Parliamentary Spokesmen

Cllr Deirdre Alden, Parliamentary Spokesman for Birmingham Edgbaston

Cllr Deirdre Alden

Deirdre was born in Buckinghamshire and was educated at Wycombe High School for girls. At the age of eighteen, she moved to Edgbaston to study at the Birmingham School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art where she obtained an A.L.A.M. qualification.

After finishing at drama school, Deirdre worked in the theatre for a year, and then at the Berlitz School of Languages in Birmingham, before turning to writing in 1977. She has worked as a freelance writer ever since.

Deirdre is a Birmingham City Councillor, representing the ward of Edgbaston. She has been married to her husband John for over thirty years. He is is also a member of Birmingham City Council, representing Harborne (another ward of the Edgbaston constituency). Deirdre and John live in Harborne, and have two grown up sons. From May 2003 to June 2004, John and Deirdre served as Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of Birmingham.

Deirdre is currently a Governor of Harborne Hill School and was previously a Governor of Chad Vale School, both of which are in the constituency.

Deirdre's other interests include swimming and playing bridge. She is a non-playing member of Edgbaston Golf Club and a member of the Edgbaston Supper Club. She is also a keen collector, especially of old toys and Edwardian postcards.

Contact Deirdre

email: deirdrealden@hotmail.com

website: www.deirdrealden.com

telephone: 0121 427 2681

write to Deirdre: 279 Harborne Rd, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 3JB

Cllr Nigel Dawkins, Parliamentary Spokesman for Birmingham Selly Oak

Cllr Nigel Dawkins

Nigel was born and raised in Birmingham.

He was educated at King Edward VI Camphill Grammar School and then went to Imperial College in Kensington in London to study for his Physics degree.

He began his working career at Rolls Royce in Derby. He returned to Birmingham to join IMI Computing. In 1990 he started his own software consultancy company.

Nigel is married and has 3 young children.

Nigel has been a member of the Conservative Party for over 25 years and has been an elected city councillor in Birmingham since 2000. He represents the Bournville Ward which includes the area where he was born.

Nigel’s interests are karate and British History.

Nigel is a long time member of the St Francis Church of England Congregation in Bournville and is a governor of the associated church school, St Francis Church of England Primary School.

Nigel has campaigned vigorously for seven years to have the old local swimming baths, closed by the Labour Party 20 years ago, to reopened as a community centre.

He recently lead a successful campaign, which had national coverage, to stop the supermarket chain TESCO from selling alcohol from one of its local stores in Bournville which Nigel and his team felt would exacerbate anti social behaviour in the area.

He is currently campaigning to ensure that when the local Selly Oak Hospital site closes in a few years time, the site is used for employment opportunities and leisure facilities for the residents of Selly Oak. Nigel would also like to see part of the site preserved and developed as a Work House museum to reflect the history of the site.

Perhaps the most important long term campaign Nigel has undertaken is to fight against the continual loss of industrial land in his area to housing. Nigel feels that without the industrial sites we can never create the industrial wealth and employment needed in Selly Oak.

Contact Nigel

email: NigelDawkins@consultants2000.co.uk

telephone: 0121 459 9261

write to Nigel: 33 Woodlands Park Road, Bournville, Birmingham, B30 1EZ

Keely Huxtable, Parliamentary Spokesman for Birmingham Northfield

Keely Huxtable

Keely was born in South Birmingham in 1981 and has lived in the area all of her life. She attended Cadbury College in Kings Norton, where she gained an interest in Politics, until 2000 when she began to work in the public sector including working on many projects in the Northfield area.

Keely recently married Conservative Cllr Tim Huxtable. She doesn't have any children but is a great animal lover and currently has two cats, Frank and Austin who she spoils rotten.

Keely has been involved in the Girl Guiding movement since the age of seven and is now a Guider in a Brownie Pack in the South of Birmingham, she also voluntarily teaches music and plays in a brass band in the same area.

Contact Keely

email: keelyr@hotmail.co.uk