Diane Abbott

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Diane Abbott MP

Member of Parliament
for Hackney North and Stoke Newington
Incumbent
Assumed office 
11 June 1987
Preceded by Ernest Roberts
Majority 7,427 (25.3%)
Born 27 September 1953 (1953-09-27) (age 55)
Paddington, London, England
Nationality British
Political party Labour
Alma mater Newnham College, Cambridge

Diane Julie Abbott (born 27 September 1953 in Paddington, London, England) is a British Labour Party Member of Parliament, representing the Hackney North and Stoke Newington constituency. She was the first black woman to be elected to the House of Commons when she was elected in the 1987 General Election.[1] She remained the only black woman MP for ten years until she was joined in the Commons by Oona King in 1997. She has always been considered to the left of New Labour and is a member of the Socialist Campaign Group. In 2008, she was named one of the ten most powerful black women in Britain.[2]

Contents

[edit] 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 for Girls 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 later becoming Labour Cabinet Ministers.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Political career

Her career in politics began in 1982 when she was elected to Westminster City Council as one of the country's first black women Councillors, and ended her term on the council in 1986. In 1987 she was elected to the House of Commons, replacing the seventy five year old Ernest Roberts MP for Hackney North & Stoke Newington. She became one of just four ethnic minority Members of Parliament, the others being Paul Boateng, Bernie Grant and Keith Vaz. Once elected, Abbott attempted to establish a Black caucus within the Labour party along with Bernie Grant. However, she was the only person to attend the inaugural meeting. Abbott tried again in 1989 but the it soon failed as senior black MPs did not want to join, with some suggesting it was fundamentally racist to create a "party within a party".[3] Abbott is well known for campaigning on the issue of race, for example her first parliamentary speech covered what she saw as racism in British immigration policies.[4] However, some of her views on the subject have been controversial such as when she spoke at a black studies conference in Philadelphia and stated that Britain was one of the most fundamentally racist nations on earth, with The Times quoting her as saying that "The British invented racism".[3] Abbott also campaigns on issues of black children and education, organising the annual London Schools and the Black Child conference[1] and the London Schools and the Black Child Annual Awards[2] to promote positive images of young black people. Abbott also gave a widely acclaimed speech in defence of civil liberties, in the debate on 42 days detention (House of Commons 11 June 2008) as part of the Counter-Terrorism Bill 2008.[5] The speech was described by the following speaker in the debate, David Davies MP, as: "one of the finest speeches I have heard since being elected to the House of Commons".[6] The speech won The Spectator magazine's 'Parliamentary Speech of the Year' award,[7] with Abbott described by the editor of the Spectator, Matthew D'Ancona as: "a parliamentarian who, it was felt, had come into her own as an orator this year, speaking on a range of issues with fluency, passion and, above all, doughty independence"[8] These two tributes are perhaps all the more remarkable in coming from political opponents of Abbott. It was also this work, in campaigning against the 42-day detention, that earned Abbott the Special Judges award at Liberty's Human Rights Awards. Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, said: “In these dark times, where almost every day there is another mauling of the Human Rights Act, the dedication and hard work of these organisations and individuals is truly uplifting.” [9]

[edit] Media work

She is a pundit alongside the former Conservative politician and media personality Michael Portillo (who attended Harrow County School for Boys), on the BBC's weekly politics digest This Week. Abbott and Portillo have known each other since school, when they appeared in a joint school production of Romeo and Juliet (although not in the title roles), and Macbeth as Lady Macduff and Macduff respectively[10]. Despite their opposing politics, they work well together on the programme, which has been described by Jonathan Dimbleby as a "love in" between the two.[11]

[edit] Controversies

[edit] Stance on Private Education

Her decision to send her son to the private £10,000 a year City of London School, which she herself described as "indefensible" and "intellectually incoherent", caused controversy and was seen by many as hypocritical not least because she had previously criticised Tony Blair and Harriet Harman for sending their children to selective state schools.[12][13][14][15] Fellow Labour MP Brian Sedgemore condemned Abbott for the "hurt and harm she had caused to local people in Hackney" who didn't have the means to make a similar choice, suggesting that Abbott would "never be taken seriously again".[16]

[edit] Allegation of racism against white nurses

In 1996 Abbott was accused of racism when she suggested that "blonde, blue-eyed Finnish girls" in her local hospital in West London were unsuitable as nurses because they "may never have met a black person before". Conservative MP Ian Bruce stated that he had "never heard such racist rubbish from a Member of Parliament in recent years".[17] Moreover, Abbott was also accused of ignorance, as not all Finnish people have these features; it also later emerged that one of the Finnish nurses was in fact black, as was Lola Odusoga , Miss Finland at the time. Abbott apologised for her remarks.[18]

[edit] 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 £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 forced Abbott to apologise to the House.[19]

