Margaret Greenwood

Margaret Greenwood (born 14 March 1959) is a British Labour Party politician. She was first elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wirral West in May 2015[1] and retained her seat in the 2017 general election, increasing her majority.[2]

Margaret Greenwood

MP
Shadow Minister for Schools
In office
9 April 2020 – 15 October 2020
LeaderKeir Starmer
Preceded byMike Kane
Succeeded byWes Streeting
Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
In office
8 May 2018 – 6 April 2020
Acting: 12 March 2018 - 8 May 2018
LeaderJeremy Corbyn
Preceded byDebbie Abrahams
Succeeded byJonathan Reynolds
Shadow Minister for Employment
In office
9 October 2016 – 8 May 2018
LeaderJeremy Corbyn
Preceded byNick Thomas-Symonds
Succeeded byMike Amesbury
Member of Parliament
for Wirral West
Assumed office
7 May 2015
Preceded byEsther McVey
Majority3,003 (7.0%)
Personal details
Born (1959-03-14) 14 March 1959
Political partyLabour
WebsiteOfficial website

Biography

A former teacher and community activist,[3] Greenwood later worked as a web consultant.[4] She is a founder member of Defend our NHS.[4]

In 2013, she was selected to contest the constituency of Wirral West in the 2015 general election.[4] In a high-profile campaign, Greenwood narrowly unseated the Conservative cabinet minister Esther McVey.

In March 2018, Greenwood began acting as Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions after Debbie Abrahams temporarily stepped aside.[5] She was appointed as a permanent replacement for the Shadow DWP Secretary in May 2018. Until November 2018, Greenwood was shadowing Esther McVey, who had returned to Parliament at the 2017 general election.

On 6 April 2020, upon the election of Keir Starmer as Leader of the Labour Party, Greenwood was replaced as Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions by Jonathan Reynolds,[6] becoming Shadow Minister for Schools.[7] She resigned as Shadow Minister for Schools on 15 October 2020 to vote against the Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Bill, which would authorise some undercover police officers and government officials to commit criminal offences, as Labour had whipped MPs to abstain.[8]

Views

Margaret Greenwood has expressed concern over the effects of poverty and austerity, saying, "The government should listen to the people being pushed into poverty by its policies. Universal credit is failing miserably, leaving families in debt, [in] rent arrears and at risk of becoming homeless. Three million children are growing up in poverty despite living in a working household. Labour will stop the roll-out of universal credit, end the benefit freeze and transform the social security system so that it supports people instead of punishing them."[9] Noting that employment at poverty wages is rising, Greenwood said, "There is something seriously wrong when the number of people in work in poverty is increasing faster than employment."[10]

References
  1. "Wirral West parliamentary constituency - Election 2015". BBC News. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  2. "Wirral West". BBC News. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2017.
  3. Helen Carter (8 May 2015). "Conservative Esther McVey loses her Wirral seat by just over 400 votes". The Independent. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  4. Liam Murphy (27 May 2013). "Labour choose Margaret Greenwood to take on Esther McVey in Wirral West". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  5. Walker, Peter (11 March 2018). "Labour's Debbie Abrahams investigated by party over 'workplace issue'". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 March 2018.
  6. "Keir Starmer appoints Shadow Cabinet". The Labour Party. 6 April 2020. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  7. Whittaker, Freddie (9 April 2020). "Margaret Greenwood appointed shadow schools minister". Schools Week. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  8. Whittaker, Freddie (15 October 2020). "Shadow schools minister Margaret Greenwood resigns". Schools Week. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  9. Booth, Robert; Butler, Patrick (16 November 2018). "UK austerity has inflicted 'great misery' on citizens, UN says". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  10. Partington, Richard (4 December 2018). "Four million British workers live in poverty, charity says". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Esther McVey		 Member of Parliament
for Wirral West
2015–present		 Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by
Debbie Abrahams		 Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
2018–present		 Incumbent
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.