Who is Katharine Birbalsingh? Why did she have a row with Labour MP Jess Phillips?

On September 16, 1973, Katharine Moana Birbalsingh, a British educator and advocate for educational reform, was born. She is well known for founding and running the nonprofit Michaela Community School in London’s Wembley Park. Birbalsingh considers himself to be a conservative.

Birbalsingh’s scholar Indo-Guyanese father first took Birbalsingh to New Zealand when she was a little child before going to Canada. When she was 15 years old, her father moved the family to the UK after being hired as a lecturer at the University of Warwick.

While studying French and philosophy at Oxford’s New College, she developed a strong interest in teaching. After completing her degree, Birbalsingh followed a career as a teacher in South London public schools.

In 2007, she started a blog called “To Miss with Love” under the alias Miss Snuffy. On her blog, she expressed her support for Michael Gove’s reforms as Education Secretary and the educational policies of the Conservative Party.

Along with being an educator, Birbalsingh is a novelist. Two works by her—”Singleholic” in 2009 and “To Miss with Love” in 2011—have been published.

Additionally, she was the editor of “Michaela: The Power of Culture” in 2020 and “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Teachers: The Michaela Way” in 2016. In recognition of her achievements, she received the designation of Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2020 Birthday Honours.

Who is Katharine Birbalsingh?

Why did she have a row with Labour MP Jess Phillips? When Ms. Birbalsingh claimed that Labour MP Jess Phillips had launched a ‘vicious mob attack’ on her on Twitter on July 1, 2023—which was motivated by Tina Turner’s passing—she found herself in the middle of controversy once more. Following the passing of music icon Turner in May 2023, a fight between the two people broke out.