Diane Abbott

Abbott, Diane

Ms Diane Abbott MP is a member of parliament for the constituency of Hackney North and Stoke Newington, she is a member of the Labour Party and has been in office since 1987.

Biography

Diane was born in London in 1953. She attended the grammar school Harrow County and then went on to Newnham College Cambridge where she obtained a Masters degree in history.

When she left Cambridge University Diane joined Government as a Home Office Civil Servant. She went on to work for the lobby group the National Council for Civil Liberties, then she became a journalist. She worked extensively as a freelancer and she went on to work as a reporter for the breakfast television company TV-AM and Thames Television. She has also worked as a public relations consultant for various public sector clients.

Diane is founder of the London Schools and the Black Child initiative, which aims to raise educational achievement levels amongst Black children. She hosts an annual conference for educators, children and their parents and an annual academic awards ceremony.

In 2008 Diane was awarded the Spectator/Threadneedle Speech of the Year Award and a Human Rights Award from Liberty.

Political Career

Diane has served on a number of parliamentary committees on social and international issues. She was also elected on to the National Executive of the Labour Party. For most of the 1990's she also served on the Treasury Select Committee of the House of Commons. This is the committee which deals with business and finance matters. As a member of this committee Diane travelled frequently to Washington DC, New York, Frankfurt and other financial centres. She met with senior politicians, bankers and financial regulators internationally and she helped to author a series of official reports on issues such as Britain's entry into the Euro. She went on to serve on the Foreign Affairs Select Committee. As a member of that committee she travelled to Kenya, Uganda, China, Hong Kong and many countries in Europe. She took a particular interest in human rights. Most recently she has set up a special parliamentary committee investigating gun crime.

In May 2010 Diane was re-elected in her constituency of Hackney North and Stoke Newington, and doubled her majority on an increased turnout. In June 2010, she made the ballot for the Labour leadership contest and took part in the summer long campaign to elect the next Labour leader. Although her campaign did not yield the leadership position, she was nonetheless propelled to the front benches as shadow Public Health Minister.

Roles

• Shadow Minister (Public Health) (2010-13)
• Member of the Labour Party National Executive Committee (1994-97)
• Foreign Affairs: Entry Clearance Sub-Committee (1997-98)
• Foreign Affairs Committee (1997-01)
• Treasury Committee (1995-97)
• Treasury & Civil Service Sub-Committee (1989-95)
• Treasury & Civil Service (1989-95)

External Links and References

• www.parliament.uk - Diane Abbott MP
• Diane Abbott's Personal Website