| Office: | Member of Parliament for Rochester and Strood |
| Predecessor: | Kelly Tolhurst |
| Term Start: | 4 July 2024 |
| Majority: | 2,293 (5.4%) |
| Birth Name: | Lauren Rae Edwards |
| Birth Place: | Altona, Victoria, Australia |
| Party: | Labour |
| Alma Mater: | University of Adelaide London School of Economics |
Lauren Rae Edwards is an Australian-born British Labour Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament for Rochester and Strood since 2024.[1]
Edwards was born in Altona, Melbourne, Australia, and was educated at the University of Adelaide before moving to the UK in 2005 to study for a master's at the London School of Economics.[2]
Edwards worked as a parliamentary researcher for a number of Labour MPs including Barbara Keeley, Teresa Pearce and Lisa Nandy from 2008 to 2013.[3] [4] During this time she was Political Officer for Unite the Union's Parliamentary Staff Branch.[5] From 2013 to 2016 she worked as a researcher at the postal section of the Communication Workers Union.[6]
Edwards worked at the Bank of England before her selection as a parliamentary candidate, as a manager in financial regulation including a secondment to HM Treasury for about six months working on Brexit related legislation.[7]
Edwards has an English-born mother and holds British citizenship.[7]
In 2021, Edwards was elected to Medway Council in a by-election from Rochester East ward.[8] She was cabinet member for economic and social regeneration and inward investment.[9]
In 2024, she defeated incumbent Conservative MP Kelly Tolhurst to gain Rochester and Strood.
On 8 August 2024, Edwards issued an apology on Twitter following the emergence of tweets she wrote between 2009 and 2011 in which she used offensive language, described by The Guardian as a "series of 'racist' tweets", stating it was a "significant error of judgement".[10] [11]