31 Facts About Miriam Cates

Miriam Joy Cates was born on 23 August 1982 and is a British politician who was the Conservative Member of Parliament for Penistone and Stocksbridge from 2019 to 2024.

Miriam Cates was born on 23 August 1982 in Sheffield, South Yorkshire.

Miriam Cates grew up in a Christian family and has two younger brothers.

Miriam Cates's father was a general practitioner, while her mother, who had a maths degree, was a stay at home mum.

Miriam Cates went on to study Natural Sciences at Christ's College, Cambridge, where she earned a degree in genetics.

Miriam Cates went on to obtain a Postgraduate Certificate in Education from Sheffield Hallam University, and worked as a biology teacher at Tapton School in Sheffield.

Miriam Cates was elected in 2015 as a parish councillor for Oughtibridge Ward on Bradfield Parish Council, which, at one point involved her campaigning to save local parkland.

Miriam Cates was re-elected in 2019 and resigned her seat in 2021.

Miriam Cates stood as a Conservative candidate for Stannington ward in the 2018 Sheffield City Council election and joined the party in the same year, finishing third behind the Liberal Democrats candidates.

At that conference, in 2019, Miriam Cates met Anne Jenkin, who was recruiting for women candidates, and identified a seat near her home.

Miriam Cates was selected, and campaigned to be the MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge in the 2019 general election.

Once in Parliament, Miriam Cates served as a member of the Ecclesiastical Committee and the Education Select Committee.

Miriam Cates co-chaired a local advancement initiative, the Stocksbridge Towns Fund, with local property developer Mark Dransfield.

Alongside national-conservative figure Danny Kruger, Miriam Cates was elected to the Executive of the 1922 Committee on 11 July 2022.

Halfway through her term, Boris Johnson resigned from the leadership, and Miriam Cates participated in the July-September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election During the contest, Miriam Cates endorsed Suella Braverman; the leadership election was ultimately won by Liz Truss, who resigned less than two months later to be succeeded by Rishi Sunak.

At the 2024 general election, Miriam Cates lost her seat to the Labour candidate Marie Tidball.

Miriam Cates was described as a "radical traditionalist" who felt that conservatism has become unnecessarily embittered, and that there is "too much whinging on the right".

Miriam Cates established the New Social Covenant Unit with fellow Conservative MP Danny Kruger in 2021 with the principal purpose of promoting policy that would "strengthen families, communities, and the nation".

Miriam Cates argued for families to be able to have more children, and for societies that value children.

Miriam Cates regards the very low number of children being born as the highest political concern for the UK.

Miriam Cates claimed has said does not support, and never has supported, conversion therapy she has voted against some versions of legislation that oppose it.

Miriam Cates served on the advisory board of the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship, a group dedicated to cultural renewal in western nations.

In May 2023, at the National Conservatism Conference, Miriam Cates commented that she felt that Western society was threatened by Cultural Marxism and referenced the Great Replacement conspiracy theory by stating that falling birth rates are "the one overarching threat to British conservatism and indeed the whole of western society".

Miriam Cates later stated in an interview in June 2023 that she uses the term as a catch-all pseudonym for "bad liberal ideology".

Miriam Cates argues that UK equalities legislation has become a threat to freedoms of speech, expression, religion, and association and that the UK's common law heritage provides a strong human rights record, even without the ECHR.

Miriam Cates argued for the nation to be resolved to use the power of the state to address the needs of voters who feel ignored and disrespected whilst aiming to keep faith with Brexit voters.

Miriam Cates was revealed as a stand-in presenter for GB News in late July 2024.

Miriam Cates continues to write on themes of politics and culture, contributing to UnHerd, The Critic and The Telegraph.

Miriam Cates is an evangelical Christian and met her husband while working on a voluntary project at their church, the Network Church in Sheffield, on a gap year after her Cambridge studies.

Miriam Cates is the managing director and she is the finance director, and there are no further employees; the company was valued at 5000 pounds in 2023.

Miriam Cates's husband is the chair of the trust board overseeing the Peak Edge Academy Trust.