Diane Abbott
Encyclopedia
Diane Julie Abbott is a British Labour Party
politician who has been the Member of Parliament
(MP) for Hackney North and Stoke Newington since 1987
, when she became the first black woman to be elected to the House of Commons. In 2010, Abbott became Shadow Public Health Minister after unsuccessfully standing for election as leader of the Labour Party
, ultimately losing to Ed Miliband
.
n immigrants in London
in 1953. Her father was a welder
and her mother a nurse. She attended Harrow County Grammar School for Girls, and then Newnham College, Cambridge
, where she read history
. At Cambridge, she was tutored by historian Simon Schama
. After university she became an administration trainee at the Home Office
(1976 to 1978), and then a Race Relations Officer at the National Council for Civil Liberties
(1978 to 1980).
Abbott was a researcher and reporter at Thames Television
from 1980 to 1983 and then a researcher and reporter at the breakfast television company TV-am
from 1983 to 1985. Abbott was a press officer at the Greater London Council
under Ken Livingstone
from 1985 to 1986 and Head of Press and Public Relations at Lambeth Council from 1986 to 1987.
serving until 1986. In 1987 she was elected to the House of Commons, replacing the deselected serving Labour MP Ernest Roberts as MP for Hackney North & Stoke Newington.
Abbott has a record of differing from some party policies, voting against the Iraq war, opposing ID cards and campaigning against the renewal of Britain's Trident nuclear weapons
. She has been seen as a 'maverick, a free-thinker, willing to rebel against the party machine.'
Abbott's speech on civil liberties, in the debate on the Counter-Terrorism Bill 2008
won The Spectator
magazine's 'Parliamentary Speech of the Year' award and further recognition at the 2008 Human Rights awards.
Abbott has served on a number of parliamentary committees on social and international issues. For most of the 1990s she also served on the Treasury Select Committee of the House of Commons. She went on to serve on the Foreign Affairs Select Committee.
Abbott chairs the All Party Parliamentary British-Caribbean Group and the All Party Sickle Cell and Thalassemia Group.
Abbott is founder of the London Schools and the Black Child initiative, which aims to raise educational achievement levels amongst Black children.
In May 2010, she was re-elected in her constituency of Hackney North and Stoke Newington, with a doubled majority on an increased turn-out.
and surprise support from fellow candidate David Miliband
. On Saturday 25 September 2010, Ed Miliband
was announced as the new leader of the Labour Party with Abbott eliminated in the first round of voting after securing 7.24% of votes.
Abbott was later appointed Shadow Minister for Public Health by Ed Miliband, taking shadow responsibility for a range of issues including children's health, maternity services, sexual health, tobacco, nursing, obesity and alcohol abuse. The move onto the frontbench has seen a noted transition in Diane Abbott's career, with the Telegraph writing on 27th September 2011 that Abbott had 'become one of Labour’s best front bench performers.'
Until her appointment as a shadow minister in October 2010, Abbott appeared alongside the former Conservative
politician and media personality Michael Portillo
on the BBC's
weekly politics digest This Week
. Abbott and Portillo have known each other since school, when they appeared in joint school productions of Romeo and Juliet
(although not in the title roles), and of Macbeth
as Lady Macduff
and Macduff
respectively.
Abbott is a frequent public speaker, newspaper contributor and TV performer, appearing on programmes such as Have I Got News For You
, Celebrity Come Dine With Me
and Cash in the Celebrity Attic.
, which she herself described as "indefensible" and "intellectually incoherent", caused controversy and criticism. This issue was discussed in the media during Abbott's 2010 bid to become leader of the Labour Party and Andrew Neil
questioned her on the issue on This Week.
Her son became involved, contacting a radio phone-in to say that his mother was only following his own wishes:
"She's not a hypocrite, she just put what I wanted first instead of what people thought," he told LBC. He added that he had wanted to go private rather than attend a local state school in Ms Abbott's Hackney constituency.
, Abbott was investigated by the Committee on Standards and Privileges
regarding payment she had received from the BBC. They found she had failed to declare earnings of £17,300 on the Register of Members' Interests which had been received for appearances on the television programme This Week
. The Committee upheld the complaint and required Abbott to apologise to the House.
, as her son's godfather.
In 2007, Abbott began learning the piano from scratch under the tutelage of Paul Roberts, Professor of Piano at London’s Guildhall of Music and Drama, for the TV programme, Play It Again. Abbott subsequently performed Chopin's Prelude No. 4 in E minor to a public audience, and has continued to play the piano since.
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
politician who has been the Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for Hackney North and Stoke Newington since 1987
United Kingdom general election, 1987
The United Kingdom general election of 1987 was held on 11 June 1987, to elect 650 members to the British House of Commons. The election was the third consecutive election victory for the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, who became the first Prime Minister since the 2nd...
, when she became the first black woman to be elected to the House of Commons. In 2010, Abbott became Shadow Public Health Minister after unsuccessfully standing for election as leader of the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK) leadership election, 2010
The 2010 Labour Party leadership election was triggered by a general election which resulted in a hung parliament. On 10 May, Gordon Brown resigned as Leader of the Labour Party. The following day, he stepped down as Prime Minister....
