Diane Abbott facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Diane Abbott
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Official portrait, 2017
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| Mother of the House | |
| Assumed office 5 July 2024 |
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| Speaker | Lindsay Hoyle |
| Preceded by | Harriet Harman (de-facto) |
| Shadow Home Secretary | |
| In office 6 October 2016 – 4 April 2020 |
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| Leader | Jeremy Corbyn |
| Preceded by | Andy Burnham |
| Succeeded by | Nick Thomas-Symonds |
| Shadow Secretary of State for Health | |
| In office 27 June 2016 – 6 October 2016 |
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| Leader | Jeremy Corbyn |
| Preceded by | Heidi Alexander |
| Succeeded by | Jonathan Ashworth |
| Shadow Secretary of State for International Development | |
| In office 13 September 2015 – 27 June 2016 |
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| Leader | Jeremy Corbyn |
| Preceded by | Mary Creagh |
| Succeeded by | Kate Osamor |
| Shadow Minister for Public Health | |
| In office 9 October 2010 – 8 October 2013 |
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| Leader | Ed Miliband |
| Preceded by | Anne Milton |
| Succeeded by | Luciana Berger |
| Member of Parliament for Hackney North and Stoke Newington |
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| Assumed office 11 June 1987 |
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| Preceded by | Ernie Roberts |
| Majority | 15,090 (36.9%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Diane Julie Abbott
27 September 1953 Paddington, London, England |
| Political party | Labour |
| Spouse |
David Ayensu-Thompson
(m. 1991; div. 1993) |
| Children | 1 |
| Education | Newnham College, Cambridge (BA) |
Diane Julie Abbott (born 27 September 1953) is a British Labour Party politician. She has been a Member of Parliament (MP) for Hackney North and Stoke Newington since 1987. This means she represents her local area in the UK Parliament.
Diane Abbott made history as the first black woman elected to Parliament. She is also the longest-serving black MP. From 2016 to 2020, she was the Shadow Home Secretary. This role means she was the main spokesperson for the Labour Party on home affairs.
She was born in Paddington, London, and her family came from Jamaica. She studied History at Newnham College, Cambridge. Before becoming an MP, she worked in the Civil Service and as a reporter for TV companies. She also worked as a press officer for the Greater London Council.
Diane Abbott joined the Labour Party and was elected to Westminster City Council in 1982. She became an MP in 1987 and has been re-elected in every general election since then. She has often spoken out on issues she believes in, even if they differ from her party's main ideas.
In 2010, she ran to become the leader of the Labour Party. She finished in last place, but the new leader, Ed Miliband, appointed her as a Shadow Minister for Health. Later, she supported Jeremy Corbyn when he became Labour leader in 2015. She then held important roles like Shadow Secretary of State for International Development, Shadow Secretary of State for Health, and Shadow Home Secretary.
In 2023, there was a discussion about comments she made in a letter. As a result, the Labour Party temporarily removed her from their main group of MPs. However, after an investigation, the party restored her membership in May 2024. She was then able to stand as a Labour candidate in the 2024 general election.
On 4 July 2024, Diane Abbott was re-elected as the MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington. She also gained the special title of Mother of the House. This title is given to the female MP who has served in Parliament continuously for the longest time.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Diane Abbott was born in Paddington, London, on 27 September 1953. Her parents were from Jamaica. Her father worked as a welder, and her mother was a nurse. Both her parents left school at 14.
She attended Harrow County School for Girls, which was a grammar school. After that, she went to Newnham College, Cambridge, where she studied history.
After university, Diane Abbott worked in different jobs. From 1976 to 1978, she was a trainee at the Home Office. She then worked as a Race Relations Officer for the National Council for Civil Liberties. She also worked as a researcher and reporter for Thames Television and TV-am. Later, she became a press officer for the Greater London Council and Lambeth Council.
Parliamentary Career
At the 1987 general election, Diane Abbott was elected as an MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington. She won with 48.7% of the votes. She was the first black woman ever to become an MP in the UK.
