Daphne Barbara Follett (née Hubbard; born 25 December 1942) is a British Labour Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Stevenage from 1997 to 2010.

Follett was born Daphne Barbara Hubbard in Kingston, Jamaica, where her father (originally from Manchester, UK) was an insurance executive.

In 1952 the family moved to Ethiopia where her father set up the country's first insurance company in partnership with Emperor Haile Selassie.

In 1957 after an unfortunate incident involving her alcoholic father, a toast and a drinks trolley,[1] the family were asked to leave the country and went to Cape Town in South Africa.

In 1969, after experiencing first-hand the hardships of life for farm workers in rural South Africa, she started working for Kupugani (Zulu for "uplift yourself"), an organisation which bought and processed agricultural surplus and then sold it cheaply to poor families.

In 1970, on the breakdown of her marriage Follett moved back to Cape Town and became acting Regional Secretary at the Institute of Race Relations.

She worked again for Kupugani from 1971 to 1978, first as Regional Manager for the Cape and South-West Africa (now Namibia) – then as National Health Education Director (1975–78).

Follett found work as Assistant Course Organiser and lecturer on Africa for the Farnham-based Centre for International Briefing (1980–84) and joined the local Labour Party.

Following the controversy generated by the public disclosure of her expenses Follett announced her decision to stand down at the 2010 general election on 1 October 2009.

[6] Follett is a Director of the Jumby Bay Island Company, based in Antigua, and a member of the Labour Women's Network Management Committee.

[8] Follett is a member of, and active in, a number of organisations:[9] She is also a Patron of Stevenage Haven; Dignity in Dying; Action on Pre-Eclampsia; Herts Aid; Crucial Crew; The Friends of the Forster Country In 2001, Follett appeared in the television satire programme Brass Eye, in a special which satirised media hysteria towards the issue of paedophilia.

[10] Follett complained to the Broadcasting Standards Commission (BSC) and ITC[clarification needed] about being duped into appearing into the programme.

The BSC noted that the programme makers had deliberately given warning signals to suggest the material might be dubious and thus rejected Follett's complaints against the show as it successfully revealed the dangers of how public figures were willing to speak "with apparent authority about matters they do not understand".

[11] In May 2008 following the release of details of MPs expenses it emerged that the taxpayer had paid in excess of £1,600 for window cleaning of Follett's London flat in a single year.

[20] Follett and her husband have been referred to as champagne socialists in the right wing media due to the alleged contrast between their political views and their extravagant lifestyle.