Emma Dent Coad

Dent Coad was born in Stepney, the youngest of six children. Her father, Charles Enrique Dent CBE, was a professor of medicine of half Spanish descent, and her mother, Margaret Ruth Coad, was an Anglican vicar's daughter who converted to Catholicism to marry him. She grew up in Chelsea{{cite book |last= Dent Coad |first= Emma |author-link=Emma Dent Coad |date=2022 |title=One Kensington: Tales from the Frontline of the Most Unequal Borough in Britain |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N297EAAAQBAJ |publisher=Quercus Publishing |chapter=Introduction |isbn= 9781529417265}} and went to Sacred Heart High School, a selective grammar school in Hammersmith, London.{{cite news |last= Addley |first= Esther |url= https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/30/kensington-mp-emma-dent-coad-on-grenfell-safety-shouldnt-be-an-aspiration |title=Kensington MP Emma Dent Coad on Grenfell: 'Safety shouldn't be an aspiration' | UK news |work=The Guardian |date= 30 June 2017 |access-date=5 July 2017}}{{cite web |title= Councillors |url= http://www.labourkc.co.uk/index.php/about/ |website= kensingtonlabour.com |publisher= Kensington Labour |access-date= 5 July 2017 |archive-date= 21 December 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20191221071055/http://www.labourkc.co.uk/index.php/about/ |url-status= usurped}}

She graduated from the Royal College of Art with an MA in History of Design in 1992.{{cite news |last= Aouf |first= Rima Sabina |title= First Labour MP in London's Kensington is a design writer who plans to fight gentrification |url= https://www.dezeen.com/2017/06/12/design-writer-emma-dent-coad-labour-mp-kensington-unlikely-victory-uk-richest-constituency/|work=Dezeen |date= 12 June 2017 |access-date=17 July 2017}} Dent Coad has written or contributed to a number of books on architecture and design, including on Javier Mariscal,{{cite book |last= Dent Coad |first= Emma |title= Javier Mariscal: designing the new Spain |publisher= Fourth Estate and Wordsearch Rizzoli |place= London, New York |year= 1991 |isbn= 9780847813575 }} and is studying at the University of Liverpool School of Architecture for a PhD on "Constructing Modern Spain: Architecture, Politics and Ideology under Franco, 1939–1975",{{cite web |url=https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/architecture/research/architectural-urban-history/current/ |title=Current PhD Students |website=liverpool.ac.uk |publisher=School of Architecture, University of Liverpool |access-date=13 June 2017 |archive-date=18 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220118181838/https://www.liverpool.ac.uk/architecture/research/architectural-urban-history/current/ |url-status=dead }} which she put on hold on being elected MP.The Daily Politics, BBC, 13 June 2017 She has been an organiser of the modern architecture campaign group Docomomo UK since about 2000.{{cite web |url=https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/emma-dent-coad-architects-need-to-be-accountable-for-their-buildings |title=Profile - Emma Dent Coad: 'Architects need to be accountable for their buildings' |last=Jessel |first=Ella |website=Architects' Journal |date=7 December 2018 |access-date=17 November 2023}}{{cite web |url=https://www.docomomo.org.uk/about |title=About |website=Docomomo UK |access-date=17 November 2023}}

Dent Coad was first elected to represent Golborne ward on Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council in 2006,{{cite web |url= https://www.rbkc.gov.uk/council/wards/welcome-golborne-ward |title=Welcome to Golborne Ward |website=rbkc.gov.uk |publisher= Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea |access-date=10 June 2017 }} and served as the leader of the opposition and leader of the council's Labour Group from 2014 to 2015.{{cite web|url=https://kensingtonlabour.com/2014/06/|title=June {{!}} 2014 {{!}} Kensington Labour Party|website=kensingtonlabour.com|language=en|access-date=2017-10-03|archive-date=18 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220118181837/https://kensingtonlabour.com/2014/06/|url-status=dead}} In the 2022 election she was elected in St Helen's ward. She left Labour in April 2023 and now sits on the council as an independent.

