Kate Green

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Kate Green

OBE MP
Official portrait of Kate Green crop 2.jpg
Official portrait, 2017
Shadow Secretary of State for Education
Assumed office
27 June 2020
LeaderKeir Starmer
Preceded byRebecca Long-Bailey
Shadow Minister for Child Poverty Strategy
In office
9 April 2020 – 27 June 2020
LeaderKeir Starmer
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byKaren Buck
Chairman of the Committee on Standards
In office
15 October 2018 – 6 May 2020
Preceded bySir Kevin Barron
Succeeded byChris Bryant
Chairman of the Committee of Privileges
In office
15 October 2018 – 1 June 2020
Preceded bySir Kevin Barron
Succeeded byChris Bryant
Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities
In office
14 September 2015 – 27 June 2016
LeaderJeremy Corbyn
Preceded byGloria De Piero
Succeeded byAngela Rayner
Shadow Minister for Disabled People
In office
7 October 2013 – 14 September 2015
LeaderEd Miliband
Preceded byAnne McGuire
Succeeded byDebbie Abrahams
Member of Parliament
for Stretford and Urmston
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded byBeverley Hughes
Majority16,417 (32.8%)
Personal details
Born
Katherine Anne Green

(1960-05-02) 2 May 1960 (age 61)
Edinburgh, Scotland
Political partyLabour
Spouse(s)
Richard Duncan Mabb
​
​
(m. 1985; div. 2006)​
Alma materUniversity of Edinburgh
WebsiteOfficial website

Katherine Anne Green[1] OBE MP (born 2 May 1960)[2] is a British Labour Party politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Stretford and Urmston since 2010, and has served as Shadow Secretary of State for Education since 2020.

She was Shadow Minister of State for Disabled People under Ed Miliband from 2013 to 2015. After Jeremy Corbyn became Leader of the Opposition in 2015, she was appointed to the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities. She served in this position until she resigned in June 2016 to lead Owen Smith’s unsuccessful challenge for the leadership of the Labour Party. She later chaired the Committee of Privileges and the Committee on Standards from 2018 to 2020. She returned to the Shadow Cabinet under Sir Keir Starmer as Shadow Education Secretary in June 2020, replacing Rebecca Long-Bailey.

Early life[]

Green was born in Edinburgh, to Jessie Craig (née Bruce) and Maurice Green, who was Jewish.[3] She attended Currie High School and the University of Edinburgh, graduating with a Bachelor of Laws degree.[1][4]

Career[]

After university, Green began a career at Barclays Bank, working for the organisation from 1982 to 1997. From 1997 to 1999 she worked as a Whitehall and Industry Group secondee to the Home Office.

Green was employed as Director of the National Council for One Parent Families between 2000 and 2004, then taking up the post of Chief Executive of the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) until 2009. Alongside this, Green was a member, then chair, of the London Child Poverty Commission from 2006 to 2009.

Green also served as a magistrate in the City of London between 1993 and 2009.[1][4]

Green joined the Labour Party in 1990 and stood unsuccessfully in the 1997 General Election as the candidate for the Greater London constituency of Cities of London and Westminster. She contested the 2000 London Assembly election in the West Central constituency, again not being elected.[4]

Parliamentary career[]

In 2009, Green was selected as the candidate for Stretford and Urmston through an all-women shortlist following Beverley Hughes's announcement that she would not be seeking re-election.[5] She was elected as Member of Parliament on 6 May 2010, securing 48.6% of the vote and increasing the majority Hughes gained in the 2005 general election.

Since entering Parliament, Green has been elected as a Vice-Chair of the Labour Party's National Policy Forum and served as the chairman of the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party.[6][7]

In November 2011, Green was criticised for failing to declare an interest when tabling an amendment to a bill. Green had neglected to mention her membership of the GMB trade union when attempting to amend the Legal Aid Bill.[8] In a statement in Parliament Green apologised, saying: "I was advised on those amendments by the GMB trade union. My entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests makes clear my membership of and relationship with that union, but I regret that I did not draw attention to that last week in the Chamber because the amendments did not relate specifically to the union, but to the rights of individual employees." The Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, accepted Green's apology, describing it as "most courteous" and insisting that the matter had been resolved.[9]

