Laura Coryton

Laura Coryton (born 28 May 1993) in 2021 and in the USA in 2022.

For her work, Coryton was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2024 New Year Honours for services to Charitable Campaigning. She also joined the Obama Foundation as a European Leader in 2022, joined the Department for Education's Period Poverty Taskforce in 2020, and was named one of The Observers and Nesta's 2016 New Radicals. In December 2016, the BBC included her in their list of "Five women who aren't on Wikipedia but should be".

Education and career Coryton was born on 28 May 1993. She grew up and went to school in Devon. She graduated from Goldsmiths, University of London in 2015 and worked for the Labour Party,

Coryton then worked for HarperCollins when she wrote her book, before founding her social enterprise. She is also an ambassador for The Eve Appeal, a British charity that raises awareness of and funds research into gynaecological cancers.

Stop Taxing Periods campaign While a student at Goldsmiths, Coryton started the Stop Taxing Periods campaign in May 2014, centred around an online petition on website Change.org. By early 2016, the petition had gained more than 320,000 signatures and global recognition. Stop Taxing Periods also used protests, demonstration and viral social media.

In 2015, the campaign gained the support of the then Prime Minister David Cameron, who said: "I wish we could get rid of this… [but] there's a problem with getting rid of VAT on certain individual issues because of the way this tax is regulated and set in Europe." Change.org's UK director Brie Rogers cited Coryton as a successful example of clicktivism and the influence of online political activism on national politics.

In March 2016, Parliament accepted a Tampon Tax amendment proposed by Paula Sherriff MP, the then Chancellor George Osborne pledged in his budget to make menstrual products exempt from sales tax.

Sex Ed Matters

Coryton co-founded 'Sex Ed Matters', a Relationship and Sex Education social enterprise, in 2019. The organisation, which she runs with her twin sister Julia, is designed to help schools deliver sex education material, including period education, consent and LGBT rights, through the means of workshops and resources.

For her social enterprise, Coryton won Innovate UK's £12,000 Young Innovator Award in 2023 and its £50,000 Unlocking Potential Award] in 2024. She has also spoken about the importance of sex education in tackling incel culture and empowering young people at events including London Labour's Equalities Conference, Harvard University and the Women of the World Festival in London.

Political candidacy On 20 April 2024, Coryton was selectd as the Labour Party candidate for Richmond Park at the forthcoming general election.

Coryton finished in third place of seven candidates, with 5,048 votes (9.7%).