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===2010 general election===
===2010 general election===
Berger is a so called "parachuted" candidate<ref>http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/crash-landing-for-labour-candidate-parachuted-into-liverpool-1951962.html</ref>, this is a growing issue in the Labour party where middle class candidates sent to safe working class constituency with which they have no connection<ref>Posh and Posher: Why public school boys run Britain, Andrew Neil, BBC Television 2011</ref>.

Berger's selection was controversial within the local party. Frank Hont, the regional secretary of the regional branch of the union [[UNISON]] lodged protests about the selection process. Berger lived during the selection process for about a month at the home of [[Jane Kennedy (politician)|Jane Kennedy]], then the sitting MP, whose boyfriend was the Labour official, Peter Dowling, who ran the selection process. The completed ballot papers were returned to Kennedy's home address.<ref name="dailymail.co.uk"/> Kennedy insisted that she and Dowling acted properly. Nearby MP, [[Peter Kilfoyle]], claimed that there had been a deliberate operation by Blairites to get Berger selected. Unison instead supported Liverpool city councillor Wendy Simon for selection to be Labour's candidate.<ref>{{cite web |author=David Bartlett |url=http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2010/02/02/top-union-official-waiting-for-answers-about-selection-of-luciana-berger-for-the-liverpool-wavertree-seat-100252-25740583/ |title=Top union official waiting for answers about selection of Luciana Berger for the Liverpool Wavertree seat |work=Liverpool Echo |accessdate=30 June 2010}}</ref> Berger was selected as Labour candidate for Liverpool Wavertree by 94 votes, defeating her nearest rival Wendy Simon who got 50 votes.
Berger's selection was controversial within the local party. Frank Hont, the regional secretary of the regional branch of the union [[UNISON]] lodged protests about the selection process. Berger lived during the selection process for about a month at the home of [[Jane Kennedy (politician)|Jane Kennedy]], then the sitting MP, whose boyfriend was the Labour official, Peter Dowling, who ran the selection process. The completed ballot papers were returned to Kennedy's home address.<ref name="dailymail.co.uk"/> Kennedy insisted that she and Dowling acted properly. Nearby MP, [[Peter Kilfoyle]], claimed that there had been a deliberate operation by Blairites to get Berger selected. Unison instead supported Liverpool city councillor Wendy Simon for selection to be Labour's candidate.<ref>{{cite web |author=David Bartlett |url=http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2010/02/02/top-union-official-waiting-for-answers-about-selection-of-luciana-berger-for-the-liverpool-wavertree-seat-100252-25740583/ |title=Top union official waiting for answers about selection of Luciana Berger for the Liverpool Wavertree seat |work=Liverpool Echo |accessdate=30 June 2010}}</ref> Berger was selected as Labour candidate for Liverpool Wavertree by 94 votes, defeating her nearest rival Wendy Simon who got 50 votes.


Revision as of 23:58, 27 January 2013

Luciana Berger MP
Member of Parliament
for Liverpool Wavertree
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded byJane Kennedy
Majority7,167 (18.9%)
Personal details
Born (1981-05-13) 13 May 1981 (age 43)
Wembley, London, England
Political partyLabour Co-operative
Alma materUniversity of Birmingham, Birkbeck

Luciana Clare Berger[1] (born 13 May 1981[2]) is a British Labour Co-operative[3] politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Liverpool Wavertree since 2010.[4] She is a Shadow Minister for Climate Change.

She is the great niece of the Labour MP, Manny Shinwell.[5]

Education

Born in Wembley,[6] Berger was educated at Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls, a private school in Elstree, Hertfordshire,[7] followed by the University of Birmingham, where she obtained a degree in Commerce and Spanish and spent a year studying in ICADE in Madrid,[8] and Birkbeck College at the University of London,[9] where she took a part-time Masters degree in Government, Politics and Policy.[7]

Student politics

Berger was a National Executive Committee member of the National Union of Students. She co-convened the NUS Anti-Racism / Anti-Fascism Campaign. In April 2005, she resigned from the Executive Committee, accusing other NEC members of anti-Semitism.[10] An independent inquiry later cleared the NUS of failing to tackle anti-Semitism, but criticised it for not having rigorous complaints procedures in place and reacting too slowly to allegations. The report was also critical of Berger, who attended a meeting with the head of the School of Oriental and African Studies following complaints from Jewish students that the union was tolerating anti-Semitism. It stated that "Miss Berger should not have attended the meeting, which was implicitly critical of the union, when she was a national executive member. Protocol dictates she should have sought to support the union in tackling the problem first". [11]

Career

Berger was director of Labour Friends of Israel.[12] Berger worked in public affairs for the management consultancy Accenture before moving to the public sector where she joined the NHS Confederation as their government and parliamentary affairs manager.[13]

She was a committee member of the London Jewish Forum, an organisation dedicated to the promotion of Jewish life in London but resigned when she was elected in 2010. [14]

2010 general election

Berger is a so called "parachuted" candidate[15], this is a growing issue in the Labour party where middle class candidates sent to safe working class constituency with which they have no connection[16].