As a councillor, she has held the following committee and group memberships:

• Kensington and Chelsea TMO, the tenant management organisation which manages the council's housing stock, from 27 June 2008 to 31 October 2012 (council appointed){{cite web |url=https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/officers/s4UWs91P6K3i6YU01GyFXXN73b4/appointments |title=Emma Dent Coad – Personal appointments |publisher=Companies House |access-date=21 June 2017}}
• Housing and Property Scrutiny Committee in 2013/14{{cite web|title=RKBC Housing and Property Scrutiny Committee membership|url=https://www.rbkc.gov.uk/committees/Home/tabid/39/ctl/ViewCMIS_CommitteeDetails/mid/404/id/1540/SelectedTab/Members/Default.aspx|website=rbkc.gov.uk|publisher=Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea|access-date=16 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170807112427/https://www.rbkc.gov.uk/committees/Home/tabid/39/ctl/ViewCMIS_CommitteeDetails/mid/404/id/1540/SelectedTab/Members/Default.aspx|archive-date=7 August 2017|url-status=dead}}
• Planning Applications Committee from May 2013 to June 2017
• Planning Committee since June 2014 to June 2017{{cite web |url=https://www.rbkc.gov.uk/committees/members/tabid/62/ctl/viewcmis_person/mid/384/id/297/default.aspx |title=Members |website=rbkc.gov.uk |publisher=Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea |access-date=5 July 2017 |archive-date=7 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170807072438/https://www.rbkc.gov.uk/committees/members/tabid/62/ctl/viewcmis_person/mid/384/id/297/default.aspx |url-status=dead }}
• London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority.{{cite web |url= http://moderngov.london-fire.gov.uk/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=262 |title= Councillor Emma Dent Coad |website= moderngov.london-fire.gov.uk |publisher= London Fire Brigade |access-date= 10 June 2017 |archive-date= 7 August 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170807073242/http://moderngov.london-fire.gov.uk/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=262 |url-status= dead }}

Dent Coad has been critical of Universal Credit generally and also critical of a decision to roll out Universal Credit in Kensington shortly before Christmas 2018. Claimants must wait five weeks for the first payment which Dent Coad maintains is unacceptable. Dent Coad did not want yet more pain inflicted on families that have, "already lost so much" in the Grenfell fire. Dent Coad said, "It's unthinkable, they're going to have another Christmas now wondering whether they can afford to buy food, let alone presents for their children." Dent Coad stated that asking for advances for Christmas would result in people experiencing, "many future months without enough income to cover their expenses".{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-46484217 |title=Grenfell Tower MP calls for Universal Credit launch delay |date=8 December 2018 |work=BBC News}}

Just days after Dent Coad's election, the Grenfell Tower fire took place in her then constituency. On 16 June, she blamed the Kensington and Chelsea council for failings which led to the fire.{{cite news |last= Gentleman |first= Amelia |title= 'Unforgivable': local Labour MP vents fury over Grenfell Tower fire |url= https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/15/unforgivable-local-labour-mp-vents-fury-over-grenfell-tower-fire |work= The Guardian |date= 15 June 2017 |access-date= 16 June 2017 }} Dent Coad considers the fire an "entirely preventable" tragedy. Dent Coad said, “I can't help thinking that poor quality materials and construction standards may have played a part in this hideous and unforgivable event.” Dent Coad links the council's intention to redevelop the area to the tragedy, she said, “The council want to develop this area full of social housing, and in order to enable that they have prettified a building that they felt was ugly ... The idea that that has led to this horrendous tragedy is just unthinkable.”

She has campaigned for permanent new homes in the area for victims of the tragedy rather than, "some mucky bedsit". She has added “People are very afraid of what is going to happen next. They need to be kept within Kensington. The fear I was hearing yesterday was "they're going to send us to Peterborough or to Hastings", all the other places that the council has tried to send them before. People want to stay near their networks where their children go to school, where their families are.” Poverty in Kensington and the fire were the subjects of her maiden speech in the House of Commons on 22 June 2017.Details:

