Catholic MP enters cabinet following Blunkett resignation

-16/12/04

A Catholic MP, Ruth Kelly, h


Catholic MP enters cabinet following Blunkett resignation

-16/12/04

A Catholic MP, Ruth Kelly, has entered the Cabinet as the new Education Secretary, following the resignation of David Blunkett.

The former Bank of England’s economist’s meteoric rise through the government ranks is remarkable not only because she is only 36, but because since being elected in 1997 she has established her ministerial career while bringing up four young children.

Described by newspapers as “devout” in her faith, She was a Northern Irish Catholic whose family moved south of the border and then to England.

She has opposed Commons motions on embryo research, and apparently would feel uncomfortable in a ministerial post dealing with abortions, the morning-after pill or contraception in the developing world. Some believe her faith would stop her running the Department for International Development, but, although she acknowledges the importance of Catholicism in her life, she says her faith is a private matter.


Catholic MP enters cabinet following Blunkett resignation

-16/12/04

A Catholic MP, Ruth Kelly, has entered the Cabinet as the new Education Secretary, following the resignation of David Blunkett.

The former Bank of England’s economist’s meteoric rise through the government ranks is remarkable not only because she is only 36, but because since being elected in 1997 she has established her ministerial career while bringing up four young children.

Described by newspapers as “devout” in her faith, She was a Northern Irish Catholic whose family moved south of the border and then to England.

She has opposed Commons motions on embryo research, and apparently would feel uncomfortable in a ministerial post dealing with abortions, the morning-after pill or contraception in the developing world. Some believe her faith would stop her running the Department for International Development, but, although she acknowledges the importance of Catholicism in her life, she says her faith is a private matter.