elected. This made her the first openly lesbian MP in the Conservative Party, second "out" lesbian in the House of Commons, after Angela Eagle, and the first to have come out before her election. In her maiden speech she paid tribute to Stourbridge's history of glass making. She was the Parliamentary Private Secretary to Stephen Green, Baron Green of Hurstpierpoint, during his period as Minister for Trade and Investment from 2011 to 2013. In January 2016, the Labour Party unsuccessfully proposed an amendment in Parliament that would have required private landlords to make their homes "fit for human habitation". According to Parliament's register of interests, James was one of 72 Conservative MPs who voted against the amendment who personally derived an income from renting out property. The Conservative Government had responded to the amendment that they believed homes should be fit for human habitation but did not want to pass the new law that would explicitly require it. James was opposed to leaving the European Union prior to the 2016 referendum. James was made Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Small Business, Consumers and Corporate Responsibility at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy by Theresa May, in her first ministry in July 2016. James served as Minister of State for Digital and the Creative Industries from 9 January 2018, resigning on 18 July 2019 to vote against the Government on an amendment; rebelling in an attempt to prevent the prorogation of Parliament which could have been used to force through a no-deal Brexit. James endorsed Rory Stewart during the 2019 Conservative leadership election. James had the Conservative whip removed on 3 September 2019. On 29 October 2019, she was one of ten Conservative MPs to have the whip restored, but announced on 3 November her intention to stand down as an MP at the 2019 general election, following disagreements with her local party. Other activities James served on the board of Parkside NHS Trust, and worked as a Mental Health Manager. She spent ten years as a trustee of ABANTU, an African women's charity, during which time she trained women from more than 40 different African countries in communications and lobbying skills. She has also worked as a mentor for The Prince's Trust and Young Enterprise. She sits on the Court of Governors at LSE. She is a vice-president of the Debating Group. and in 2019, was named the