• {{cite hansard |jurisdiction=United Kingdom |house=House of Commons |title= Grenfell Tower |url= https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2017-06-22/debates/E4B84F46-4699-4725-BBE4-AA724C3A0191/GrenfellTower#contribution-5A8FD72C-732E-409F-A94C-645CC38993CC |date=22 June 2017 |accessdate=30 June 2017 |volume= 626 |column_start= 175 |column_end= 176 }}
• {{cite news|title=Tower block cladding 'combustible', PM tells Commons|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-parliaments-40353862|access-date=26 June 2017|work=BBC News|date=22 June 2017}}
• {{cite news|last1=Kidd|first1=Patrick|title=Labour's newest MP Emma Dent Coad gives an icy maiden speech|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/labour-s-newest-mp-gives-an-icy-maiden-speech-hshk7mm8n|access-date=26 June 2017|work=The Times|date=23 June 2017}}

On 4 July 2017, Dent Coad said that residents had no confidence in Sir Martin Moore-Bick to lead the Grenfell Tower Fire Inquiry, describing him as "a technocrat" who lacked "credibility".{{cite news |title= Grenfell fire: MP calls for inquiry chairman to quit |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40491449 |work= BBC News |date= 4 July 2017 |access-date= 4 July 2017 }} She supported calls for "reparations" to the community in the form of restoring local assets and services such as a college and a library which were under threat, and claims that many on the council see those in social housing as "lesser beings."{{cite web |url= https://www.opendemocracy.net/uk/nathan-akehurst/developers-can-get-away-with-murder-interview-with-kensington-s-emma-dent-coad |title="Developers can get away with murder" – an interview with Kensington's Emma Dent Coad |date=2017-09-25 |website=openDemocracy |language=en |access-date=2017-10-03}}

Dent Coad supported a call for the leaders of Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council to resign so that there could be fresh elections.{{cite news |title= Grenfell Tower fire: New council leader heckled by public |url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-40663512 |work= BBC News |date= 19 July 2017 |access-date= 20 July 2017 }} Her predecessor, Victoria Borwick, has claimed that she shared "collective responsibility" for the Grenfell Tower refurbishment, since Dent Coad had (until October 2012) sat on the board of the Kensington and Chelsea TMO which managed the tower. In a council meeting on 8 November 2012, Dent Coad praised the refurbishment announcement of the Grenfell Tower which she said showed that the council had listened to residents. However as the cladding was installed in the summer of 2016, 4 years after the alleged comment.{{cite web |url= https://www.rbkc.gov.uk/committees/Document.ashx?czJKcaeAi5tUFL1DTL2UE4zNRBcoShgo=L+150xSDpuznKktGhi6b8ziQB9MrxxkuG54cuAshzKuJK9L3+sfKTw==&rUzwRPf+Z3zd4E7Ikn8Lyw===pwRE6AGJFLDNlh225F5QMaQWCtPHwdhUfCZ/LUQzgA2uL5jNRG4jdQ==&mCTIbCubSFfXsDGW9IXnlg===hFflUdN3100=&kCx1AnS9/pWZQ40DXFvdEw===hFflUdN3100=&uJovDxwdjMPoYv+AJvYtyA===ctNJFf55vVA=&FgPlIEJYlotS+YGoBi5olA===NHdURQburHA=&d9Qjj0ag1Pd993jsyOJqFvmyB7X0CSQK=ctNJFf55vVA=&WGewmoAfeNR9xqBux0r1Q8Za60lavYmz=ctNJFf55vVA=&WGewmoAfeNQ16B2MHuCpMRKZMwaG1PaO=ctNJFf55vVA=|title=Minutes of a meeting of the Housing and Property Scrutiny Committee at Kensington Town Hall at 6pm on Thursday 8 November 2012 |website=Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council |date=8 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200510172356/https://www.rbkc.gov.uk/committees/Document.ashx?czJKcaeAi5tUFL1DTL2UE4zNRBcoShgo=L+150xSDpuznKktGhi6b8ziQB9MrxxkuG54cuAshzKuJK9L3+sfKTw==&rUzwRPf+Z3zd4E7Ikn8Lyw===pwRE6AGJFLDNlh225F5QMaQWCtPHwdhUfCZ/LUQzgA2uL5jNRG4jdQ==&mCTIbCubSFfXsDGW9IXnlg===hFflUdN3100=&kCx1AnS9/pWZQ40DXFvdEw===hFflUdN3100=&uJovDxwdjMPoYv+AJvYtyA===ctNJFf55vVA=&FgPlIEJYlotS+YGoBi5olA===NHdURQburHA=&d9Qjj0ag1Pd993jsyOJqFvmyB7X0CSQK=ctNJFf55vVA=&WGewmoAfeNR9xqBux0r1Q8Za60lavYmz=ctNJFf55vVA=&WGewmoAfeNQ16B2MHuCpMRKZMwaG1PaO=ctNJFf55vVA=|archive-date=10 May 2020}} Dent Coad has asked Borwick to retract this claim, arguing that she supported refurbishment in principle to respond to complaints about conditions, but left the TMO around the time that the broad principles of the refurbishment were agreed.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}} She was not present when Rydon was provided with the contract,{{cite web|url=https://www.rbkc.gov.uk/pressrelease/pressreleasePage.aspx?id=4714|title=Grenfell Tower refurbishment contract agreed|website=rbkc.gov.uk|language=en|access-date=2017-10-03}} or when the decision was reportedly taken to save money on external cladding.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jun/30/grenfell-cladding-was-changed-to-cheaper-version-reports-say|title=Grenfell cladding approved by residents was swapped for cheaper version|last1=Booth|first1=Robert|date=2017-06-30|work=The Guardian|access-date=2017-10-02|last2=Grierson|first2=Jamie|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}

