Jo White | |
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![]() Official portrait, 2024 | |
Member of Parliament for Bassetlaw | |
Assumed office 4 July 2024 | |
Preceded by | Brendan Clarke-Smith |
Majority | 5,768 (12.9%) |
Member of Bassetlaw District Council for Worksop East | |
Assumed office 3 May 2012 | |
Preceded by | John Scott |
Personal details | |
Born | Joanna Ruth White 22 January 1964 (age 61) Stamford,Lincolnshire,England |
Political party | Labour |
Other political affiliations | Labour Friends of Israel |
Spouse | |
Alma mater | University of Manchester |
Joanna Ruth White (born 22 January 1964) is a British Labour Party politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Bassetlaw since 2024.
She is chair of the Red Wall Caucus of red wall Labour MPs in Parliament.
White was born in 1964 in Stamford, Lincolnshire. [1] She has an identical twin, Deb Davies, who was elected as a Labour councillor in Newport, Wales in 2012. [2] In 2022, she stated she had recently discovered their partly Jewish ancestry. [3]
White studied at the University of Manchester, where she was General Secretary of the Students' Union. [4]
White was office manager for her husband John Mann, the Bassetlaw MP from 2003 to 2019. [5] She served as chair of the Bassetlaw Constituency Labour Party. [6] She was a member of Unite the Union's executive for over a decade. [7]
White was first elected as a Member of Bassetlaw District Council for Worksop East in 2012. [8] She was appointed as the executive member for regeneration in 2013 and became Deputy Leader in 2015.
White was elected as MP for Bassetlaw at the 2024 general election, defeating incumbent Conservative Brendan Clarke-Smith. [9] [10]
In 2024, White founded a red wall group of about 35 backbench Labour MPs, sometimes called the Red Wall Caucus, of which she is chair. The group has had meetings with ministers, and after the poor Labour results in the 2025 local elections it lobbied Prime Minister Keir Starmer to promote policies on border control, tackling anti-social behaviour, slow GP access and the cost-of-living for the working-class. [11] [12]
White is a Vice-Chair of Labour Friends of Israel. [13]
White married John Mann in 1986, with whom she has three children. [14] [15] A former Labour member was convicted for harassment against White, including mailing her a dead bird in 2012. [16] [17]