She has been a member of several parliamentary committees. These committees look into social and international issues. She also held shadow minister roles in the Labour Party's opposition team. For many years, she was on the Treasury Select Committee and the Foreign Affairs Select Committee.
Diane Abbott gave birth to her son in October 1991. This was before the House of Commons had a crèche (a childcare facility).
She has been re-elected as MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington many times. Her vote share and majority have changed over the years. For example, in 1997, she had a large majority of 15,627 votes. In 2017, her majority was even bigger, at 35,139 votes.
In 2008, Diane Abbott gave a speech about civil liberties. This speech won an award from The Spectator magazine for "Parliamentary Speech of the Year." She also received recognition at the Human Rights awards.
She leads two special groups in Parliament: the All-Party Parliamentary British-Caribbean Group and the All-Party Sickle Cell and Thalassemia Group. She also started the London Schools and the Black Child initiative. This project aims to help black children do better in school.
In 2012, a special event was held at Goldsmiths' College to celebrate her 25 years as an MP. Many people, including writers and artists, took part.
At the 2024 general election on 4 July, Diane Abbott was re-elected. She received 60% of the votes. On 9 July 2024, she gave her first speech as Mother of the House. She congratulated new MPs and spoke about the increase in female MPs. She noted that in 1987, there were only 40 female MPs, but now there are 264.
2010 Leadership Election
On 20 May 2010, Diane Abbott announced she wanted to become the leader of the Labour Party. She got enough support from other MPs to stand in the election. On 25 September 2010, Ed Miliband was chosen as the new leader. Diane Abbott was eliminated in the first round of voting.
After this, she became a spokesperson for Labour on health issues. In 2011, she voted for military intervention in Libya. In 2013, she voted in favour of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill, which allowed same-sex marriage.
Return to the Frontbench
On 8 October 2013, Diane Abbott was removed from her role as Shadow Public Health Minister. However, she remained an active MP.
She was a strong supporter of Jeremy Corbyn. She nominated him to be a candidate in the Labour leadership election of 2015. After he became leader, she was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for International Development.
In June 2016, many Labour ministers resigned after the Brexit referendum. Diane Abbott was then promoted to Shadow Health Secretary. In October 2016, she became Shadow Home Secretary. This is a very important role in the opposition.
She became a member of the Privy Council in February 2017. This is a group of senior advisors to the King.
2017 General Election Campaign
During the 2017 general election campaign, Diane Abbott had some difficult interviews. She struggled to give exact numbers about Labour's plans for police funding. She also had trouble recalling details from a report on protecting London from terror attacks.
It later became known that Diane Abbott had been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2015. She explained that during the election campaign, her diabetes was not under control. This made it hard for her to do many interviews in a row. After taking a break, her condition was brought back under control. She returned to her role as Shadow Home Secretary on 18 June 2017.
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Later Parliamentary Work
On 2 October 2019, Diane Abbott became the first black MP to speak from the dispatch box during Prime Minister's Questions. She was temporarily standing in for the Leader of the Opposition, Jeremy Corbyn.
In February 2020, she announced she would step down as Shadow Home Secretary. She left the frontbench on 5 April 2020. She was then appointed to the Home Affairs Select Committee. This committee examines the work of the Home Office.
In 2022, she was one of several Labour MPs who signed a statement about the conflict in Ukraine. They later removed their signatures after being asked to by the party.
April 2023: Whip Withdrawn and Restored
In April 2023, Diane Abbott wrote a letter to The Observer. Following this, the Labour Party temporarily removed her from their group of MPs. She later withdrew her comments and apologised. She said that racism takes many forms and that Jewish people, Irish people, and Travellers have suffered from its effects.
In September 2023, she said she felt she would not get a fair hearing from the Labour leadership. The Labour Party finished its investigation in December 2023. They gave her a "formal warning" and asked her to complete an online learning module. She completed this module in February 2024.
Some people, including the campaign group Momentum, criticised the Labour Party for not restoring her membership sooner.
Frank Hester Comments
In March 2024, it was reported that a businessman and Conservative Party donor, Frank Hester, had made offensive comments about Diane Abbott in 2019. He later apologised for his remarks. Diane Abbott described the comments as "frightening."
