Diane Abbott

This article is about the British politician. For the American actress and singer, see Diahnne Abbott.

Diane Abbott
MP
Shadow Secretary of State for International Development
Assumed office
13 September 2015
Leader Jeremy Corbyn
Preceded by Mary Creagh
Shadow Minister for Public Health
In office
9 October 2010 – 8 October 2013
Leader Ed Miliband
Preceded by Gillian Merron
Succeeded by Luciana Berger
Member of Parliament
for Hackney North and Stoke Newington
Assumed office
11 June 1987
Preceded by Ernie Roberts
Majority 24,008 (48.1%)
Personal details
Born Diane Julie Abbott
(1953-09-27) 27 September 1953
London, United Kingdom
Political party Labour
Spouse(s) Richard Thompson (1991–1993)
Children 1 son
Alma mater Newnham College, Cambridge
Website Official website
Abbott's voice
from the BBC programme Desert Island Discs, 18 May 2008[1]
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Diane Julie Abbott (born 27 September 1953) is a British Labour Party politician who is the Shadow Secretary of State for International Development. She was first elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hackney North and Stoke Newington at the 1987 general election, when she became the first black woman to have a seat in the House of Commons.[2]

Biography

Early life and career

Abbott was born to Jamaican immigrants in London in 1953. Her father was a welder and her mother a nurse.[3] She attended Harrow County Grammar School for Girls, and then Newnham College, Cambridge, where she read history.[4] At Cambridge, she was tutored by historian Simon Schama.[5] She has since said that Cambridge was the making of her.[6] 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).[7] 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.[7]

Political career

Abbott's career in politics began in 1982 when she was elected to Westminster City Council serving until 1986. In 1985 she unsuccessfully fought to be selected in Brent East, losing out to Ken Livingstone.[8] 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. Elected along with Keith Vaz, Bernie Grant and Paul Boateng, she was the first woman from an African Caribbean background to become an MP.[9]

Abbott has a record of differing from some party policies, describing herself as the "only candidate who listened and voted against the Iraq war",[6] opposing ID cards and campaigning against the renewal of Britain's Trident nuclear weapons.[10] She has been seen by supporters as a "maverick, a free-thinker, willing to rebel against the party machine".[11]

Abbott's speech on civil liberties, in the debate on the Counter-Terrorism Bill 2008[12] won The Spectator magazine's "Parliamentary Speech of the Year" award[13][14] and further recognition at the 2008 Human Rights awards.[15]

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.[16] She went on to serve on the Foreign Affairs Select Committee.[16]

Abbott chairs the All-Party Parliamentary British-Caribbean Group and the All-Party Sickle Cell and Thalassemia Group.[16]

Abbott is founder of the London Schools and the Black Child initiative, which aims to raise educational achievement levels amongst black children.[17]

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.[18] She was again re-elected in 2015 with 62% of the vote.[19]

At Goldsmiths, University of London, on 26 October 2012, a jubilee celebration was held to honour Abbott's 25 years in parliament, with a series of concerts by Linton Kwesi Johnson, Kadija Sesay, and others.[20][21]

She was given a score of 79% by Stonewall based on how she voted on all pro-gay rights legislation before Parliament between 2005 and 2010.[22]

2010 leadership election and frontbench role

On 20 May 2010 Abbott announced her intention to stand in the Labour leadership contest. She secured the necessary 33 nominations by 9 June, assisted by the withdrawal of left-wing candidate John McDonnell and unexpected support from David Miliband.[23][24] 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.[25]

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.[26]

On the issue of abortion, Abbott has become a vocal ‘pro-choice’ supporter, opposing moves towards changing abortion counselling policy, and reducing the abortion time limit. Abbott resigned from a cross-party group on abortion counselling saying it was no more than a front to push forward an anti-abortion agenda without debate in parliament.[27]

Diane Abbott speaking at the New Statesman hustings for the Labour Party leadership election, 2010

Following her move onto the front-bench, the Telegraph said on 27 September 2011 that Abbott had "become one of Labour’s best front bench performers".[28]

On 8 October 2013, Abbott's front bench political career came to an abrupt end when she was sacked as shadow public health minister by Labour leader Ed Miliband,[29] and replaced as Shadow Public Health Minister by Luciana Berger.[30][31]

On 5 February 2013 MP Diane Abbott voted in favour in the House of Commons Second Reading vote on same-sex marriage in Britain.[32]

