Ruth Cadbury

Ruth Cadbury has been Labour MP for Brentford and Isleworth since 2015. Born in Birmingham in May 1959, she is a member of the Cadbury family, the chocolate dynasty that built Bournville and shaped British industrial philanthropy, and a Quaker. For a politician whose career has been defined by planning, housing, transport and ethical public service, that Cadbury Quaker heritage is not decorative background; it is the foundation of her political identity.

A University of Salford graduate who worked as a town planner, she served 29 years as a Hounslow councillor across three wards from 1986 to 2015, and was Deputy Leader of the council from 2010 to 2012. She entered Parliament in 2015 by just 465 votes, defeating Conservative Mary Macleod, and was reelected in 2024 with a majority of 9,824 (21.7 per cent), a vote share of 44.2 per cent that reflects retention rather than expansion even in a landslide year.

She supported Owen Smith against Corbyn in 2016 and served as Shadow Housing Minister (2016 to 2017) before Corbyn sacked her in 2017 for backing an amendment to keep the UK in the single market; she later held shadow roles in international trade and justice. A member of the Transport Committee since 2018, she was elected its Chair on 11 September 2024, defeating three other candidates, and sits on the Liaison Committee as chairs do. She chairs the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Cycling and Walking and on Women in Transport, and has previously served on the Women and Equalities and Justice Committees.

As Transport Committee chair she has led work on transport accessibility, producing an "Access Denied" report and following up a year later with a debate on enforcement and disabled passengers' rights, and has scrutinised planning and infrastructure, EV charging networks, rail, surface access to Heathrow, and modal shift.