Top 10 Facts About Diane Abbott

Top 10 Facts About Diane Abbott

The year 1987 saw Diane Abbott start her impressive political career. She has had a successful career and made a lot of impact in different sectors that she has worked with. Diane is well known for being a distinguished commentator, broadcaster and parliamentarian. The parliamentarian was born in Paddington, Londo to British Jamaican parents. Her parents had immigrated from Jamaica to London before she was born.

This article will explore the top ten facts about the parliamentarian to give the reader an insight into the pioneer’s life. The article will also be great in being a source of inspiration and motivation to anyone who wants to chart a new path as it will show them that as long as they put their mind to it then they can do it.

1 Her school life

A portrait of Diane Abbott by Chris McAndrew-Wikimedia

Diane Abbot started her educational journey at Harlow County Grammar School before proceeding to Newham College in Cambridge. She received her master’s degree in history from the University of Cambridge in 1973. This laid the foundation for what became a great career as her degree of choice meant that he had studied past political patterns and thus knew what needed to be done for her constituents to see change

2 She was a civil servant and a journalist before joining politics

Immediately after finishing her studies and graduating with her history degree, Diane went on and worked as a civil servant. She was stationed in the Home Office from 1976 to 1980. During this time, she worked for the National Council for Civil Liberties which is a lobby group that works towards ensuring that everyone is treated with fairness in the United Kingdom. She then went on and became a journalist. In the field of media, she started as a freelancer before she became a reporter for Thame Television and TV-am. She also worked as a public relations consultant

3 She joined the Labour Party

The Labour Party Building in Yorkshire by Mtaylor848-Wikimedia

Diane left the media profession and joined the Labour Party and this marked the start of her journey in the political field. As a party member, she served as a press officer for the Lambeth Borough Council and the Greater London Council. This shows that as much as she left her profession as a media practitioner she was still practising the art. In this position, she championed race and civil rights issues.

4 Her election to office

Abbott was first elected as a councillor for the Westminster City Council where she served from 1982 to 1986. The following year, she was nominated as a candidate for the London constituency of Stoke Newington and Hackney North. She won the election and made history by being the first Black female in the country to be a member of Parliament. The win was phenomenal as she managed to overcome the contempt of her own opponents and also change the negative views that people had about her party. She joined Paul Boateng and Bernie Grant as the first parliamentarians of African descent and thus making her a pioneer.

5 She was vocal on human rights issues

Diane delivering her keynote speech on children and public health which are some of the causes she champions for. Photo by Policy Exchange-Wikimedia

The parliamentarian never shied away from controversial and hard issues and instead tackled them headstrong. She was vocal in parliament about stopping the detainment of criminals without trial as she believed that they had a right to be heard. She has also championed other causes that include; transparency and justice around policing, race relations,  stop and search and security issues in the country.

6 Awards

Diane Abbott has been recognized for her notable contributions to the house. While tabling her counter-terrorism bill to the house, she made an outstanding speech that won her the Parliamentary Speech of the Year by Spectator Magazine. She also received another award for the same speech from the Human Rights Awards. Fellow member of parliament David Davies even commented that it was the best speech that he had ever had since he was elected to the House of Commons.

7 She ran for the Labour leadership election

Diane Abbott at the labour party. Photo by Sophie Brown-Wikimedia

In 2010, Diane decided it was time to enter the race for the Labour Leadership position, making history as the first Black woman to do so. As she ran for office, she pledged to address the issues that had gone unresolved under previous Labour leaders, particularly the problem with the immigration system. The immigration system has been unfair and it still is. She was not successful but she continues to champion for a fairer immigration system.

8 She has had to balance her public life and motherhood

There is no doubt that public life has had an impact. She has been a single mother for a significant portion of her time serving as an MP, frequently juggling motherhood with public service in a Parliament created for the ease of married men. In addition, Abbott has experienced more abuse than any other MP since the rise of social media. However, the phenomenal politician managed to rise above it and continue serving people.

9 She was the shadow home secretary

With close to 30 years of service as a member of parliament, Diane Abbot maintained her position in the 2015 general election and later served as the shadow secretary of state for international development from 2015 to 2016, after which she was appointed the shadow secretary of state for public health in June 2016. Abbott was made shadow home secretary when Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn reorganised his shadow cabinet in October.

10 She has a memoir

A picture of Diane Aboot giving a soeech by Gary Knight-Wikimedia

The parliamentarian released her memoir in 2022 titled A Woman Like Me. The book outlines her journey and the challenges she faced and overcame during her political career. The memoir also gives us an insight into her dreams and what motivated her to choose the career path that she is on. The book is filled with her frankness and humour which makes it an interesting read.

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