Berger's selection was controversial within the local party. Frank Hont, the regional secretary of the regional branch of the union UNISON lodged protests about the selection process. Berger lived during the selection process for about a month at the home of Jane Kennedy, then the sitting MP, whose boyfriend was the Labour official, Peter Dowling, who ran the selection process. The completed ballot papers were returned to Kennedy's home address.[2] Kennedy insisted that she and Dowling acted properly. Nearby MP, Peter Kilfoyle, claimed that there had been a deliberate operation by Blairites to get Berger selected. Unison instead supported Liverpool city councillor Wendy Simon for selection to be Labour's candidate.[17] Berger was selected as Labour candidate for Liverpool Wavertree by 94 votes, defeating her nearest rival Wendy Simon who got 50 votes.

A further source of controversy was Labour National Executive Committee's imposition of an all-women shortlist on the local party, against the wishes of many.[18][19][20] Berger also criticised the process after her victory, stating "I would like to have won in an open contest. People have already said I didn't deserve to win."[21]

During the run-up to the General Election, in January 2010, the Liverpool Echo tested Berger with a four-question quiz on Liverpool life and history. She scored two out of four, not knowing who performed Ferry Cross the Mersey and not recognising the name of former Liverpool F.C. manager, Bill Shankly.[22] In her defence, Berger said, "You can't ask a girl a football question" and added "I'm not new to the city. I've been coming here for the past decade through all different jobs."[22]

Having secured the nomination for Wavertree Berger campaigned on pledges to work closely with local business, tackle anti-social behaviour, maintain public services and to reduce the number of derelict houses in the constituency by ensuring the Council use tough laws fast to deal with absent landlords.[23] This was despite the vast majority of derelict housing (900) within Wavertree being as a result of the Labour Government's Pathfinder project, as found by an Evaluation performed by John Moores University,.[24] She also signed a pledge to vote against any rises in university tuition fees and to put pressure on the next government to introduce an alternative to variable tuition fees[25]

On 6 May 2010, Berger was elected at the UK General Election with 53.1% of the vote.[26]

Parliamentary career

Berger was elected to the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee, but left the role when approximately five months after first joining Parliament she was appointed a junior shadow minister for Energy and Climate Change.

According to the Liverpool Echo, on 31 October 2010, Berger "sparked outrage online" after appearing in a Radio Five Live show, which also featured former editor of The Sun, Kelvin MacKenzie.[27] MacKenzie was editor at the time of the Hillsborough disaster, and the paper's coverage of the story led to a widespread boycott of the paper on Merseyside that lasts to this day, and vilification of MacKenzie. The Echo wrote that Berger responded to the criticism on her Twitter feed, writing, "Was there for the MP bit with Amber Rudd, wasn't told before who the other guests were."[27]

At Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday 27 October 2010, Berger asked about the Government’s decision to go back on its commitment to introduce tax relief for the video games industry, which employs 600 people in Wavertree.[28]

On 9 December 2010, she voted against rises in university tuition fees.[29]

In March 2011, Berger asked the Secretary of State for Defence how many items over the value of £100 had been taken without authorisation from Ministry of Defence sites. It was later revealed that the total cost of items stolen during 2010 amounted to £700,000 — “enough to launch a small coup”, according to the Labour MP.[30]

Berger is a user of Twitter[31] and spoke in support of allowing MPs to tweet in the House of Commons during a debate on 13 October 2011.[32]

Shadow Minister for Climate Change

As Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Berger, has been critical of the Government's actions on the environmental agenda, particularly focusing on the Green Investment Bank and the Green Deal, writing in the environment section of The Guardian about the need for a pro-environmental-business agenda.[33] In the run up to the 2011 Budget, Berger also contributed an article to the Labour blog Left Foot Forward challenging the Chancellor of the Exchequer to meet "three Climate Change tests" in order for the Government to reach the Prime Minister's aim of being the "Greenest Government ever"[34]

In June 2011, Berger secured an amendment to the Energy Bill, the Green Deal apprenticeship programme.[35] The amendment states that The Secretary of State will report to parliament on proposals for an apprenticeships scheme within the Green Deal.[36]

"Save BBC Radio Merseyside" campaign

In response to proposals by the BBC[37] to consider reducing locally produced content on their local radio network to cover only the breakfast and drivetime periods and syndicating Five Live during the daytime, Berger launched a campaign to Save BBC Radio Merseyside.[38]

Berger also signed Early Day Motion 1640[39] in Parliament to raise awareness of the topic, which was co-sponsored by other Merseyside MPs Louise Ellman, Bill Esterson, George Howarth, Steve Rotheram and Stephen Twigg.

Sexy MP

She was rated the sexiest female MP, by an online poll in 2011[40] [41].

