Lisa Eva Nandy (born 9 August 1979) is a British Labour Party politician who was appointed Shadow Cabinet Minister for International Development in 2023.[1] As of 2024 she has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wigan since 2010. Nandy previously served as Shadow Foreign Secretary, Shadow Levelling Up Secretary and Shadow Energy Secretary.
Nandy was born in Manchester and educated at Parrs Wood High School and Holy Cross College before studying politics at Newcastle University and public policy at Birkbeck, University of London. She then worked as an aide to Walthamstow MP Neil Gerrard, a researcher for homelessness charity Centrepoint and as a senior policy adviser at The Children's Society. She also served as a Labour councillor for the Hammersmith Broadway ward on Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council.
Nandy was Parliamentary Private Secretary to Tessa Jowell from 2010 to 2012, Shadow Minister for Children from 2012 to 2013, and Shadow Minister for Charities and Civil Society from 2012 to 2015, with responsibility for Labour Policy on the voluntary sector. She served as Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change from 2015, shadowing Amber Rudd, until she resigned in 2016 to co-chair Owen Smith's leadership challenge to Jeremy Corbyn.
After a further four years as a backbench MP, Nandy stood as a candidate in the 2020 Labour Party leadership election, coming in third place with 16.3% of the vote, behind Keir Starmer and Rebecca Long-Bailey. Starmer subsequently appointed Nandy as Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in April 2020. Following a reshuffle in November 2021, Nandy was appointed as Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
Early life and career
Lisa Eva Nandy was born in Manchester on 9 August 1979,[2] the daughter of Luise (née Byers) and Dipak Nandy.[3][4][5] Her maternal grandfather Frank Byers was a Liberal MP who later became a life peer.[6] Nandy grew up in both Manchester and Bury.[7]
She was educated at Parrs Wood High School, a co-educational comprehensive school in East Didsbury in Manchester, followed by Holy Cross College in Bury.[8][9] She studied politics at Newcastle University, graduating in 2001, and obtained a master's degree in public policy from Birkbeck, University of London.[9]
She worked as a researcher and caseworker for the Walthamstow Labour MP Neil Gerrard.[10] After that, Nandy worked as a researcher at the homelessness charity Centrepoint from 2003 to 2005, and then as senior policy adviser at The Children's Society from 2005 until her election in 2010, where she specialised in issues facing young refugees, also acting as adviser to the Children's Commissioner for England and to the Independent Asylum Commission.[3][11][12][13] She served as a Labour councillor for the Hammersmith Broadway ward on Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council from 2006 to 2010.[9] As a councillor, she served as shadow cabinet member for housing.[7]
Parliamentary career
Nandy was selected as the Labour parliamentary candidate for Wigan in February 2010 from an all-women shortlist.[14] Elected to parliament on 7 May 2010, she became the constituency's first female MP and one of the first Asian female MPs.[15][16][17] Nandy was elected with a majority of 10,487, receiving 48.5% of the vote.[18]
She was appointed to the Education Select Committee in July 2010 and was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to Tessa Jowell, the Shadow Olympics Minister, in October 2010.[19][20] In 2012, she succeeded Catherine McKinnell as Shadow Children and Young Families Minister.[21][22] In October 2013, she was appointed shadow charities minister.[23]
Nandy was re-elected as the MP for Wigan at the 2015 general election with an increased majority of 14,236, and increased her share of the vote to 52.2%.[24] Following Labour's general election defeat and Ed Miliband's subsequent resignation as party leader, there was some speculation in the media that Nandy would stand in the leadership election.[25] Nandy declined and endorsed Andy Burnham.[26] In August 2015, Owen Jones said that he encouraged Nandy to run for the leadership, but the recent birth of her son prevented it.[27][28]
In September 2015, it was announced that Nandy had been appointed to serve as Shadow Energy Secretary in the Shadow Cabinet.[29] Along with many colleagues, she resigned from her post in June 2016.[30] In the wake of these resignations, Nandy was approached by Labour MPs who wanted her to stand against Jeremy Corbyn in a leadership election. MPs felt that Nandy and eventual candidate Owen Smith were soft Left politicians who could win the leadership. Nandy declined to stand and instead served as co-chair of Smith's campaign team.[31]