In a 2014/15 report, in which Dent Coad's name appears, it is reported that the housing scrutiny committee looked at the refurbishment.{{Cite news|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/labours-new-kensington-mp-was-on-housing-scrutiny-committee-a3566661.html|title=Labour's new Kensington MP was on housing scrutiny committee|work=Evening Standard|access-date=26 September 2017|language=en-GB}} Conservative supporters have used this fact to ascribe responsibility to Dent Coad for the cladding, even though the cladding was installed May–June 2016, four years after she had left the committee. Facing the claim that she was partly responsible, she rejected the accusation, saying: "I didn't make any of the decisions. I didn't sign the document,". and "The point is: who signed off on that contract [to clad Glenfell]? And did they understand what was in the contract? Who specified that cladding?" Dent Coad issued a detailed rebuttal via a local blog, From the Hornet's Nest,{{cite web|url=https://fromthehornetsnest.blogspot.com/2017/08/false-accusation-re-grenfella-factcheck.html|title=FTHN: From the Hornets Nest: FALSE ACCUSATION RE: GRENFELL....A FACTCHECK|last=Hornetsnest|date=2017-08-01|website=FTHN|access-date=2019-09-02}} refuting the most common accusations.

After the Grenfell Tower Inquiry final report was published on 4 September 2024, in which former housing secretary Eric Pickles and his government department was criticised for failing to act on a 2013 coroner recommendation to improve cladding fire safety regulations and his enthusiastic support of a programme to slash regulations which dominated department thinking, Dent Coad called for Pickles to "have the grace to resign" from the House of Lords and as an ethics adviser.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/sep/06/eric-pickles-urged-to-quit-as-tory-peer-over-grenfell-inquiry-criticism |title=Eric Pickles urged to quit as Tory peer over Grenfell inquiry criticism |last=Mason |first=Rowena |newspaper=The Guardian |date=6 September 2024 |access-date=6 September 2024}}

Dent Coad was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kensington at the 2017 snap election when she defeated the sitting Conservative Party MP Victoria Borwick, with a majority of 20 votes, overturning a 7,361 majority from the previous election two years earlier.{{cite news|last=Slawson|first=Nicola|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jun/09/labour-rounds-off-remarkable-election-with-narrow-win-in-kensington|title=Labour rounds off remarkable election with narrow victory in Kensington|newspaper=The Guardian|date=9 June 2017|access-date=10 June 2017}} The declaration was made after three recounts, and was the final result declared of the 2017 UK general election.{{cite news|last1=Simpson|first1=Fiona|title=General Election 2017: Labour's Emma Dent Coad wins Kensington seat after THIRD recount|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/labours-emma-dent-coad-wins-kensington-seat-after-third-recount-a3561751.html|access-date=9 June 2017|work=London Evening Standard|date=9 June 2017|archive-date=16 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200216010707/https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/labours-emma-dent-coad-wins-kensington-seat-after-third-recount-a3561751.html|url-status=dead}}

