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Kate Kniveton

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Kate Kniveton
Official portrait, 2019
Member of Parliament
for Burton
In office
12 December 2019 – 30 May 2024
Preceded byAndrew Griffiths
Succeeded byJacob Collier
Personal details
Born
Kate Elizabeth Kniveton

1971
Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England
Political partyConservative
Spouse
​
​
(m. 2013; sep. 2018)​
EducationDerby High School, Derbyshire
Alma materUniversity of Exeter

Kate Elizabeth Kniveton[1] (previously Griffiths; born 1971)[2][3] is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Burton in Staffordshire between 2019 and 2024. She is a member of the Conservative Party. She was elected to Parliament under her married name of Griffiths but reverted to using her maiden name in 2022.[4]

Early life and career

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Kate Elizabeth Kniveton was born in Burton upon Trent.[2][5] She was privately educated at St. Wystan's School in Repton and Derby High School, before studying classics at the University of Exeter. She worked for five years as the corporate hospitality coordinator for the football club Burton Albion FC.[6]

Political career

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After her ex-husband, Andrew, stood for reselection as the Conservative candidate for Burton in the 2019 general election, Kniveton stood against him but the vote ended in a tie.[7] He then withdrew his candidacy rather than face a second vote in which he would face other candidates including his estranged wife. She was selected in the subsequent contest.[8][9] Her campaign focused on promises on local issues such as investment in the local area's high streets, and national issues including Brexit.[10] She also pledged to be an advocate for domestic abuse survivors.[11]

Kniveton was elected as MP for Burton at the 2019 general election with a majority of 14,496 and 60.7% of the vote.[12] Kniveton opposed the proposed MP pay rise in 2020, which was eventually scrapped.[13] She lost her seat in the 2024 general election.

Personal life

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Kniveton married Burton MP Andrew Griffiths in 2013.[2] They had a daughter in 2018.[14] He resigned as the small businesses minister and was suspended from the Conservative Party after The Sunday Mirror reported that he had sent up to 2,000 sexually explicit text messages over a three-week period in 2018 to two women.[15][16] Kniveton reported that she left him the day that he had told her about it, and that she had later started divorce proceedings.[11]

They separated in 2018 and subsequently divorced.[17]

In December 2021 it was revealed that a Family Court judge had ruled that Kniveton had been repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted by her then husband.[18] Family Court decisions are not usually publicised and, as a complainant in a case of alleged sexual misconduct, Kate Kniveton had a statutory right of anonymity. However she waived that right of anonymity and in July 2021 a High Court judge (Lieven J), on appeal from the Family Court at first instance, ruled that the public interest was served by permitting publication of aspects of the Family Court’s findings.[18] This decision was upheld on 10 December 2021 by the Court of Appeal.[19]

In February 2024, the High Court ruled against Griffiths spending time with his child with Kniveton, and repeated the fact that Kniveton had been raped by him.[20] She wants a ban on domestic abusers seeing their children.[21]

References

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  1. ^ "Kate Kniveton". Parliament.gov.uk. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  2. ^ a b c "Burton Bulletin" (PDF). Rotary International. p. 8.
  3. ^ Brunskill, Ian (19 March 2020). The Times guide to the House of Commons 2019 : the definitive record of Britain's historic 2019 General Election. HarperCollins Publishers Limited. p. 129. ISBN 978-0-00-839258-1. OCLC 1129682574.
  4. ^ "New defences go up to prevent horrendous A38 flooding". 16 August 2022.
  5. ^ Wheeler, Caroline (4 November 2018). "Andrew Griffiths interview: mental breakdown drove MP to send 'shameful' sex texts". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 31 July 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2019.(subscription required)
  6. ^ Kreft, Helen (13 November 2019). "Kate Griffiths opens up about 'devastation' of discovering husband's sex texts". Derby Telegraph. Archived from the original on 17 December 2019. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  7. ^ Kreft, Helen (12 November 2019). "Shock result at dramatic Tory meeting to decide future of Andrew Griffiths in Burton". Derby Telegraph. Archived from the original on 15 December 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  8. ^ Katie Gibbons, Esther Webber (16 November 2019). "Kate Griffiths, estranged wife of Andrew, seen as a safer bet than 'risk‑taker' MP". The Times. Archived from the original on 15 December 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2019.(subscription required)
  9. ^ "Kate Griffiths: ex-minister's estranged wife to fight his old seat". The Times. 14 November 2019. Archived from the original on 15 December 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2019.(subscription required)
  10. ^ Kreft, Helen (9 December 2019). "This is what the Burton General Election 2019 candidates promise to do for you". Derby Telegraph. Archived from the original on 15 December 2019. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  11. ^ a b Halliday, Josh (13 November 2019). "Wife of disgraced MP stands in his former seat with pledge to fight domestic abuse". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 22 December 2019. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  12. ^ O'Brien, Andy (14 November 2019). "ELECTION OF MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FOR THE BURTON PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUENCY. NOTICE OF POLL" (PDF). East Staffordshire Borough Council. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 February 2022. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  13. ^ "Kate Griffiths calls for MP pay rise worth thousands to be scrapped". DerbyshireLive. 25 November 2020. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  14. ^ Pridding, Beth (17 April 2018). "'She's our little miracle' - Andrew Griffiths and wife Kate welcome their first baby into the world". Staffordshire Live. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  15. ^ Walker, Peter (11 October 2018). "Suspended Tory MP seeks early resolution to explicit texts inquiry". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2 November 2019. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  16. ^ "Minister Andrew Griffiths resigns over texts to women". BBC News. 15 July 2018. Archived from the original on 15 July 2018. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  17. ^ "Ex-Tory minister Andrew Griffiths found to have raped wife". BBC News. 10 December 2021. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  18. ^ a b Tickle, Louise (10 December 2021). "Griffiths v Griffiths". Tortoise. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
  19. ^ Griffiths v Tickle, EWCA Civ 1882 (Court of Appeal (Civil Division) 10 December 2021).
  20. ^ McIntyre, Alex (6 February 2024). "Ex-MP Andrew Griffiths barred from having direct contact with his child". BBC News. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  21. ^ "MP Kate Kniveton seeks ban on domestic abusers seeing their kids". BBC News. 14 March 2024. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kate Griffiths.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Burton
2019–2024 		Constituency abolished
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