After the election resulted in Corbyn's re-election, Nandy announced that she did not intend to return to the frontbench without the re-introduction of Shadow Cabinet elections, which had been abolished by Ed Miliband in 2011 (the last election being held in 2010). She also spoke of the abuse she had received for not supporting Corbyn, which she described as leaving her "genuinely frightened". She compared her treatment to that which she had received at the hands of the far-right when she first campaigned to become MP for Wigan in 2010.[32]
In 2017, Nandy was mentioned in The Guardian and The Telegraph as someone from the left wing of the party who could replace Jeremy Corbyn as leader before the 2017 general election,[33][34] At the 2017 general election, Nandy was re-elected as the MP for Wigan with an increased majority of 16,027, and an increased vote share of 62.2%[35]
In 2018, Nandy set up the Centre for Towns, with data analytics expert Ian Warren. The Centre for Towns billed itself as an "independent non-partisan organisation dedicated to providing research and analysis of our towns".[36] At the end of 2018 Nandy became the chair of Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East.[37]
At the 2019 general election, Nandy was re-elected as the MP for Wigan, this time with a decreased majority of 6,728 and a decreased vote share of 46.7%.[38]
On 4 September 2023 she was appointed Shadow International Development minister by Keir Starmer.[39]
2020 leadership election
In January 2020, Nandy wrote a letter to the Wigan Post[40] outlining her intention to stand to succeed Jeremy Corbyn in the 2020 leadership election, saying that she wanted to "bring Labour home" to its traditional strongholds.[41][42]
On 16 January 2020, during the Labour leadership election, Nandy said that demands for Scottish independence could be overcome with a "social justice agenda", saying that there were times in the past when that had quelled nationalist movements in Catalonia and Quebec. She was criticised by several Scottish National Party politicians, who pointed to police violence and the jailing of politicians during the 2017 Catalan independence referendum to refute her point. In a blog post, Nandy said that police violence in Catalonia was unjustified, and that socialists opposed to separatism "may yet win out".[43][44][45][46]
On 21 January 2020, Lisa Nandy was endorsed by the GMB union, which praised her "ambition, optimism, and decisive leadership".[47] In February, she won the endorsement of the Jewish Labour Movement, receiving the backing of 51% of JLM members.[48] Nandy came third in the contest, receiving 79,597 votes (16.2% of the vote share).[49]
Shadow Foreign Secretary
On 5 April 2020, Nandy was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs in the new Shadow Cabinet led by Keir Starmer.[50]
In March 2021, Nandy made her first foreign policy speech at Chatham House. Nandy said her priorities would include national security, Russian aggression and climate change.[51]
Shadow Levelling Up Secretary
On 29 November 2021, Nandy was moved to the newly created position of Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. Her move was described as a promotion.[52] She was critical of the Levelling Up White Paper.[53]
Shadow International Development Cabinet Minister
Following a reshuffle on 4 September 2023, Nandy was appointed the Shadow Cabinet Minister for International Development, replacing Preet Gill.[54][55] Her move to the position was widely reported as a demotion.[56][57][58][59] Nonetheless, Nandy was ranked twenty-second on the New Statesman's Left Power List, described as having retained extensive influence over the party's 'soft left'. [60]
Political positions
Politico has stated that she is on the "centre left" of the Labour party, and is a "clear break from Corbynism".[61] The Conservative MP Paul Bristow has said that Nandy is "refreshingly untribal".[62] Nandy's fellow Labour Party MP Jon Cruddas has stated that Nandy is on the "authentic soft left" of the party.[63]
She has supported Labour's position as an internationalist party,[64] supported remaining in the EU, and supported a "soft" Brexit in opposition to a second Brexit referendum.[65]
On the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Nandy supports a two-state solution and opposes the "Trump peace plan" and Israeli occupation of the West Bank.[66] She supports the Palestinian right of return, while also opposing the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and supporting the right of the Jewish people to self-determination.[65][67]