Personal life

Berger has previously been reported to have had a relationship with Siôn Simon, Labour MP for Birmingham Erdington until 2010. [42]

In January 2013 Liverpool Magistrates' Court heard that Berger had been upset by comments from Liverpool music promoter Phil Hayes in an incident in November 2012 in which Hayes said he hated Jewish people. The BBC reported that Hayes "referred to the prime minister of Israel as 'your prime minister', to which [Berger] said, 'David Cameron is my prime minister'." Hayes pleaded guilty to a racially-aggravated public order offence and was fined £120.[43]

References

  1. ^ Search Results
  2. ^ a b Carlin, Brendan (31 January 2010). "Labour at war as Blair son's glamorous friend is chosen for safe seat". Daily Mail. London.
  3. ^ http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm100727/debtext/100727-0001.htm#10072741000844. Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Commons. July 27, 2010. col. 855–856. {{cite book}}: |chapter-url= missing title (help)
  4. ^ "List of Labour MPs". labour.org.uk. 27 February 2010. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
  5. ^ http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm100602/debtext/100602-0016.htm#10060235000141
  6. ^ Who's Who
  7. ^ a b Melissa Kite "Labour should have fought back on immigration, says Euan Blair's girlfriend", Daily Telegraph, 17 April 2005
  8. ^ Berger, Luciana (15 April 2005). "Why I had to resign". The Guardian. London.
  9. ^ "Our students: Luciana Berger". Birbeck, University of London. Retrieved 17 January 2011.
  10. ^ Berger, Luciana (15 April 2005). "Why I had to resign". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
  11. ^ Curtis, Polly (20 September 2005). "NUS cleared of anti-semitism claims". Guardian. London. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
  12. ^ "Independent columnist slammed by LFI". The Jewish Chronicle. 14 October 2009. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
  13. ^ "Minor disagreements in Wavertree, or Berger? My arse". Mtpt.wordpress.com. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
  14. ^ "Westminster Parliamentary Record". Westminster Parliamentary Research.
  15. ^ http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/crash-landing-for-labour-candidate-parachuted-into-liverpool-1951962.html
  16. ^ Posh and Posher: Why public school boys run Britain, Andrew Neil, BBC Television 2011
  17. ^ David Bartlett. "Top union official waiting for answers about selection of Luciana Berger for the Liverpool Wavertree seat". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
  18. ^ Rotheram is the right man for Walton says Kilfoyle. - Free Online Library
  19. ^ "Crash landing for Labour candidate parachuted into Liverpool - UK Politics, UK - The Independent". The Independent. London. 23 April 2010.
  20. ^ All women shortlist for Wavertree, open list for Sefton Central - Liverpool Daily Post - Dale Street Blues
  21. ^ Labour Luciana Berger features in Grazia magazine - Liverpool Daily Post - Dale Street Blues
  22. ^ a b "Luciana Berger takes Liverpool test". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 30 June 2010.
  23. ^ Real-time election leaflet monitoring | ElectionLeaflets.org
  24. ^ http://www.ljmu.ac.uk/EIUA/EIUA_Docs/Kensington_Regeneration_Final_Report.pdf
  25. ^ My pledge to voters on student fees | Luciana Berger
  26. ^ "General Election 2010 results". BBC Website. BBC.
  27. ^ a b "Luciana Berger sparks outrage by sharing a panel with Kelvin MacKenzie". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 1 November 2010.
  28. ^ David Cameron’s “difficult decision” to let Liverpool down | Luciana Berger
  29. ^ University Tuition Fee Cap — Raise Upper Limit to £9,000 Per Year — 9 Dec 2010 at 17:12 — The Public Whip
  30. ^ Hopkins, Nick (10 April 2011). "Stolen MoD equipment enough for small coup, says MP". The Guardian. London.
  31. ^ "Twitter and tweeting ban for MPs in House of Commons?". BBC News. 13 October 2011.
  32. ^ http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm111013/debtext/111013-0002.htm#11101351001790
  33. ^ Luciana, Berger (11 March 2011). "The government is sabotaging British attempts to forge a green economy". Environment Guardian Website. London. Retrieved 11 March 2011.
  34. ^ "Budget 2011: Three key climate change tests". Left Foot Forward.
  35. ^ http://www.politicshome.com/uk/story/17678/
  36. ^ "New Clause 10 - Green Deal".
  37. ^ Laughran, Cathy. "Local radio programme sharing 'just an idea', BBC says". ariel. Retrieved 11 March 2011.
  38. ^ Berger. "Save BBC Radio Merseyside". Luciana Berger website.
  39. ^ "BBC Radio Merseyside EDM". Parliament Website.
  40. ^ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1392568/Whos-sexiest-MP-Voters-rank-politicians-order-theyd-like-sleep-with.html
  41. ^ http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/politics/3822521/Labours-duo-win-br-sexy-MP-election.html
  42. ^ Swaine, Jon (3 February 2010). "MPs' expenses: Sion Simon to stand down as MP for Birmingham Erdington". The Daily Telegraph. London.
  43. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-20962123

External links

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