Subsequent developments and return to front bench

On 23 June 2014, Abbott had stated she would consider standing in the London mayoral election, 2016, as Mayor of London.[33] On 30 November 2014, Abbott announced her intention to put herself forward to become Labour's candidate at the London mayoral elections in 2016.[34] She was unsuccessful in her bid for Labour's 2015 London mayoral election nomination

She was one of 16 signatories of an open letter to Ed Miliband in January 2015 calling on the party to commit to oppose further austerity, take rail franchises back into public ownership and strengthen collective bargaining arrangements.[35]

An ally of Jeremy Corbyn, Abbott was one of 36 Labour MPs to nominate him as a candidate in the Labour leadership election of 2015.[36] Following Corbyn's election as Labour leader, Abbott was appointed to the post of Shadow Secretary of State for International Development.[37]

Media work

Abbott has built up a high media profile.[11]

Until her appointment as a shadow minister in October 2010, Abbott appeared alongside 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.[38]

In August 2012 the BBC Trust ruled that payments to Abbott for her appearances on This Week were made in breach of BBC guidelines that banned payments to MPs who were representing their political parties. For her part, Abbott had correctly declared the payments in the Parliamentary Register of Members' Interests. The Trust also said that Abbott had appeared on the show too often.[39]

Abbott is a frequent public speaker,[40] newspaper contributor[41] and TV performer, appearing on programmes such as Have I Got News for You, Celebrity Come Dine with Me[42] and Cash in the Celebrity Attic.[43]

Abbott was shortlisted for the Grassroot Diplomat Initiative Award in 2015 for her work on London Schools and the Black Child, and remains in the directory of the Grassroot Diplomat Who's Who publication.[44]

Political controversies

Education of Abbott's son

Abbott's decision in 2003 to send her son to the private City of London School after criticising colleagues for sending their children to selective schools, which she herself described as "indefensible" and "intellectually incoherent", caused controversy and criticism.[45][46][47][48]

Her son contacted a radio phone-in to say that his mother was 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 Abbott's Hackney constituency.[49][50][51]

Failure to declare earnings

In 2004, following a complaint made by Andrew Rosindell MP, 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 that had been received for appearances on the television programme This Week. The Committee upheld the complaint and required Abbott to apologise to the House.[52]

Comments on race

In 1988 Abbott claimed, at a black studies conference in Philadelphia, that "the British invented racism."[53]

In 1996, Abbott attracted widespread criticism when she claimed that at her local hospital "blonde, blue-eyed Finnish girls" were unsuitable as nurses because they had "never met a black person before".[54] Abbott's apology came as Marc Wadsworth, executive member of the Anti-Racist Alliance, who is himself half Finnish, pointed out that the present Miss Finland, Lola Odusoga, is black, of Nigerian and Finnish descent. "She's a black Finn like me," he said. Abbott's position was supported by fellow Labour MP Bernie Grant: "Bringing someone here from Finland who has never seen a black person before and expecting them to have to have some empathy with black people is nonsense. Scandinavian people don't know black people—they probably don't know how to take their temperature".[55]

On 4 January 2012, Abbott tweeted that: "White people love playing 'divide and rule' We should not play their game", which again led to widespread criticism including accusations of racism.[56] Only after being told by the Labour Party leadership that the comment was unacceptable did she apologise for "any offence caused", claiming that she had not intended to "make generalisations about white people".[57][58] The Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg called her comments a "stupid and crass generalisation". Nadhim Zahawi, Conservative MP, said: "This is racism. If this was a white member of Parliament saying that all black people want to do bad things to us he would have resigned within the hour or been sacked."[59] Members of the public lodged complaints but the Metropolitan Police stated that no investigation would be launched and no charges would be brought against her, saying she "did not commit a criminal offence."[60]

In January 2012 Abbott suggested that taxi drivers discriminate on racial grounds, tweeting that she was "Dubious of black people claiming they’ve never experienced racism. Ever tried hailing a taxi I always wonder?"[61]

Personal life

Abbott had a brief relationship with current Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn when he was a councillor in north London in the late 1970s,[62][63] before marrying Richard Thompson, a Ghanaian architect, in 1991. They had one son together before divorcing in 1993.[3][64] Abbott chose her Conservative MP voting pair, Jonathan Aitken, as her son's godfather.[65]

In 2007, Abbott began learning the piano under the tutelage of Paul Roberts, Professor of Piano at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, for the TV programme Play It Again.[66] She performed Chopin's Prelude No. 4 in E minor before an audience.[66]