In February 2012, Green complained about a beer sold in the House of Commons Stranger's Bar, called Top Totty. The advertising plate on the pump handle featured an image of a bikini-clad bunny girl, which Green said "demeaned women". Leader of the House Sir George Young upheld her complaint and had the beer removed.[10] The beer, brewed in Stafford by Slater's, had been recommended to the House in 2007 by Labour MP for Stafford David Kidney after a visit to Slater's Brewery.[10][11]

Green was re-elected in the 2015 general election on an increased voter turnout, managing to increase both the Labour Party's share and majority.

Green became chair of Owen Smith's leadership campaign challenging Jeremy Corbyn in the 2016 leadership election.[12] Green wrote in the New Statesman in September 2016: "Even when Jeremy gets that there's a problem, his solutions too often reinforce rather than address the root causes of gender inequality".[13]

Kate Green is a member of Labour Friends of Israel.[14]

Green held her seat at the 2017 and 2019 general elections.[15]

Frontbench Opposition career[]

Following a reshuffle of Labour's shadow ministerial team in October 2011, Green was promoted to shadow Minister of State for Equalities at the Government Equalities Office, working alongside Yvette Cooper.[16][17]

Following a reshuffle of Labour's shadow ministerial team in October 2013, Green became Shadow Minister for Disabled People.[18]

Following Jeremy Corbyn's election as Leader of the Labour Party, Green was promoted again to the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet serving as Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities.[19] In a March 2016 speech, Corbyn advocated the decriminalisation of the sex industry, to which Green commented "without any discussion or consultation with his shadow cabinet, with me as his shadow minister for women and equalities, with women in the PLP or, to the best of my knowledge, with anyone in the wider Labour Party".[13] She resigned from this position on 27 June 2016.[20]

In April 2020, Green was appointed as Shadow Minister for Child Poverty Strategy by new party leader Keir Starmer.[21] In June 2020, she was appointed as Shadow Education Secretary, replacing Rebecca Long-Bailey.[22]

Parliamentary Committees[]

Green has been a member of the Work and Pensions Select Committee, European Scrutiny Committee, Justice Select Committee, Committee of Privileges, Commons Select Committee on Standards (which she chaired from October 2018 to November 2019 and January 2020 to May 2020), the Home Affairs Select Committee, and the Liaison Committee.[23]

All-party Parliamentary Groups[]

Green is an officer of the following All-Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs), as of May 2020:[24]

  • Migration (chair)
  • Gypsies, Roma, and Travellers (chair)
  • Women in the Penal System (chair)
  • Learning Disability (vice-chair)
  • Legal Aid (vice-chair)
  • Srebrenica (vice-chair)
  • Valproate and other Anti-Epileptic Drugs in Pregnancy (vice-chair)
  • Dalits (treasurer)

Personal life and honours[]

Green married Richard Duncan Mabb in 1985; the couple divorced in 2006.[4][25] Her recreations include theatre, books, food and swimming.[25]

She is a member of the GMB and Unite trade unions, the Fawcett Society, the Fabian Society (which she chaired from 2016 to 2018), and CPAG.[26][4]

She is a past trustee of the Friends Provident Foundation, Institute for Fiscal Studies, Family and Parenting Institute, Avenues Youth Project, and End Child Poverty.[27]

Green was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for "services to welfare work" as part of the 2005 New Year Honours, where her work in the CPAG and membership of the National Employment Panel was recognised.[28][27]

Selected bibliography[]

  • Green, Kate; Bergmann, Barbara; Himmelweit, Susan F.; Albelda, Randy P.; Women's Committee of One Hundred; Koren, Charlotte (July 2004). "Lone mothers: What is to be done?". Feminist Economics. 10 (2): 237–264. doi:10.1080/1354570042000217793. S2CID 154744396.

