17 Facts About Laura Sandys

Laura Jane Sandys is a former chair of the European Movement UK, and a British Conservative Party politician, who served as the Member of Parliament for South Thanet between 2010 and 2015.

The daughter of Duncan Sandys through his second marriage to Marie-Claire, Sandys was born on 5 June 1964 and christened on 17 July 1964 in the Crypt Chapel of the Palace of Westminster.

Laura Sandys's father was a member of parliament, and later a life peer, who served as Minister of Defence in Harold Macmillan's government and was the son-in-law of Winston Churchill.

Laura Sandys moved on to lead the Parliamentary Unit at the Consumers' Association.

Sandys has worked in public relations; since 1992 she worked through Laura Sandys Associates, known by its abbreviation LSA.

Laura Sandys later became Head of Communications at the Shopping Hours Reform Council, an organisation which promotes allowing shops to open on Sundays.

Laura Sandys is a journalist, writing for newspapers, and a commentator appearing on television and radio on a wide range of issues, including urban development and the Iraq war.

Laura Sandys contributed the opening chapter Paul Cornish's book The War in Iraq.

Laura Sandys completed an Open University course on Environment and Development in 1993 and is currently a trustee of the Open University Foundation, which was established in 1973 as an independent charitable trust to further the objects of the University.

Laura Sandys is a non-executive director on the board of openDemocracy; her biography on that site describes her as: "having experience of political structures across Europe, Turkey, South America and the US".

Laura Sandys completed a Master's degree in International Relations at Wolfson College, Cambridge in 2003.

Laura Sandys missed out to Michael Gove and Nick Herbert respectively.

Laura Sandys nominated Christabel Flight in the May 2006 Westminster City Council elections.

In 2006, Laura Sandys was placed on the new 'A-list' of Conservative candidates ahead of the 2010 general election.

On 30 April 2019, Laura Sandys joined former Labour Party leader Ed Miliband and Caroline Lucas in calling for a Green New Deal in the UK.

Laura Sandys was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to UK energy policy as chair of the Energy Data Taskforce.

Laura Sandys did not seek re-election as an MP at the 2015 UK general election.