[edit] Article on Nigeria

Abbott was heavily criticised for an 9 April 2006 article[20] for the Jamaica Observer in which she compared her parents' home country of Jamaica to Nigeria, criticising multiple aspects and ills of Nigerian society in the process. As it circulated around the Internet, critical responses were written by Nigerian bloggers and journalists, particularly railing that her own constituency had a significant Nigerian minority. She responded, in particular, to one article written by Nigerian-British writer Uche Nworah.[21]


[edit] Abbott sends son to school in Ghana

Abbott has enrolled her son at the prestigious SOS-Hermann Gmainer International College in Ghana for International Baccalaureate (IB) diploma so he can “get in touch” with his African roots. Abbott travelled to Ghana to visit the Hermann Gmeiner International College at Tema — named after an Austrian philanthropist who set up SOS Children’s Villages for abandoned and orphaned children after the second world war. She pays £3,000 a year in tuition fees plus £2,400 for her son’s board. The school's campus adjoins the Ghanaian branch of the charity and her son will do 150 hours of “community service” helping its orphans as part of his two-year course.

[edit] Personal Life

Diane Abbott married in 1991 and divorced in 1993; she has one son from this relationship[22]. Abbott chose as her son's godfather Jonathan Aitken, who had been her boss at TV-am and subsequently her 'pair' in divisions in the house.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Desert Island Discs featuring Diane Abbott". Desert Island Discs (BBC, Radio 4). 2008-05-18. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/desertislanddiscs_20080518.shtml. 
  2. ^ "The 100 powerful black Britons who are changing the world". The Guardian. 5 October 2008. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/oct/05/britishidentity.race. Retrieved on 13 January 2009. 
  3. ^ a b "Diane Abbott: Biography". Answers.com. http://www.answers.com/topic/diane-abbott. Retrieved on 13 January 2009. 
  4. ^ Hansard 16 November 1987 col 815
  5. ^ Hansard 11 June 2008 col 379
  6. ^ "Diane Abbott's 42-days speech". The Guardian. 12 June 2008. http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/jun/12/terrorism.civilliberties. Retrieved on 13 January 2009. 
  7. ^ "Parliamentarian of the Year Awards Recipients 2008". The Spectator. 20 November 2008. http://www.spectator.co.uk/parliamentarian/3025281/parliamentarian-of-the-year-awards-recipients-2008.thtml. Retrieved on 13 January 2009. 
  8. ^ "Matthew d'Ancona's Parliamentarian awards speech". The Spectator. 13 November 2008. http://www.spectator.co.uk/parliamentarian/2636701/matthew-danconas-parliamentarian-awards-speech.thtml. Retrieved on 13 January 2009. 
  9. ^ "Liberty - Human Rights awards". Liberty. http://www.liberty-human-rights.org.uk/news-and-events/3-human-rights-awards/2008-awards.shtml. Retrieved on 10 April 2009. 
  10. ^ "Have I Got News For You with Jimmy Savile and Diane Abbott". Have I Got News For You (BBC, BBC 2). 1999-05-28. 
  11. ^ "Any Questions?". BBC Radio 4. 2005-09-23. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/news/anyquestions_transcripts_20050923.shtml. Retrieved on 2006-11-01. 
  12. ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1445761/Abbott-told-ex-husband-to-be-quiet-over-school.html
  13. ^ "Abbott speaks out on school row". BBC News. 2003-10-31. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3229453.stm. Retrieved on 2006-11-01. 
  14. ^ Michael Rosen (December 2003). "Education: Dear Diane Abbott...". Socialist Review. http://www.socialistreview.org.uk/article.php?articlenumber=8687. Retrieved on 2006-11-01. 
  15. ^ Diane Abbott (March 2004). "Education: Dear Michael Rosen...". Socialist Review. http://www.socialistreview.org.uk/article.php?articlenumber=8810. Retrieved on 2006-11-01. 
  16. ^ EPolitix.com - Blair dismisses Abbott row
  17. ^ The Independent - The blue-eyed blondes who don't belong (via BNET)
  18. ^ The Independent - Diane Abbott is sorry (For the record Miss Finland is also black) (via BNET)
  19. ^ House of Commons Committee on Standards and Privileges - Conduct of Ms Diane Abbott Second Report of Session 2003–04
  20. ^ "Think Jamaica is bad? Try Nigeria". Jamaica Observer. 2006-04-09. http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/html/20060408T160000-0500_102286_OBS_THINK_JAMAICA_IS_BAD__TRY_NIGERIA_.asp. Retrieved on 2007-02-06. 
  21. ^ "Is Dianne Abbott, MP, A Friend Of Nigeria?". Nigerians in America. 2006-04-04. http://www.nigeriansinamerica.com/articles/969/1/Is-Dianne-Abbott-MP-A-Friend-Of-Nigeria.html. Retrieved on 2007-02-06. 
  22. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/a/appiah-africana.html

[edit] External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Ernest Roberts		 Hackney North & Stoke Newington
1987 – present		 Incumbent
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diane_Abbott"
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