Dent Coad supported Jeremy Corbyn in the 2016 Labour leadership election.{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/emmadentcoad/status/763991304854319104|title=Just made a donation to Jeremy for Labour |last=Coad|first=Emma Dent|date=11 August 2016|website=@emmadentcoad|language=en|access-date=2017-10-03}} She identifies as a socialist and was a member of the Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs during her time in parliament.{{cite news |last1=Miller |first1=Phil |title=What's not to like about socialism? |url=https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/f/whats-not-to-like-about-socialism |access-date=24 June 2019 |work=Morning Star |date=2 May 2019}}

On 29 June 2017, Dent Coad voted against the Labour party whip and for an amendment to the Queen's Speech calling for the UK's continued membership of the Single Market and the Customs Union following Brexit.{{Cite news |last= Mortimer |first= Caroline |url= https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/brexit-labour-corbyn-single-market-rebellion-mps-fired-sacked-list-full-chuka-umunna-amendment-a7815616.html |title=Labour's Brexit rebellion: All the MPs who defied Jeremy Corbyn over Single Market membership |date=29 June 2017 |work=The Independent |access-date=10 July 2017 |language=en-GB}} Dent Coad has stated that she "will always campaign to remain in the EU" as "[her] wish for Kensington and for the country is to stay within the EU, reform regulations that do not work for us, and spend revenue fairly across the country."{{cite web|url=http://emmadentcoadmp.uk/brexit/|title=Brexit|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-09-24|archive-date=24 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190924103504/http://emmadentcoadmp.uk/brexit/|url-status=dead}}

Dent Coad is a republican: she joined pressure group Republic in 2005 and is a former board member.{{cite web |title=imagine: a democratic alternative to the monarchy |url=http://www.republic.org.uk/What%20we%20do/Magazine/copies/autumn2006.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100827070356/http://www.republic.org.uk/What%20we%20do/Magazine/copies/autumn2006.pdf |archive-date=27 August 2010 |work=Republic |date=Autumn 2006 |access-date=6 October 2017}} In June 2018, she suggested that the royal family move out of Buckingham Palace and that it should be open to public access, given the public contribution of one third of a billion pounds to its cost of refurbishment.{{cite news |url=https://news.sky.com/story/kensington-mp-emma-dent-coad-says-queen-should-move-out-of-buckingham-palace-for-public-11397929 |title=Kensington MP Emma Dent Coad says Queen should move out of Buckingham Palace for public |last=Culbertson |first=Alix |date=8 June 2018 |publisher=Sky News |access-date=10 October 2019}}

In the 2019 United Kingdom general election, Dent Coad was defeated by the Conservative Party candidate Felicity Buchan, who, with 17,768 votes, had a majority over Dent Coad of 150.[https://www.rbkc.gov.uk/council-councillors-and-democracy/local-democracy-and-elections/uk-parliamentary-general-election-0 "Election of a Member of Parliament for Kensington on Thursday 12 December 2019"], Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea website, accessed 22 December 2019.

Dent Coad remained a local councillor,{{cite web |url=https://www.rbkc.gov.uk/Committees/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=119 |title=Cllr Emma Dent Coad |website=Kensington and Chelsea LBC |access-date=13 November 2023}} and Labour group leader on Kensington and Chelsea London Borough Council.{{cite news |url=https://www.lgcplus.com/politics/governance-and-structure/emma-dent-coad-my-book-goes-to-the-rotten-core-of-why-grenfell-happened-13-10-2022/ |title=Emma Dent Coad: My book goes to the rotten core of why Grenfell happened |newspaper=Local Government Chronicle |url-access=limited |date=13 October 2022 |access-date=13 November 2023}}

