Teresa Gorman

Teresa Gorman (born 30 September 1931) is a British politician, and was Conservative Member of Parliament for Billericay, in the county of Essex in England until 2001 when she stood down. She has worked in both Education and Business.

She was elected to the House in the 1987 election, and was one of the Maastricht Rebels, who nearly brought John Major's government down over the Treaty of Maastricht.

At the 1997 general election, there was a massive swing towards her opponent, but she remained MP, with a much-reduced majority of 1,356. She tried to stand for the Conservative Mayor of London candidacy for the election in 2000, but was blocked.

Considered an able but maverick politician, Gorman was famous for her public endorsement of hormone replacement therapy, her tattooed eyebrows (she shaved them off as a teenager and they never grew back) and her belief that rapists should be castrated.

When she first sought the candidature for the Billericay seat before the 1987 election, she claimed to be born in 1941 rather than 1931.

She is a council member of The Freedom Association.

In the media

Gorman was interviewed about her membership of the Freedom Association and the rise of Thatcherism for the 2006 BBC TV documentary series "Tory! Tory! Tory!".

Publications

* Gorman, Teresa, M.P., with Heather Kirby, "The Bastards - Dirty Tricks and the Challenge to Europe", Pan Macmillan, London, 1993, (P/B), ISBN 0-330-33511-1
* Gorman, Teresa, "No, Prime Minister!", Blake Publishing, London, 2001, (H/B), ISBN 1904034001