Katie Lam

Katie Jane Lotte Lam (born August 1991) is a British Conservative politician who has been Member of Parliament for Weald of Kent since 2024 and Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government since 2026.

Early life The daughter of Stephen Lam and his wife Mary Delahunty, Lam's paternal grandfather's family is of Dutch Jewish descent and her paternal grandmother's family were from Germany and included a left-wing senator representing Saxony in Germany. Her grandmother and her family moved as refugees to England to escape political persecution. Most of her grandfather's family was killed in the Holocaust. Her father's parents Martin Lam and Lisa Lorenz met while delivering leaflets for the Labour Party in the 1940s and were married at Hendon in 1953.

Lam was educated at her local comprehensive, Guildford County School, where she was head girl. The school did not teach Latin or Greek past a certain level, so she learned those independently, going on to study classics at Trinity College, Cambridge.

While at Cambridge she was elected president of the Cambridge Union and chairman of the Cambridge University Conservative Association. As president of the Union she was criticised by women's groups for inviting Dominique Strauss-Kahn after he had resigned after being accused of sexual assault. She defended the decision saying "He hasn't been found guilty of anything and it's not up to us to judge him."

Early career After graduation, Lam worked at Goldman Sachs for six years, 2013 to 2019, and became one of its vice-presidents.

She was a special adviser to Boris Johnson from 2019 to 2021, She joined PR company Portland Communications as chief policy adviser in September 2021, remaining until 2022,

She then worked on Rishi Sunak's first leadership campaign. According to The Guardian in 2025 she is a "rising star" in the Conservative Party, tipped as a future leader. At the Margaret Thatcher Conference, held in March 2025, Lam said that the Conservative Party should end its "obsession" with Thatcher, saying that while Thatcher "correctly diagnosed" issues about the state of the world, it does not "help or serve" the party in 2025.

Lam described the grooming gangs scandal as "the greatest stain on this country in the 20th and 21st centuries".

In October 2025, in an interview with The Sunday Times, Lam stated, discussing the then Conservative Policy on revoking Indefinite Leave to Remain, “There are also a large number of people in this country who came here legally, but in effect shouldn’t have been able to do so. It’s not the fault of the individuals who came here, they just shouldn’t have been able to do so. They will also need to go home.” She added: “What that will leave is a mostly but not entirely culturally coherent group of people.” These comments built on a bill she and other Conservative MPs (including Chris Philp) tabled in Parliament on May 6 2025 , which was revoked soon after her comments .

The comments were strongly condemned by Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey in a letter to the Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch. Badenoch's spokesperson said that Lam's views were "broadly in line" with Conservative policy.

Later, on 30 October, Badenoch clarified that Lam had spoken 'imprecisely'. This followed several Conservative MPs privately criticising Lam's remarks and complaining to the party whips. The Party policy was changed; Lam retained her Shadow ministerial position despite calls from Liberal Democrats Home Affairs spokesperson Max Wilkinson to dismiss her.

Musical career In collaboration with Alex Parker, Lam has co-written five musicals, including an adaptation of The Railway Children.

Personal life As of October 2025, Lam had a long-term boyfriend who is "not a public person."