Nandy supports "ethical interventionism" and states that although she supports working towards peace, she is "not a pacifist". She has also cited Robin Cook's speech in 1997 on "ethical foreign policy" as an influence on her beliefs, and the UK intervention in Sierra Leone in 2000 as an example of ethical interventionism. She voted against UK airstrikes in Syria in 2015, opposed UK arms exports to Saudi Arabia, the assassination of Qasem Soleimani and the Iraq War.[63][65]
She criticised China's record on human rights and called for sanctions on Chinese officials.[68] She criticised Russia's record on human rights and the Salisbury poisoning and also former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's positions on Russia for standing "with the Russian government, and not with the people it oppresses".[65][69]
In 2019, the International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled that the United Kingdom must transfer the Chagos Archipelago to Mauritius as they were not legally separated from the latter in 1965.[70] Nandy, in a letter to UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the UK position "is damaging to Britain's reputation, undermines your credibility and moral authority and sets a damaging precedent that others may seize upon to undermine UK national interests, and those of our allies, in other contexts or maritime disputes".[71]
On the issue of the Trump presidency, Nandy has said that the UK should "engage" with Donald Trump, to "have the argument" with him.[72] She has also stated that she would oppose signing a trade deal with the US unless it ratifies the Paris Agreement, which the US withdrew from under Trump's presidency.[65]
Personal life
Nandy's partner, Andy Collis, is a public relations consultant. She has a son, born in April 2015 at Wigan Infirmary Hospital.[73][74]
She is a member of the Unite Union.[10]
Selected works
- Nandy, Lisa (2005). "The impact of government policy on asylum-seeking and refugee children". Children & Society. Wiley. 19 (5): 410–413. doi:10.1002/chi.896. ISSN 0951-0605.
- Nandy, Lisa (2012). "What would a socially just education system look like?". Journal of Education Policy. Taylor & Francis. 27 (5): 677–680. doi:10.1080/02680939.2012.710021. ISSN 0268-0939. S2CID 145376654.
- Nandy, Lisa; Lucas, Caroline; Bowers, Chris, eds. (2016). The Alternative: Towards a New Progressive Politics. London: Biteback Publishing. ISBN 978-1-78590-112-6. OCLC 968649949.
- Nandy, Lisa (2016). "Wigan". In Hunt, Tristram (ed.). Labour's Identity Crisis: England and the Politics of Patriotism (PDF). Winchester University Press. pp. 67–70. ISBN 978-1906113209. OCLC 952674828.
- Nandy, Lisa (2019). "Bridging the Brexit divide". IPPR Progressive Review. Wiley. 26 (3): 238–242. doi:10.1111/newe.12168. ISSN 2573-2323. S2CID 213834448.
- Nandy, Lisa (8 January 2020). "Back to the Future: The Pulling Apart of our Towns and Cities". The Political Quarterly. Wiley. 91 (2): 324–333. doi:10.1111/1467-923x.12792. ISSN 0032-3179. S2CID 213842724.
Notes
- ↑ Brief previously covered by Reed as Shadow Communities and Local Government Secretary and Lucy Powell as Shadow Housing Secretary.
- ↑ As Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs.
References
- ↑ "Politics latest: Labour reshuffle under way; Sunak's in-tray of problems stacks up; Williamson 'to get training'". Sky News. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
- ↑ "Statement of Persons Nominated and Notice of Poll" (PDF). Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council. 20 April 2010. p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 March 2012. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
- 1 2 "Election 2010: Lisa Nandy (Lab)". Manchester Evening News. 18 January 2013. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
- ↑ Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage. Kelly's Directories. 2000. p. 255. ISBN 978-0-333-54577-5.
- ↑ Ali, Arif (1988). Third World impact (8 ed.). Hansib Pub. p. 39. ISBN 978-1-870518-04-8.
- ↑ "Keeping it in the Family". Scribd. Archived from the original on 23 February 2014.
- 1 2 "Lisa Nandy (Lab)". Manchester Evening News. 28 April 2010. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
- ↑ "About us > Alumni". Parrs Wood High School. Archived from the original on 18 January 2017. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
- 1 2 3 "Nandy, Lisa Eva, (born 9 Aug. 1979), MP (Lab) Wigan, since 2010 | WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO". www.ukwhoswho.com. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U251160. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
- 1 2 "Lisa Nandy". HuffPost UK. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
- ↑ "Lisa Nandy". Refugee and Migrant Justice. 22 October 2009. Archived from the original on 21 June 2010. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
- ↑ "Policy Area – Young Refugees". The Children's Society. Archived from the original on 10 May 2010. Retrieved 17 June 2010.
