Episode #71: Divorce and separation with MP Siobhan Baillie

In this episode, Kate was joined by Siobhan Baillie, Conservative MP for Stroud, to discuss family policy reform and its impact on people separating and divorcing.

Siobhan Baillie is the MP for Stroud, having won the key swing seat from Labour in 2019. Born in West Sussex and educated in Yorkshire, Siobhan left school at 17 to work as a legal secretary, studying law in her spare time to qualify as a solicitor. Following on from a career in law, Siobhan stood as a local councillor in Camden and worked as Head of Policy and Communications for OnePlusOne before standing down in 2018 to dedicate her career to parliamentary politics. Since her election in 2019, Siobhan has been appointed to the Work and Pensions Select Committee and has served as Co-Chair of the All-party parliamentary group for Relationships. Siobhan has done key work in campaigning for greater environmental protection, and she remains a key campaigner for further education.

They begin this episode by looking at Siobhan’s lived experience of divorce, that of her own parent's separation and how this has sparked her passion for policy reform, particularly around children proceedings and her work with the Positive Parenting Alliance. They explore the changes that the introduction of no-fault divorce has meant for separating couples and what needs to change in the future so that children are less impacted by their parent's separation.