23 Facts About Tessa Munt

Tessa Jane Munt was born on 16 October 1959 and is a British Liberal Democrat politician.

Tessa Munt is the Member of Parliament for Wells and Mendip Hills in Somerset, having previously been elected as the MP for Wells from 2010 to 2015 and serving as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Vince Cable.

Tessa Munt's paternal grandfather was a politician in Kenya during the 1950s, whilst her uncle was a member of the Church of England synod.

Tessa Munt's mother was raised within the Church of Scotland, but her family had mainly Jewish roots.

Tessa Munt initially joined the international division of Midland Bank, before leaving after a year to join a local firm of solicitors.

Tessa Munt then worked in administration for South Essex College at their Southend-on-Sea campus, before moving into teaching.

Tessa Munt then worked for a period in social services, working with adults with learning difficulties.

Tessa Munt worked part-time as a volunteer for both Childline and the Environmental Investigation Agency.

Tessa Munt spent time working as the personal assistant to former international cricketer Phil Edmonds.

Tessa Munt then started working for a solicitors' firm, before being asked to move by a former company partner to join the team at Forsters solicitors.

Tessa Munt spent five years as a Regional Advisory Panel member for the National Lottery Charities Board.

Tessa Munt had joined the Labour Party in the early-1990s, but left after their election victory in 1997 due to the centralisation of party policy.

Tessa Munt then campaigned in the late-1990s in Suffolk to preserve a Victorian school against a proposed development plan, where she met Andrew Phillips, Baron Phillips of Sudbury, and in 1999 after attending a party conference and meeting Norman Lamb, Munt joined the Liberal Democrats.

Tessa Munt was elected as the Member of Parliament for Wells at the 2010 general election with a majority of 800 votes over David Heathcoat-Amory, who admitted that his involvement in the United Kingdom Parliamentary expenses scandal played a part in his defeat.

Tessa Munt was a party whip in the House of Commons from 2010 until March 2012, although she threatened to resign from the post if the Trident nuclear missile system was renewed.

Tessa Munt was later appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Business Secretary Vince Cable.

On 6 September 2010, Sedgemoor District Council said that there were now no criminal proceedings relating to the single person discount on Council Tax and Tessa Munt was cleared of any wrongdoing.

On 27 January 2015, Tessa Munt resigned as PPS to Cable after she voted for a Commons amendment, not supported by the government, calling for a moratorium on fracking in the UK.

Tessa Munt was again the Liberal Democrat candidate for Wells in the following two general elections of 2017 and 2019, though she was unsuccessful both times.

In 2017, Tessa Munt was elected as a councillor in Somerset, beating Somerset County Council leader, John Osman, by the slim majority of 95 votes.

From May 2022 until May 2023, Tessa Munt was part of Somerset Council's executive member for Children, Families and Education.

At the 2024 general election Tessa Munt was elected to the newly created seat of Wells and Mendip Hills, the successor to the majority of her old seat of Wells, following major boundary changes.

Tessa Munt married Martin Munt in 1992, and they had two children before separating.