- ↑ Begum, Shelina (8 March 2017). "100 inspirational women from Greater Manchester". men. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
- ↑ Smith, Mark (4 February 2010). "The Northerner: 'I bet she had to ask for directions to Wigan'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
- ↑ "Election 2010: Constituency: Wigan". BBC News. BBC. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
- ↑ "Lisa Nandy: 'I am proud to be first female MP for Wigan'". Wigan Today. 7 May 2010. Archived from the original on 13 May 2010. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
- ↑ "Asian women to make Westminster breakthrough". 31 March 2010. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wigan_(UK_Parliament_constituency)#Elections_in_the_2000s
- ↑ "Education Committee – membership". UK Parliament Website. Archived from the original on 2 July 2013. Retrieved 10 February 2011.
- ↑ "Wigan MP Lisa Nandy Promoted to Olympic Role in Labour's Shadow Team". Lisa Nandy: Labour MP for Wigan. 13 October 2010. Archived from the original on 29 November 2010. Retrieved 10 February 2011.
- ↑ "HuffPost is now a part of Verizon Media". consent.yahoo.com. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
- ↑ "Shadow Minister for Children & Young Families Backs Call for Action on Child Protection". Lisa Nandy MP. 4 July 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
- ↑ Ainsworth, David (9 October 2013). "Lisa Nandy is appointed shadow charities minister in Labour reshuffle". Third Sector. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wigan_(UK_Parliament_constituency)#Elections_in_the_2010s
- ↑ Hardman, Isabel (8 May 2015). "Labour leadership campaign: who might have a pop?". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 10 May 2015.
- ↑ "List of MPs' endorsements of the Labour leadership candidates". New Statesman. 22 May 2015. Archived from the original on 23 May 2015. Retrieved 23 May 2015.
- ↑ Jones, Owen (29 August 2015). "My honest thoughts on the Corbyn campaign—and overcoming formidable obstacles". Medium. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015.
- ↑ "Who's who: Labour shadow cabinet in full". 11 January 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
- ↑ Walker, Peter (16 September 2015). "Jeremy Corbyn's shadow cabinet in full". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 3 July 2016.
- ↑ Syal, Rajeev; Perraudin, Frances; Slawson, Nicola (27 June 2016). "Shadow cabinet resignations: who has gone and who is staying". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 22 July 2016. Retrieved 3 July 2016.
- ↑ Waterson, Jim (23 September 2016). "How The Labour Coup Failed". Buzzfeed UK. Archived from the original on 10 October 2016.
- ↑ Stone, Jon (26 September 2016). "Labour leadership contest abuse 'reminded me of far right', MP Lisa Nandy says". The Independent. Archived from the original on 3 December 2017.
- ↑ Behr, Rafael (2 September 2015). "Jeremy Corbyn may prevail, but he has no monopoly on virtue". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 21 September 2016.
- ↑ Ridge, Sophy (17 September 2015). "Meet the next leader of the Labour party (sorry Jeremy Corbyn)". The Telegraph. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wigan_(UK_Parliament_constituency)#Elections_in_the_2010s
- ↑ Maguire, Patrick (6 September 2019). "It's the towns, stupid: How Labour plans to win the next election". New Statesman. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
- ↑ "Lisa Nandy: My plans as the new chair of Labour Friends of Palestine & the Middle East". LabourList. 20 December 2018. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
- ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wigan_(UK_Parliament_constituency)#Elections_in_the_2010s
- ↑ "Angela Rayner handed new role as Keir Starmer reshuffles top team". BBC News. 4 September 2023. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
- ↑ "EXCLUSIVE: Wigan MP Lisa Nandy enters the race to become new Leader of the Labour Party". www.wigantoday.net. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
- ↑ Nandy, Lisa (3 January 2020). "Labour's path back to power will be through on-the-ground activism". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
- ↑ "Lisa Nandy joins Labour leadership race". BBC News. 4 January 2020.
