home is an unattainable dream for so many youngsters, and for countless people even having somewhere stable and affordable to call home is impossible".

She was sacked from her Shadow Housing Minister position on 29 June 2017 after she voted against a whipped vote on an amendment to the Queen's speech calling for the UK to remain in the European Single Market: whilst the Labour position was to abstain, she voted to support the motion.