References

  1. ↑ "Diane Abbott". Desert Island Discs. 18 May 2008. BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  2. ↑ "Desert Island Discs featuring Diane Abbott". Desert Island Discs. 18 May 2008. BBC. Radio 4.http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04vkhjc
  3. 1 2 Appiah, Kwame Anthony and Henry Louis Gates, Jr., ed. (1999). Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience. Basic Civitas Books. ISBN 0-465-00071-1. Retrieved 31 July 2013.
  4. ↑ "UK | Magazine | Faces of the week". BBC News. 7 November 2003. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  5. ↑ "Simon Schama on the American right". BBC News. 21 August 2008. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
  6. 1 2 Naomi O'Leary, "Diane Abbott – ‘Cambridge was the making of me’", The Cambridge Student, 1 May 2012.
  7. 1 2 "Vote 2001: Candidates: Diane Abbott". BBC. 2001. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
  8. ↑ Seumas Milne, "From the archive, 29 April 1985: Ken Livingstone wins fight for Brent East nomination", The Guardian, 29 April 2015.
  9. ↑ Huma Qureshi "Diane Abbott: 'You can't let racism hold you back'", The Guardian, 20 September 2012.
  10. ↑ Riddell, Mary (16 June 2010). "Diane Abbott: 'It's very lonely being a single mother'". The Daily Telegraph (London).
  11. 1 2 "Profile: Diane Abbott". BBC News. 9 June 2010.
  12. ↑ Department of the Official Report (Hansard), House of Commons, Westminster (11 June 2008). "Hansard 11 June 2008 col 379". Publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  13. ↑ "Parliamentarian of the Year Awards Recipients 2008". The Spectator. 20 November 2008. Retrieved 13 January 2009.
  14. ↑ "Parliamentarian of the Year Awards Recipients 2008". The Spectator.
  15. ↑ "The Law Society". The Law Society. 9 December 2008. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  16. 1 2 3 "Diane Abbott: Labour parliamentary candidate for Hackney North". Hackney Citizen. 25 April 2010. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  17. ↑ "London Schools and the Black Child (LSBC)". Blackeducation.info. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  18. ↑ "Diane Abbott wins Hackney North and Stoke Newington with massive majority". Myhackney.co.uk. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  19. ↑ "Ms Diane Abbott MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  20. ↑ "A Jubilee of a Different Kind: Celebrating Diane Abbott’s 25 years as an MP". Goldsmiths. 26 October 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
  21. ↑ "A Jubilee of a Different Kind". jubileeofadifferentkind.wordpress.com. 26 October 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
  22. ↑ "Stonewall MP Voting Records 2010" (PDF). stonewall.org. Retrieved 2 May 2013.http://www.stonewall.org.uk/documents/stonewall_mp_voting_records_2010_1.pdf
  23. ↑ "Diane Abbott goes through to next Labour leader round". BBC News. 9 June 2010. Retrieved 9 June 2010.
  24. ↑ Stratton, Allegra (9 June 2010). "David Miliband keeps Diane Abbott in Labour leadership race". The Guardian (London).
  25. ↑ Kite, Melissa (26 September 2010). "Labour: Voting system conjures up a gripping finish". The Daily Telegraph (London).
  26. ↑ "Diane Abbott appointed Shadow Junior Minister for Public Health", Hackney Gazette, 11 October 2010. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
  27. ↑ Sarah Boseley, "Diane Abbott resigns from abortion counselling working group", The Guardian, 26 January 2012.
  28. ↑ "The Top 100 Most Influential People on the Left 2011: 25–51". The Daily Telegraph (London). 27 September 2011.
  29. ↑ "Diane Abbott axed as shadow health minister by Ed Miliband", BBC News, 8 October 2013.
  30. ↑ "Reshuffle Day 2 Rolling Live Blog". Guido Fawkes Blog. Retrieved 8 October 2013.
  31. ↑ Grice, Andrew (8 October 2013). "Diane Abbott attacks Labour's stance on immigration". The Independent (London). Retrieved 9 October 2013.
  32. ↑ "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 05 Feb 2013". Parliament.uk. 5 February 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
  33. ↑ Nicholas Cecil (23 June 2014). "'Diane Abbott is Labour supporters' top choice to run for London Mayor,' new poll reveals". Evening Standard. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  34. ↑ "Diane Abbott planning to run for Mayor of London". BBC News. 30 November 2014.