- ↑ "Scottish independence: Labour candidate Lisa Nandy criticised for Catalonia remarks". BBC News. 16 January 2020. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
- ↑ Webster, Laura (16 January 2020). "Lisa Nandy under fire for Catalonia claim in Andrew Neil interview". The National. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
- ↑ "Labour leadership hopeful Lisa Nandy suggests Scotland should 'look to Catalonia' to deal with independence". The Herald. 16 January 2020. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
- ↑ Chaplain, Chloe (16 January 2020). "Labour leadership hopeful Lisa Nandy called 'clueless' for citing Spain's crack-down in Catalonia as a good way of defeating nationalism". i. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
- ↑ Tolhurst, Alain (21 January 2020). "Major boost for Lisa Nandy as GMB union backs her campaign to be Labour leader". PoliticsHome. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
- ↑ Rodgers, Sienna (14 February 2020). "Jewish Labour Movement nominates Lisa Nandy and Ian Murray". LabourList. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
- ↑ "Keir Starmer elected as new Labour leader". BBC News. 4 April 2020. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
- ↑ "Labour leadership: Lisa Nandy appointed shadow foreign secretary". BBC News. 5 April 2020.
- ↑ "Lisa Nandy: Foreign policy affects people at home". BBC News. 31 March 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
- ↑ Stewart, Heather; Allegretti, Aubrey (29 November 2021). "Cooper, Lammy and Nandy among beneficiaries of Starmer's ruthless reshuffle". The Guardian.
- ↑ O'Donoghue, Dan (2 February 2022). "Lisa Nandy tears into government's levelling up plan". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
- ↑ "Angela Rayner handed new role as Keir Starmer reshuffles top team". BBC News. 4 September 2023. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
- ↑ Belger, Tom; Jones, Morgan (4 September 2023). "Labour reshuffle news: Full shadow cabinet and frontbench as shakeup unfolds". LabourList | Latest UK Labour Party news, analysis and comment. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
- ↑ Scott, Jennifer (4 September 2023). "Labour reshuffle: The promotions and demotions in Starmer's top team as election looms". Sky News. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
- ↑ "Keir Starmer is tempting fate by demoting Lisa Nandy". UnHerd. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
- ↑ "Keir Starmer accused of promoting 'narrow band of Blairites'". The Independent. 4 September 2023. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
- ↑ Walker, Peter (4 September 2023). "The winners and losers in Keir Starmer's Labour reshuffle". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
- ↑ Statesman, New (17 May 2023). "The New Statesman's left power list". New Statesman. Retrieved 13 December 2023.
- ↑ Courea, Eleni (8 February 2020). "Lisa Nandy, Labour's wild card candidate". POLITICO. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
- ↑ Pidd, Helen; Walker, Peter (13 March 2020). "Is 'refreshingly untribal' Lisa Nandy Labour's best hope?". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
- 1 2 Pickard, Jim; Bounds, Andy (17 January 2020). "Lisa Nandy, leadership long-shot on the road from Wigan". Financial Times. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
- ↑ Whale, Sebastian (12 May 2020). "The Nandy doctrine: renewing the 'moral commitment' to an 'ethical' foreign policy". PoliticsHome. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Rea, Ailbhe (17 April 2020). "What are Lisa Nandy's foreign policy positions?". New Statesman. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
- ↑ "Lisa Nandy urges ban on imports of West Bank goods". The Guardian. 27 June 2020.
- ↑ "'Zionist' UK Labour leadership candidate endorses Palestinian right of return". The Times of Israel. 19 February 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
- ↑ "Labour calls for sanctions on Chinese officials over Uighur repression". The Independent. 19 July 2020. Archived from the original on 14 June 2022.
- ↑ Hossein-Pour, Anahita (25 February 2020). "Lisa Nandy accuses Jeremy Corbyn of 'standing with Russia' over Salisbury attack". PoliticsHome. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
- ↑ "Foreign Office quietly rejects International Court ruling to hand back Chagos Islands". i. 18 June 2020.
- ↑ "UK's 'colonial' stance over Chagos Islands could derail court bid". The Guardian. 9 February 2021.
- ↑ "Labour leadership hopeful Lisa Nandy would attend State Banquet for Donald Trump". ITV News. 22 January 2020. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
- ↑ Ivers, Charlotte. "Lisa Nandy: 'There is power in being underestimated'". ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
- ↑ "Labour success for Nandy". Wigan Today. 30 April 2015. Archived from the original on 3 May 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
External links
- Official website
- Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
- Contributions in Parliament at Hansard
- Voting record at Public Whip
- Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou
- Appearances on C-SPAN