Dent Coad continued to campaign on the Grenfell Tower tragedy.{{cite web |url=https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/opinion/dent-coad-the-grenfell-inquiry-is-revealing-jaw-dropping-examples-of-poor-practice |title=Dent Coad: The Grenfell inquiry is revealing jaw-dropping examples of poor practice |last=Dent Coad |first=Emma |website=Architects’ Journal |date=12 March 2020 |access-date=13 November 2023}} On 17 June 2022 she highlighted the fifth anniversary of the tragedy, saying, "On this day in 2017, 72 people lost their lives in the Grenfell Tower fire. Half a decade on, families are still waiting for justice – and those with the power to prevent a repeat still aren't willing to use it."{{cite web |url= https://tribunemag.co.uk/2022/06/grenfell-tower-fire-anniversary-emma-dent-coad-cladding-north-kensington |title=Five Years of Failing Grenfell}}

In October 2022, the national Labour Party blocked Dent Coad from being on the selection longlist for the Kensington and Bayswater parliamentary seat at the next election.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/oct/17/labour-blocks-former-kensington-mp-emma-dent-coad-from-running-next-election |title=Labour blocks ex-Kensington MP Emma Dent Coad from running at next election |last=Elgot |first=Jessica |newspaper=The Guardian |date=17 October 2022 |access-date=13 November 2023}}

Dent Coad resigned from the Labour Party on 27 April 2023, giving several reasons including Keir Starmer's crackdown on dissent, his reneging on pledges and the ignoring of anti-black racism, with the final straw for her was being told to remove a Facebook post criticising Starmer for taking £1,000 worth of hospitality from Mulalley & Co, a company that was ordered by the High Court to pay £10.8 million damages for providing and installing defective building cladding on a residential tower block.{{cite news |url=https://labourlist.org/2023/04/ex-kensington-mp-emma-dent-coad-quits-unrecognisable-labour-party/ |title=Ex-Kensington MP Emma Dent Coad quits "unrecognisable" Labour party |last=Jones |first=Morgan |website=LabourList |date=27 April 2023 |access-date=13 November 2023}}{{cite web |title='I will not be silenced': Emma Dent Coad on why she has left Labour |last=Nineham |first=Chris |date=29 April 2023 |url=https://www.counterfire.org/article/i-will-not-be-silenced-emma-dent-coad-on-why-she-has-left-labour/ |access-date=2 May 2023 |website=Counterfire |language=en}}{{cite news |url=https://www.housingtoday.co.uk/news/mulalley-to-pay-108m-to-hyde-after-landmark-cladding-case/5119093.article |title=Mulalley to pay £10.8m to Hyde after landmark cladding case |last=Gayne |first=Daniel |publisher=Chartered Institute of Housing |work=Housing Today |date=7 September 2022 |access-date=13 November 2023}}

In August 2023, she announced her independent candidacy for the Kensington and Bayswater seat.{{cite news |url=https://www.bdonline.co.uk/news/emma-dent-coad-to-stand-against-labour-at-next-general-election/5125615.article |title=Emma Dent Coad to stand against Labour at next general election |last=Flatman |first=Ben |website=Building Design |date=10 October 2023 |access-date=13 November 2023}} She finished sixth and lost her deposit.

In September 2017, Dent Coad was the subject of press criticism for comments about Prince Harry and his role as a British Army Apache helicopter pilot which she then withdrew.{{cite news |title=Emma Dent Coad: If I've made a mistake about Prince Harry's flying credentials 'I will hold my hands up' |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/emma-dent-coad-admits-her-prince-harry-comments-opened-gates-to-hell-a3644861.html |access-date=1 April 2019 |publisher=Evening Standard}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/sep/27/angela-rayner-defends-prince-harry-labour-mp-emma-dent-coad-military-record|title=Angela Rayner defends Prince Harry after Labour MP mocks his military record|last=Weaver|first=Matthew|date=27 September 2017|work=The Guardian|access-date=27 September 2017|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} She later said that her remarks had been "a joke" which had been "taken the wrong way".{{cite web|url=http://www.eastlothiancourier.com/news/15565092.Joke_about_Prince_Harry_taken_the_wrong_way__Labour_MP_claims/|title=Joke about Prince Harry taken the wrong way, Labour MP claims|website=East Lothian Courier|date=28 September 2017 |access-date=31 May 2018}}

