Monica Harding | |
Parliament: | United Kingdom |
Constituency Mp: | Esher and Walton |
Term Start: | 4 July 2024 |
Predecessor: | Dominic Raab |
Majority: | 12,003 (22.3%) |
Party: | Liberal Democrats |
Monica Bernadette Etheldreda Harding is a British Liberal Democrat politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Esher and Walton since 2024. The previous MP for the constituency was Dominic Raab, formerly foreign secretary and deputy prime minister. Before she entered politics, Harding was a management consultant, and director and CEO of organisations in Europe and Asia.
Before entering politics, Harding was a director, chief executive officer and management consultant, working in organisations in Europe and Asia. She was director of communications at the British Council and president and CEO of Refugees International Japan.[1]
Harding contested the 2019 general election in the constituency of Esher and Walton, finishing in second place and reducing the majority of the incumbent Conservative MP Dominic Raab, then foreign secretary and later deputy prime minister, from 23,298 to 2,743.[2] [3]
In the 2024 general election, Harding was elected as MP for Esher and Walton with 52.6 per cent of the vote and a majority of 12,003.[4] She became the constituency's first female MP, and the first not to be elected from the Conservative Party in more than a century.[5]
Harding had lived in Thames Ditton for 17 years . She has four children.