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Green, Katherine Anne, (Kate), (born 2 May 1960), MP (Lab) Stretford and Urmston, since 2010", Who's Who, Oxford University Press, 1 December 2007, doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u42734, ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4, archived from the original on 5 August 2018, retrieved 5 August 2018
  2. ^ "Kate Green MP". BBC Democracy Live. BBC. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  3. ^ Rocker, Simon (2 August 2020). "Shadow Education Secretary tells Limmud: 'Horror' over Labour antisemitism made me speak about my Jewish background". The Jewish Chronicle. Archived from the original on 3 August 2020. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e "Members of Parliament in Stretford, Manchester, Greater Manchester". Stretford & Urmston Messenger. May 2010. Archived from the original on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  5. ^ Downes, Robert (3 December 2009). "MP Bev welcomes her new replacement". Stretford & Urmston Messenger. Archived from the original on 25 August 2016. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
  6. ^ "We must reach out: An NEC member reports from Gillingham". labour-uncut.co.uk. Labour Uncut. Archived from the original on 20 May 2011. Retrieved 8 June 2011.
  7. ^ Prince, Rosa (24 January 2011). "Dominic Raab: men should 'burn their briefs' in protest at 'obnoxious feminist bigots'". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 13 July 2018. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  8. ^ Ridge, Sophy (9 November 2011). "Tories pursue Labour on Union links (blog)". Sky News | Our Blogs. Archived from the original on 12 November 2011. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  9. ^ Kate Green, MP for Stretford and Urmston (9 November 2011). "Points of Order". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). House of Commons. col. 307.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b Staff writer (2 February 2012). "Top Totty beer banned from House of Commons bar in case if offends women". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 5 February 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  11. ^ Kidney, David (12 June 2007). "Slater's Beer – what all the MPs are drinking" (PDF). News release from David Kidney MP. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  12. ^ Pope, Conor (22 July 2016). "Owen Smith snaps up former Corbyn policy chief for leadership bid". LabourList. Archived from the original on 24 July 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  13. ^ Jump up to: a b Green, Kate (2 September 2016). "Jeremy Corbyn still doesn't get our concerns about sexist abuse". New Statesman. Archived from the original on 3 September 2016. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  14. ^ lfiIsrael. "LFI Open Letter to Priti Patel". Labour Friends of Israel. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
  15. ^ "Stretford & Urmston parliamentary constituency – Election 2019". Archived from the original on 14 June 2020. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  16. ^ "Her Majesty's Official Opposition". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 29 September 2010. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  17. ^ Woodhouse, Craig (10 October 2011). "Labour takes down Blair and Brown pictures in HQ clear-out". London Evening Standard | Politics. Archived from the original on 19 December 2011. Retrieved 12 November 2011.
  18. ^ "Visit from Shadow MP for Disabilities". newcollegeworcester.co.uk. New College Worcester. 24 November 2014. Archived from the original on 15 March 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2018.
  19. ^ Walker, Peter (16 September 2015). "Jeremy Corbyn's shadow cabinet in full". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 18 August 2016. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  20. ^ Syal, Rajeev; Perraudin, Frances (27 June 2016). "Shadow cabinet resignations: who has gone and who is staying". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 22 July 2016. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  21. ^ Rodgers, Sienna (9 April 2020). "Shadow ministers appointed as Starmer completes frontbench". LabourList. Archived from the original on 10 April 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  22. ^ "Labour party: Kate Green appointed as shadow education secretary". BBC News. 27 June 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  23. ^ "Parliamentary career for Kate Green – MPs and Lords – UK Parliament". members.parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 12 December 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  24. ^ "Registers published in 2020". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 24 June 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  25. ^ Jump up to: a b "Who's Who". www.ukwhoswho.com.
  26. ^ Bean, Emma (8 December 2016). "Fabians name centre-left former shadow minister Kate Green as new chair". LabourList. Archived from the original on 13 December 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  27. ^ Jump up to: a b "PPC Profile: Kate Green". LabourList. Archived from the original on 27 June 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
  28. ^ "New Year Honours: Children's sector workers rewarded". CYP Now. Archived from the original on 27 June 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2020.

External links[]

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Beverley Hughes 		Member of Parliament
for Stretford and Urmston
2010–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by
Gloria De Piero 		Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities
2015–2016 		Succeeded by
Angela Rayner
Party political offices
Preceded by
Seema Malhotra 		Chair of the Fabian Society
2016–present 		Incumbent
Retrieved from ""