Manuela Perteghella

Manuela Perteghella (born 1974 (age 50)) is an Italian-born British Liberal Democrat politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Stratford-on-Avon since 2024.

Early life and education
Perteghella was born in Italy. She graduated from the University of North London with a Bachelor of Arts in English and theatre studies, and then pursued a master's in literary translation and a PhD in theatre and translation, both from the University of East Anglia.

Career
Perteghella is a former university lecturer and a governor of a primary school. From 2006 to 2012, she was a senior lecturer at London Metropolitan University. She has also worked as a curator of community arts projects, published research in literary translation and been a principal tutor at the University of Warwick, a contributing artist and researcher at King's College London, and an associate lecturer for the Open University.

Despite having lived in the United Kingdom for 30 years, Perteghella was not permitted to vote in the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum as she was not a British citizen at the time. She cited as her inspiration for entering politics her "feeling of being (quite literally) disenfranchised [which] was, through engaging with politics itself, transformed into a sense of empowerment".

In the 2024 United Kingdom general election, Perteghella won the constituency of Stratford-on-Avon, garnering 23,450 votes. Her majority was 7,122. She is the first non-Conservative MP for the area since 1950 and the first female MP of the constituency. Perteghella has served as a Stratford-on-Avon district councillor, representing the ward of Welford-on-Avon since a 2020 by-election.

Personal life
Perteghella lives with her family in Welford.