On 13 March 2024, Diane Abbott tried to speak during Prime Minister's Questions. She stood up many times but was not called upon by the Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle. She later criticised the Speaker for this.
Many Labour MPs supported Diane Abbott. Deputy Leader of the Labour Party Angela Rayner hoped her membership would be restored. On 28 May 2024, the Labour Party officially restored her membership.
The next day, Diane Abbott said she had been told she could not stand as a Labour candidate in the upcoming election. However, the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, later said she would be "free" to stand. On 2 June 2024, Diane Abbott confirmed she was the Labour candidate for Hackney North and Stoke Newington.
Media Work
Before becoming a shadow minister in 2010, Diane Abbott often appeared on the BBC's politics show This Week. She appeared alongside former Conservative politician Michael Portillo. They had known each other since school.
In 2012, the BBC ruled that payments to her for these appearances broke BBC rules. This was because MPs representing their parties should not be paid for such appearances. However, Diane Abbott had correctly declared the payments in her parliamentary records.
Diane Abbott is a frequent public speaker and writer for newspapers. She has also appeared on TV shows like Have I Got News for You and Celebrity Come Dine with Me.
In 2015, she was nominated for an award for her work on the London Schools and the Black Child initiative.
Political Views
Diane Abbott has sometimes voted differently from her party's main policies. She voted against the Iraq War. She also opposed ID cards and campaigned against renewing Britain's nuclear weapons.
European Union
Diane Abbott voted against the Treaty of Maastricht, which helped create the European Union.
In the 2016 EU referendum, she supported the campaign for the UK to remain in the European Union. After the vote, she said Labour would respect the result. She later voted in favour of the bill to trigger Article 50, which started the process of leaving the EU. She said she did this out of loyalty to her party and respect for democracy.
She did not support holding a second referendum on Brexit in 2017. However, she supported one after the 2019 European Parliament elections. She consistently voted against the final Brexit withdrawal agreement.
Israel and Palestine Conflict
During the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis, Diane Abbott spoke at a Free Palestine rally in London. She spoke against the Israeli occupation of Palestine.
Personal Life
Diane Abbott is a mother to one son. In 1991, she married David P. Ayensu-Thompson.
In 2007, she learned to play the piano for a BBC documentary called Play It Again. She performed a piece by Frédéric Chopin in front of an audience.
In 2015, she was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
In September 2020, an authorised book about Diane Abbott was published. It is called Diane Abbott: The Authorised Biography. In 2020, she was invited to be on the TV dance show Strictly Come Dancing. She said she refused the invitation. She wanted to continue her work speaking up for human rights, civil liberties, and women's rights.
In March 2024, after allegations of offensive remarks made against her, Diane Abbott said she felt "vulnerable" in her local area.
Awards and Recognition
- 2008: Diane Abbott won "Speech of the Year" at The Spectator/Threadneedle Parliamentarian Awards. This was for her speech on civil liberties.
- 2008: She was listed at number seven among the Top 10 Women on the annual Powerlist. This list features the 100 most influential people of African or African Caribbean heritage in the UK.
- 2010; 2011: She was also featured on the 2010 Powerlist and the 2011 Powerlist.
- 2012: An event called "A Jubilee of a Different Kind" celebrated her 25 years as an MP. It included discussions and performances.
- 2015: She was nominated for an award for her work on London Schools and the Black Child.
- 2017: She was named "Icon of the Year" at the first Viacom Diversity in Media Awards.
- 2018: The Voice newspaper listed her among eight Black women who have helped develop Britain.
- 2018: She was named on the Evening Standards list of 14 "Inspirational black British women throughout history."
- 2020: She was voted one of the "100 Great Black Britons."
- 2020: She received the Muhammed Aminul Haque Award for her work with underrepresented communities.
- 2022: She received the Weekly Gleaner newspaper's Platinum Award. This was for being an important figure in the black community for over 40 years.
- 2022: She was honoured on the first Diversity Power List. This list recognised 50 key figures who have helped make their fields more diverse.
- 2024: She gained the title "Mother of the House." This honour is given to the longest-serving female Member of Parliament.