, ultimately losing to Ed Miliband
Ed Miliband
Edward Samuel Miliband is a British Labour Party politician, currently the Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition...
.
Early life and career
Abbott was born to JamaicaJamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
n immigrants in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1953. Her father was a welder
Welder
A welder is a tradesman who specializes in welding materials together. The materials to be joined can be metals or varieties of plastic or polymer...
and her mother a nurse. She attended Harrow County Grammar School for Girls, and then Newnham College, Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
, where she read history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
. At Cambridge, she was tutored by historian Simon Schama
Simon Schama
Simon Michael Schama, CBE is a British historian and art historian. He is a University Professor of History and Art History at Columbia University. He is best known for writing and hosting the 15-part BBC documentary series A History of Britain...
. After university she became an administration trainee at the Home Office
Home Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
(1976 to 1978), and then a Race Relations Officer at the National Council for Civil Liberties
Liberty (pressure group)
Liberty is a pressure group based in the United Kingdom. Its formal name is the National Council for Civil Liberties . Founded in 1934 by Ronald Kidd and Sylvia Crowther-Smith , the group campaigns to protect civil liberties and promote human rights...
(1978 to 1980).
Abbott was a researcher and reporter at Thames Television
Thames Television
Thames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
from 1980 to 1983 and then a researcher and reporter at the breakfast television company TV-am
TV-am
TV-am was a breakfast television station that broadcast to the United Kingdom from 1 February 1983 to 31 December 1992. It made history by being the first national operator of a commercial television franchise at breakfast-time , and broadcast every day of the week for most or all of the period...
from 1983 to 1985. Abbott was a press officer at the Greater London Council
Greater London Council
The Greater London Council was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council which had covered a much smaller area...
under Ken Livingstone
Ken Livingstone
Kenneth Robert "Ken" Livingstone is an English politician who is currently a member of the centrist to centre-left Labour Party...
from 1985 to 1986 and Head of Press and Public Relations at Lambeth Council from 1986 to 1987.
Political career
Abbott's career in politics began in 1982 when she was elected to Westminster City CouncilWestminster City Council
Westminster City Council is the local authority for the City of Westminster in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council and is entitled to be known as a city council, which is a rare distinction in the United Kingdom. The city is divided into 20 wards, each electing three councillors...
serving until 1986. In 1987 she was elected to the House of Commons, replacing the deselected serving Labour MP Ernest Roberts as MP for Hackney North & Stoke Newington.
Abbott has a record of differing from some party policies, voting against the Iraq war, opposing ID cards and campaigning against the renewal of Britain's Trident nuclear weapons
British replacement of the Trident system
The British replacement of Trident is a proposal to replace the existing Vanguard class of four Trident ballistic-missile armed submarines with a new class designed to continue a nuclear deterrent after the current boats reach the end of their service lives...
. She has been seen as a 'maverick, a free-thinker, willing to rebel against the party machine.'
Abbott's speech on civil liberties, in the debate on the Counter-Terrorism Bill 2008
Counter-Terrorism Bill 2008
The Counter-Terrorism Act 2008 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which increased police powers for the stated purpose of countering terrorism...
won The Spectator
The Spectator
The Spectator is a weekly British magazine first published on 6 July 1828. It is currently owned by David and Frederick Barclay, who also owns The Daily Telegraph. Its principal subject areas are politics and culture...
magazine's 'Parliamentary Speech of the Year' award and further recognition at the 2008 Human Rights awards.
Abbott has served on a number of parliamentary committees on social and international issues. For most of the 1990s she also served on the Treasury Select Committee of the House of Commons. She went on to serve on the Foreign Affairs Select Committee.
Abbott chairs the All Party Parliamentary British-Caribbean Group and the All Party Sickle Cell and Thalassemia Group.
Abbott is founder of the London Schools and the Black Child initiative, which aims to raise educational achievement levels amongst Black children.
In May 2010, she was re-elected in her constituency of Hackney North and Stoke Newington, with a doubled majority on an increased turn-out.
2010 Labour Party leadership election
Diane Abbott announced on Radio 4's Today programme on 20 May 2010 her intention to stand in the Labour leadership contest. On 9 June 2010, Abbott secured the 33 nominations necessary to appear on the Labour leadership ballot paper following the withdrawal of fellow left wing candidate John McDonnellJohn McDonnell (politician)
John Martin McDonnell is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Hayes and Harlington since 1997; he serves as Chair of the Socialist Campaign Group, the Labour Representation Committee, and the "Public Services Not Private Profit Group"...
and surprise support from fellow candidate David Miliband
David Miliband
David Wright Miliband is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament for South Shields since 2001, and was the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs from 2007 to 2010. He is the elder son of the late Marxist theorist Ralph Miliband...
. On Saturday 25 September 2010, Ed Miliband
Ed Miliband
Edward Samuel Miliband is a British Labour Party politician, currently the Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition...
was announced as the new leader of the Labour Party with Abbott eliminated in the first round of voting after securing 7.24% of votes.