  35. ↑ Eaton, George (26 January 2015). "The Labour left demand a change of direction – why their intervention matters". New Statesman. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  36. ↑ "Who nominated who for the 2015 Labour leadership election?" New Statesman, 15 June 2015.
  37. ↑ "Shadow Cabinet: Who's In And Who's Out?". Sky News. 14 September 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  38. ↑ "Have I Got News For You with Jimmy Savile and Diane Abbott". Have I Got News For You. 1999-05-28. BBC. BBC 2.
  39. ↑ "BBC payments to MP Diane Abbott 'breached guidelines'". BBC News. 30 August 2012.
  40. ↑ "About Diane". Dianeabbott.org.uk. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  41. ↑ Abbott, Diane. "Diane Abbott – Comment is free". The Guardian (London).
  42. ↑ "Diary: Diane's appetite for losing". The Independent (London). 12 January 2011.
  43. ↑ "Two Programmes – Cash in the Celebrity Attic, Series 6, Diane Abbott". BBC. 13 January 2011. Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  44. ↑ "Grassroot Diplomat Who's Who". Grassroot Diplomat. 15 March 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2015.
  45. ↑ Barrow, Becky (3 November 2003). "Abbott 'told ex-husband to be quiet over school'". The Daily Telegraph (London). Retrieved 27 March 2010.
  46. ↑ "Abbott speaks out on school row". BBC News. 31 October 2003. Retrieved 1 November 2006.
  47. ↑ Rosen, Michael (December 2003). "Education: Dear Diane Abbott...". Socialist Review. Retrieved 1 November 2006.
  48. ↑ Diane Abbott (March 2004). "Education: Dear Michael Rosen...". Socialist Review. Retrieved 1 November 2006.
  49. ↑ "Abbot admits decision 'indefensible'". Thisislondon.co.uk. Retrieved 5 January 2012.http://www.standard.co.uk/news/abbot-admits-decision-indefensible-6959753.html
  50. ↑ "Abbott's son defends going private". BBC News. 28 October 2003.
  51. ↑ Lightfoot, Liz (29 October 2003). "Public school son of Labour MP denies 'hypocrisy'". The Telegraph (London). Retrieved 5 January 2012.
  52. ↑ "House of Commons Committee on Standards and Privileges – Conduct of Ms Diane Abbott Second Report of Session 2003–04" (PDF). Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  53. ↑ McSmith, Andy (19 November 2010). No Such Thing As Society. p. 97. ISBN 9781849010092.
  54. ↑ Ward, Lucy (16 March 1999). "The Guardian Profile: Diane Abbott". The Guardian (London).
  55. ↑ "Diane Abbott: Finland Responds", The Spectator (archive), 7 December 1996, p. 18.
  56. ↑ Ridge, Sophy. "MP Apologises After Tweet Sparks Race Row". Sky News. Retrieved 5 January 2012.http://news.sky.com/story/915384/mp-apologises-after-tweet-sparks-race-row
  57. ↑ "MP Diane Abbott 'sorry' over Twitter race comments". BBC News. 5 January 2011. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
  58. ↑ Ross, Tim; Holehouse, Matthew (January 5, 2012). "Diane Abbott forced to apologise in racism row after claiming 'White people love playing divide and rule’". The Daily Telegraph.
  59. ↑ "MP Diane Abbott 'sorry' over Twitter race comments". BBC News. 5 January 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  60. ↑ Bowater, Donna (9 January 2012). "Diane Abbott will not face police action over 'racist' tweet". The Daily Telegraph (London).
  61. ↑ Ross, Tim (6 January 2012). "Diane Abbott: taxi drivers refuse to pick up black passengers". The Telegraph (London). Retrieved 7 January 2012.
  62. ↑ "Jeremy Corbyn and Diane Abbott were lovers".
  63. ↑ "How Corbyn revealed Abbott was his lover".
  64. ↑ "Black History Month: Home".
  65. ↑ Riddell, Mary (16 June 2010). "Diane Abbott: 'It's very lonely being a single mother'". The Daily Telegraph (London).
  66. 1 2 "Play It Again". BBC. Retrieved 5 January 2012.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Diane Abbott.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Ernie Roberts		 Member of Parliament
for Hackney North and Stoke Newington
1987–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by
Gillian Merron		 Shadow Minister for Public Health
2010–2013 		Succeeded by
Luciana Berger
Preceded by
Emma Reynolds		 Shadow Secretary of State for International Development
2015–present 		Incumbent
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