Draft:Zoë Billingham

Zoë Billingham is the Labour parliamentary candidate for the new South Cotswolds constituency. She is an economist and has worked in senior roles in the public, charitable and private sectors.

Early life and education
Zoë Billingham grew up in the Cotswolds and went to Woodchester Endowed Primary School. She continued her education in the Midlands, followed by the London School of Economics where she graduated with a BSc in Government and Economics. She then went on to graduate with an MA in European Economics from the College of Europe in Belgium. She also speaks French.

Career in government and business
Beginning her career as a civil servant, Zoë entered the UK Ministry of Justice in 2010 as a part of the Government Economic Service Fast Stream. She was then appointed to the Cabinet Office as the Economic Policy Advisor to the Deputy Prime Minister (2012–2015). After this, she moved to HM Treasury as a Senior Policy Advisor (2015–2016).

Zoë spent time as an Associate at global financial services firm Lazard before returning to policy work with the Centre for Progressive Policy and becoming a Crook Public Service Fellow at The University of Sheffield; a post she still holds.

Zoë is currently serving as a Commissioner for the UK2070 Commission, an independent inquiry into city and regional inequalities in the UK.

Until the announcement of the 2024 UK General Election, Zoë Billingham was the Director of think tank IPPR North - a role she has taken a leave of absence from to stand as the Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the Labour Party.

Public life
Zoë has appeared on national and regional broadcast media, including on Channel 4 News, BBC, The Today Programme, LBC and Sky News.

She is a columnist for the New Statesman and the Municipal Journal.

In January 2023, she appeared on BBC News to discuss her think tank's report, State of the North on economic disparities within the regions of the UK.

Parliamentary candidacy in South Cotswolds
In 2024, Zoë Billingham was selected as the Labour Party's Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the new constituency of South Cotswolds.