Abbott was later appointed Shadow Minister for Public Health by Ed Miliband, taking shadow responsibility for a range of issues including children's health, maternity services, sexual health, tobacco, nursing, obesity and alcohol abuse. The move onto the frontbench has seen a noted transition in Diane Abbott's career, with the Telegraph writing on 27th September 2011 that Abbott had 'become one of Labour’s best front bench performers.'
Media work
Abbott has built up a high profile within the media.Until her appointment as a shadow minister in October 2010, Abbott appeared alongside the former Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
politician and media personality Michael Portillo
Michael Portillo
Michael Denzil Xavier Portillo is a British journalist, broadcaster, and former Conservative Party politician and Cabinet Minister...
on the BBC's
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
weekly politics digest This Week
This Week (BBC One TV series)
This Week is a current affairs and politics TV programme in the United Kingdom on the BBC, screened on Thursday evenings, hosted by former Sunday Times editor Andrew Neil alongside former Conservative Member of Parliament and Minister Michael Portillo, and a left leaning guest panellist on...
. Abbott and Portillo have known each other since school, when they appeared in joint school productions of Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
(although not in the title roles), and of Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
as Lady Macduff
Lady Macduff
Lady Macduff, a character in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, is the wife of Macduff, the Thane of Fife, and the mother of an unnamed son and other children. Her appearance in the play is brief: she and her son are introduced in Act IV Scene II, a climactic and tragic scene that ends with both her and her...
and Macduff
Macduff (thane)
Macduff, the Thane of Fife, is a character in William Shakespeare's Macbeth . Macduff plays a pivotal role in the play: he suspects Macbeth of regicide and eventually kills Macbeth in the final act...
respectively.
Abbott is a frequent public speaker, newspaper contributor and TV performer, appearing on programmes such as Have I Got News For You
Have I Got News for You
Have I Got News for You is a British television panel show produced by Hat Trick Productions for the BBC. It is based loosely on the BBC Radio 4 show The News Quiz, and has been broadcast since 1990, currently the BBC's longest-ever running television panel show...
, Celebrity Come Dine With Me
Come Dine With Me
Come Dine With Me is a popular Channel 4 television programme shown in the United Kingdom, produced by Granada Television and first broadcast in January 2005. The show has either four or five amateur chefs competing against each other hosting a dinner party for the other contestants...
and Cash in the Celebrity Attic.
The education of Abbott's son
Abbott's decision in 2003 to send her son to the private City of London SchoolCity of London School
The City of London School is a boys' independent day school on the banks of the River Thames in the City of London, England. It is the brother school of the City of London School for Girls and the co-educational City of London Freemen's School...
, which she herself described as "indefensible" and "intellectually incoherent", caused controversy and criticism. This issue was discussed in the media during Abbott's 2010 bid to become leader of the Labour Party and Andrew Neil
Andrew Neil
Andrew Ferguson Neil is a Scottish journalist and broadcaster.He currently works for the BBC, presenting the live political programmes The Daily Politics and This Week...
questioned her on the issue on This Week.
Her son became involved, contacting a radio phone-in to say that his mother was only following his own wishes:
"She's not a hypocrite, she just put what I wanted first instead of what people thought," he told LBC. He added that he had wanted to go private rather than attend a local state school in Ms Abbott's Hackney constituency.
Failure to declare earnings
In 2004, following a complaint made by Andrew Rosindell MPAndrew Rosindell
Andrew Richard Rosindell is an English Conservative politician. He is the Member of Parliament for the Romford constituency in Greater London...
, Abbott was investigated by the Committee on Standards and Privileges
Committee on Standards and Privileges
The Standards and Privileges Committee of the United Kingdom House of Commons was established in 1995 to replace the earlier Committee of Privileges...
regarding payment she had received from the BBC. They found she had failed to declare earnings of £17,300 on the Register of Members' Interests which had been received for appearances on the television programme This Week
This Week (BBC One TV series)
This Week is a current affairs and politics TV programme in the United Kingdom on the BBC, screened on Thursday evenings, hosted by former Sunday Times editor Andrew Neil alongside former Conservative Member of Parliament and Minister Michael Portillo, and a left leaning guest panellist on...
. The Committee upheld the complaint and required Abbott to apologise to the House.
Personal life
Abbott married Richard Thompson, an architect, in 1991; they divorced in 1993; they had one son together. Abbott chose her Conservative MP voting pair, Jonathan AitkenJonathan Aitken
Jonathan William Patrick Aitken is a former Conservative Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom, and British government minister. He was convicted of perjury in 1999 and received an 18-month prison sentence, of which he served seven months...
, as her son's godfather.
In 2007, Abbott began learning the piano from scratch under the tutelage of Paul Roberts, Professor of Piano at London’s Guildhall of Music and Drama, for the TV programme, Play It Again. Abbott subsequently performed Chopin's Prelude No. 4 in E minor to a public audience, and has continued to play the piano since.
External links
- Diane Abbott MP official constituency website
- Diane Abbott: You Ask The Questions The IndependentThe IndependentThe Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
, Feb 2010 - Diane Abbott New StatesmanNew StatesmanNew Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
profile - Interview with The Third Estate