NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Diane Abbott

Diane Julie Abbott (born September 27, 1953 in Paddington, London) is a British Labour Party Member of Parliament, representing the Hackney North and Stoke Newington constituency. She was the first black woman elected to the House of Commons when she was elected in the 1987 General Election. She remained the only black woman MP for ten years until she was joined in the Commons by Oona King in 1997. She is seen as being to the left of New Labour and is a member of the Socialist Campaign Group. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1017x1570, 1346 KB) Summary Diane Abbott speaking to a rally at the third European Social Forum. ... September 27 is the 270th day of the year (271st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... The Labour Party has been, since its founding in the early 20th century, the principal political party of the left in the United Kingdom. ... Hackney North and Stoke Newington is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... September 27 is the 270th day of the year (271st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... Paddington is an area in the west of London in the City of Westminster. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... The Labour Party has been, since its founding in the early 20th century, the principal political party of the left in the United Kingdom. ... A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative elected by the voters to a parliament. ... Hackney North and Stoke Newington is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... In the United Kingdom each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one or more members to a parliament or assembly. ... The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... Margaret Thatcher Neil Kinnock David Steel Election 1987 Titles The United Kingdom general election of 1987 was held on 11 June 1987 and was the third consecutive victory for the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher. ... Oona Tamsyn King (born October 22, 1967, in Sheffield) is an English politician. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... New Labour is an alternative name of the British political Labour Party. ... The Socialist Campaign Group is a left-wing grouping of Labour Party Members of Parliament in the United Kingdom. ...

Early life and career

Abbott was born to Jamaican immigrants, her father a welder and her mother a nurse. She went to Harrow County Grammar School and then to Newnham College, Cambridge where she read history. After university she became a fast-tracked civil servant (1976 to 1978), and then a "Race Relations Officer" at the National Council for Civil Liberties from 1978 to 1980. Amongst her colleagues at NCCL were Harriet Harman, Patricia Hewitt and Paul Boateng, all of whom went on to become Labour Party Members of Parliament. All except Abbott served as Cabinet Ministers in the post 1997 Labour Government. Harrow is the principal town in the London Borough of Harrow. ... Full name Newnham College Motto - Named after - Previous names Newnham Hall Established 1871 Sister College St Cross College Principal The Lady ONeill of Bengarve Location Sidgwick Avenue Undergraduates 396 Graduates 120 Homepage Boatclub A view of part of Newnham College. ... The University of Cambridge, located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world, with a reputation as one of the worlds most prestigious universities. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... Liberty is a pressure group based in the United Kingdom. ... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... Harriet Ruth Harman MP (born July 30, 1950, London) is a British Solicitor and Labour politician. ... Patricia Hope Hewitt M.P. (born 22 December 1948) British politician. ... The Rt Hon. ...

Journalism

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. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... TV-am was a breakfast television station that broadcast in the United Kingdom from 1983 to 1992. ... 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Arms of the Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. ... Ken Livingstone Kenneth Robert Livingstone (born June 17, 1945), is an English politician who has been the Mayor of London since the creation of the post in 2000. ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The London Borough of Lambeth is a London borough in inner southwest London. ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Political career

Her career in elected politics began in 1982 when she was elected to Westminster City Council, one of the first black women councillors. Five years later in 1987 she was elected to the House of Commons, replacing the 75 year old Ernest Roberts as MP for Hackney North & Stoke Newington. She has always been on the left of the party, and is a member of the Socialist Campaign Group. The City of Westminster is a London borough and a city in its own right, situated to the west of the City of London and north of the River Thames. ... The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... Ernest Alfred Cecil Roberts (20 April 1912 - 28 August 1994) was the Labour Party Member of Parliament between 1979 and 1987 for the inner London constituency of Hackney North & Stoke Newington. ... In politics, left-wing, the political left or simply the left are terms that refer to the segment of the political spectrum typically associated with any of several strains of, to varying extents, liberalism, socialism, green politics, anarchism, communism, social democracy, progressivism, American liberalism or social liberalism, and defined in... The Socialist Campaign Group is a left-wing grouping of Labour Party Members of Parliament in the United Kingdom. ...

Media work

She is a pundit alongside the Conservative politician and media personality Michael Portillo (who went to the same school in Harrow), on the BBC's weekly politics digest This Week. They have known each other for many years. At school she played Lady Macbeth to his Macbeth in a production of the Shakespeare play. Despite their opposing politics, they work well together on the programme, which has been described by Samuel Bates as a "love in" between the two.^[1] The Conservative Party (officially the Conservative & Unionist Party) is currently the second largest political party in the United Kingdom in terms of sitting Members of Parliament (MPs), and the largest in terms of public membership. ... Michael Denzil Xavier Portillo PC (born 26 May 1953) is an English journalist, broadcaster, and former Conservative politician. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, usually known as the BBC (and also informally known as the Beeb or Auntie) is one of the largest broadcasting corporations in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the UK alone and with a budget of more than Â£4 billion. ... This Week is a current affairs and politics TV programme on the BBC, screened on Thursday evenings, hosted by Andrew Neil alongside former Conservative MP Michael Portillo, and Labour MP Diane Abbott. ... Lady Macbeth by George Cattermole Lady Macbeth is a character in Shakespeares play Macbeth. ... Scene from Macbeth, depicting the witches conjuring of an apparition in Act IV, Scene I. Painting by William Rimmer The Tragedy of Macbeth is among the most famous of William Shakespeares plays, as well as his shortest tragedy. ... Shakespeare redirects here. ...

Private life

Diane Abbott married in 1991 and divorced in 1993; she has one son by that marriage. Abbott chose as her son's godfather Steve Bassam, which she later came to regret. Her decision to send her son to the private City of London School, which she herself described as "tha bomb", caused controversy and was seen by many as hypocritical..^[2] ^[3] ^[4] 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1993 (MCMXCIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar and marked the Beginning of the International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination (1993-2003). ... The present red-brick City of London School beside the River Thames. ...

See also

Sir Charles Reed MP Sir Charles Reed FSA (1819â€“1881) was a British politician who served as Member of Parliament for Hackney and St Ives), Chairman of the London School Board, Director and Trustee of the original Abney Park Cemetery Company, Chairman of the Bunhill Fields Preservation Committee, associate of...

References

2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... November 1 is the 305th day of the year (306th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 60 days remaining. ... 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... November 1 is the 305th day of the year (306th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 60 days remaining. ... The Socialist Review is the monthly magazine of the Socialist Workers Party (UK). ... 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... November 1 is the 305th day of the year (306th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 60 days remaining. ... 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... November 1 is the 305th day of the year (306th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 60 days remaining. ...

External links

Categories: Current British MPs | Members of the United Kingdom Parliament from English constituencies | British female MPs | Labour MPs (UK) | Hackney | Councillors in Greater London | People from Paddington | Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge | People of Jamaican heritage | Political pundits | 1953 births | Living people | UK MPs 1987-1992 | UK MPs 1992-1997 | UK MPs 1997-2001 | UK MPs 2001-2005 | UK MPs 2005- The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about actors, films, television shows, television stars, video games and production crew personnel. ... The Houses of Parliament, seen over Westminster Bridge The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories. ... Ernest Alfred Cecil Roberts (20 April 1912 - 28 August 1994) was the Labour Party Member of Parliament between 1979 and 1987 for the inner London constituency of Hackney North & Stoke Newington. ... ... Margaret Thatcher Neil Kinnock David Steel Election 1987 Titles The United Kingdom general election of 1987 was held on 11 June 1987 and was the third consecutive victory for the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher. ...

Contents

Early life and career GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");