Liz McInnes

Elizabeth Anne McInnes (born 30 March 1959) is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Heywood and Middleton in Greater Manchester, first elected at the 2014 by-election caused by the death of the sitting MP, Jim Dobbin.[1] She lost her seat in the 2019 United Kingdom general election.[2]

Liz McInnes
McInnes in 2017
Shadow Minister for South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Commonwealth
In office
11 October 2016 – 6 November 2019
LeaderJeremy Corbyn
Succeeded byAfzal Khan
Shadow Communities Minister
In office
21 September 2015 – 28 June 2016
LeaderJeremy Corbyn
Member of Parliament
for Heywood and Middleton
In office
9 October 2014 – 6 November 2019
Preceded byJim Dobbin
Succeeded byChris Clarkson
Personal details
Born (1959-03-30) 30 March 1959
Oldham, Lancashire, England
NationalityBritish
Political partyLabour
Children1
Alma materSt Anne's College, Oxford University of Surrey

Early life

Born in Oldham, Lancashire, Elizabeth McInnes was the fifth child of the eight children of Margaret Elizabeth and George Frederick McInnes.[3] Her father was a sheet metal worker who died when she was 14 years old. Her mother brought the family up single-handedly from then on, taking on various jobs including running the Owain Glyndwr public house in Corwen, North Wales, then the Duke of York public house in Heyside, Oldham.

Elizabeth McInnes was educated at Hathershaw Comprehensive School. She studied biochemistry at St Anne's College at the University of Oxford and completed a master's degree at the University of Surrey. Since 1981 she has worked for the NHS in London, Sheffield, Manchester and Oldham and was employed as a senior biochemist at the Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust until the by-election. She was Branch Secretary of the Pennine Acute Branch for the Unite Trades Union[4] and Chair of the National Health Sector Industrial Committee as well as a member of the Healthcare Science organising professional committee.[5] McInnes has been a Rossendale borough councillor for Longholme ward since 2010 where she was the health lead and the Chair of Overview and Scrutiny. She stood down from the Council after the by-election in 2014.[6][7]

In Parliament

In 2015, McInnes joined the Labour front bench, being appointed by new leader Jeremy Corbyn as Shadow Minister in the Department for Communities and Local Government team, joining Jon Trickett, Steve Reed, Lord Kennedy and Lord Beecham.[8] Emma Lewell-Buck joined the team later. She had backed Andy Burnham in the 2015 Leadership election.[9]

McInnes backed Corbyn in a vote of no confidence but afterwards resigned from her Shadow position, saying she felt the outcome of the vote – resoundingly against Corbyn – left her with no option but to stand down.[10] She supported Owen Smith in the failed attempt to replace him in the 2016 Labour Party (UK) leadership election.[11] In October 2016, she was re-appointed to Jeremy Corbyn's front bench as Shadow Foreign Office Minister.[12]

In August 2016, McInnes was named Parliamentarian of the Month by the road safety charity Brake for her campaigning work to obtain tougher sentences for those causing death and injury by dangerous driving. She was awarded Parliamentarian of the Year 2016 by Brake for the same campaign.

On 9 September 2019, McInnes disagreed with ex-Labour and then-independent MP Ian Austin during a proceeding as Austin was criticising Jeremy Corbyn and his leadership of the Labour Party. She told Austin, "Why don't you go over there? You're not welcome here," later directing to the Conservative side of the chamber, as a suggestion to Austin to sit next to Conservative MPs.[13]

References
  1. "Labour wins Middleton by-election, but UKIP slashes majority". BBC News. 9 October 2014. Retrieved 9 October 2014.
  2. "Heywood & Middleton parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  3. "McInnes, Elizabeth Anne, (born 30 March 1959), MP (Lab) Heywood and Middleton, since Oct. 2014", Who's Who, Oxford University Press, 1 December 2015, doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u282576, retrieved 6 December 2019
  4. "Union fury as G4S 'clean-up' at Pennine Acute". rochdaleonline.co.uk. Rochdale online. 29 April 2013. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  5. "Healthcare Science organising professional committee". unitetheunion.org. Unite the Union. Archived from the original on 16 October 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  6. Williams, Jennifer (15 September 2014). "Lancashire councillor McInnes to stand as Labour candidate in Heywood and Middleton by-election". Manchester Evening News. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  7. "Liz McInnes launches Heywood and Middleton by-election campaign". rochdaleonline.co.uk. Rochdale online. 22 September 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  8. McInnes, Liz (21 September 2015). "Liz joins Labour frontbench". lizmcinnes.org.uk. Liz McInnes MP. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
  9. McInnes, Liz (9 July 2015). "Why I'm Backing Andy". lizmcinnes.org.uk. Liz McInnes MP. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  10. "Labour MPs pass no-confidence motion in Jeremy Corbyn". BBC News. 28 June 2016. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
  11. "Full list of MPs and MEPs backing challenger Owen Smith". LabourList. 21 July 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  12. Fitzgerald, Todd (11 October 2016). "Another Greater Manchester MP returns to shadow cabinet". Manchester Evening News. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  13. Rodgers, Sienna (9 September 2019). "WATCH: Ian Austin and Liz McInnes clash in chamber". LabourList.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Jim Dobbin		 Member of Parliament for Heywood and Middleton
2014–2019		 Succeeded by
Chris Clarkson
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