Officers

Chair – Sheryll Murray

Sheryll has been the Member of Parliament for South East Cornwall since 2010. As well as being chair of APGOCATs, Sheryll is a member of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee and sits on the Panel of Chairs which is made up of those MPs chosen by the Speaker at the start of each Parliament to chair Public Bill committees and other general committees in the House of Commons.  Sheryll also attends the Council of Europe in Strasbourg as part of the UK delegation.  Sheryll lives in Cornwall with her cats Milly and Louie and her husband Bob.

Co-Chair – Andrew Gwynne MP

Andrew has been the Member of Parliament for Denton and Reddish since 2005. He is the proud owner of four cats (Minnie, Tammy, Jude and Sox) so knows first-hand how cats and other pets bring joy and companionship to families.

Vice Chair – Lord Goddard of Stockport

Lord Goddard was born in Stockport. He was first elected to Stockport Council in 1990, a position he held for twenty-two consecutive years. He was also a Vice-Chair of Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Vice Chair of the AGMA Executive Board. A Board Member of the Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership [LEP] a Board Member of Manchester International Airport, a Board Member of MIDAS.

As a member of the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue committee for over 10 years, he was the Liberal Democrat spokesperson regionally and nationally on fire matters until 2007. For the last two years I was a member of the Greater Manchester Police Authority and was Vice Chair of Finance.

On 8^th August 2014 Lord Goddard was awarded a Life Peerage from the Queen. He is a member of the Secondary Legislation Committee and a member of several All Party Parliamentary groups, including APGOCATS.

Vice Chair – Lord Black of Brentwood

Lord Black of Brentwood (Guy Black) is Deputy Chairman of the Telegraph Media Group and has been a member of the House of Lords since 2010. He has spoken widely on animal welfare issues, and led the first ever debate in the Lords on the welfare of cats and dogs in 2013.

He is a Patron of International Cat Care, and Patron of Cats Protection’s “Black Cat Society.” When not working on animal welfare issues, he is also Chairman of the Royal College of Music, and of the Commonwealth Press Union Media Trust.

He and his husband Mark have owned cats for over twenty years. Their first two – Alexandra and Victoria (pictured) were Russian blues, both sadly now passed on. The most recent addition to their family is Destino, a fluffy, lively, ginger rescue cat.

Vice Chair – Patricia Gibson MP

Patricia was born and educated in Glasgow, gaining an MA (Hons) in English and Politics from the University of Glasgow. Before her election to Westminster in 2015, she had worked as a teacher of English for 23 years. She currently serves as her party’s spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food, Rural Affairs and Consumer Affairs. Patricia first contested North Ayrshire & Arran in 2010, helping to make it the SNP’s fourth most winnable seat in 2015, albeit with a still huge majority to overcome, which she did, with a 23.3% swing, securing a 13,573 majority over the Labour incumbent. Patricia retained her seat in the snap elections of June 2017 and 2019.

Vice Chair – Henry Smith MP

Henry Smith has been the MP for Crawley since 2010, he has pursued many animal welfare campaigns during his time in Parliament and is Vice Chair of the All Party Animal Welfare Group and a Patron of the Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation.

Vice Chair – Mark Tami MP

Mark has been the Labour MP for Alyn and Deeside since 2001 and has long been outspoken on animal welfare issues.  

The Tami household is home to 3 cats (Muffin, Bobbi and Mrs Skittles) so Mark understands from direct experience the joy cats bring to people and feels passionately about feline welfare. Tragically, Bobbi was caught up in a road traffic collision when she was younger but thankfully made her way home and despite losing one of her eyes, was saved by the amazing efforts of the local vets and continues to thrive today.

Vice Chair – Sarah Champion MP

Sarah Champion is the Member of Parliament for Rotherham. She was elected in a by-election in November 2012. Before her appointment she was the CEO of Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice and prior to that ran arts organisations.

Sarah is the Chair of the APPG for Zoos and Aquariums.  She has several rescue cats along with other animals and is a keen advocate for the welfare of animals. She has been a keen supporter of the Animal Welfare (Kept Animals) Bill calling for improved standards of animal welfare.

Treasurer – Layla Moran MP

Layla Moran was elected Liberal Democrat MP for Oxford West and Abingdon in June 2017.

Murphy is 15 and has been Layla’s cat since University. When a kitten we thought she was a boy, and was named Murphy because she resembles a pint of Murphy’s when on her back. When it was later discovered she was female the name had already stuck. She is well travelled for a cat, born in London she then moved to Brussels then back to London then Oxford. Her favourite pastimes include bending humans to her will, playing with catnip toys and being brushed.

Members