In November 2017, Dent Coad was criticised for retweeting a post on Twitter using a quotation from Roald Dahl's children's book The Twits to suggest that the Prime Minister Theresa May was 'ugly' due to her 'ugly thoughts', whereas Jeremy Corbyn had 'good thoughts' and was 'lovely'. Conservative MP George Freeman said: "The re-appearance of misogyny and racial prejudice in Corbyn's Labour Party isn't a surprise".{{cite news |last=Horton |first=Helena |date=27 November 2017 |title=Emma Dent Coad criticised for sexism after sharing post calling Theresa May ugly |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/11/27/emma-dent-coad-criticised-sexism-sharing-post-calling-theresa/ |access-date=10 January 2018 |url-access=subscription}}

In November 2017, it emerged that Dent Coad had, in 2010, described Shaun Bailey, then a Conservative parliamentary candidate, now a London Assembly member, as a "token ghetto boy". In the same blog post, she quoted an anonymous former neighbour of Bailey who had described him as a "free-loading scumbag".{{cite web|url=http://emmadentcoad.blogspot.com/2010/04/this-is-my-posh-voice-local-boy-done.html|title=Emma Dent Coad's blog: 'This is my posh voice' - local boy done good, or, nostalgie de la boue?|first=Emma Dent|last=Coad|date=19 April 2010|access-date=31 May 2018}} She wrote that Bailey was being "used" by the Conservative Party and asked: "Who can say where this man will ever fit in, however hard he tries?" She proceeded to state that if Bailey were to win his seat "he will no longer be welcome in North Ken[sington]". Bailey subsequently called the comments "racist" and "hate-filled".{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/11/13/labour-mp-described-black-tory-candidate-token-ghetto-boy/|title=Labour MP described black Tory candidate as a 'token ghetto boy'|first=Jack|last=Maidment|date=13 November 2017|work=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=31 May 2018|via=www.telegraph.co.uk}} Dent Coad later apologised for "any offence caused".{{cite news|title=Emma Dent Coad MP apologises over 'racist blog post'|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-41980425|access-date=14 November 2017|work=BBC News|date=14 November 2017}}

Dent Coad was married to Sir Hadley Gregory D'Oyly, 15th Baronet from 1978 to 1982. In 1984, she married David Blott, with whom she had three children; the couple divorced in 1997.{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E9a8DwAAQBAJ |title=The Honourable Ladies: Volume II |editor-last1=Dale |editor-first1=Iain |editor-last2=Smith |editor-first2=Jacqui |publisher=Biteback |isbn=9781785902451 |year=2019 |access-date=5 July 2021}} She has lived in North Kensington since 1986.{{cite web |title=Our parliamentary candidate for Kensington |url= https://kensingtonlabour.com/2017/05/01/our-parliamentary-candidate-for-kensington/ |website= kensingtonlabour.com |date=May 2017 |publisher=Kensington Labour |access-date=17 June 2017}}{{Cite news |url= https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/17/for-years-ive-seen-kensington-poor-treated-with-disdain|title=For years, I've seen Kensington's poor treated with disdain |last=Dent Coad |first=Emma |date=17 June 2017 |work=The Guardian |access-date=3 October 2017 |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}

After the 2019 United Kingdom general election, she announced that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer on 14 November 2019, and had surgery to remove it on 9 December. Dent Coad stated that she had not announced her diagnosis earlier as she did not want to impact her re-election campaign.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-50837694|title=Ousted Labour MP reveals breast cancer diagnosis|date=18 December 2019|publisher=BBC News|access-date=18 December 2019}}

• Emma Dent Coad, Javier Mariscal : designing the new Spain, Fourth Estate, 1991, {{ISBN|9780847813575}}
• Emma Dent Coad, Spanish Design and Architecture, Octopus Publishing, 1993, {{ISBN|9780289800300}}
• Emma Dent Coad, One Kensington : food halls, food banks and Grenfell : inside the most unequal borough in Britain, Quercus Publishing, 2022, {{ISBN|9781529417241}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [http://emmadentcoad.blogspot.com Emma Dent Coad] personal blog
• {{UK MP links |parliament=emma-dent-coad/4683 |publicwhip=Emma_Dent_Coad |theywork=emma_dent_coad}}
• {{YouTube|0o45pTawR7g|Emma Dent Coad – Maiden Speech}} at Official Jeremy Corbyn Channel

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Category:1954 births

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