Maria Eagle

Last updated

Liverpool Garston (1997–2010)
The Right Honourable
Maria Eagle
MP
Official portrait of Maria Eagle MP crop 2.jpg
Official portrait, 2020
Minister of State for Justice and Equalities [lower-alpha 1]
In office
2 July 2007 –6 May 2010
Assumed office
1 May 1997

Maria Eagle (born 17 February 1961) is a British politician who served in the governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. She later served in the Shadow cabinets of Ed Miliband and Jeremy Corbyn. A member of the Labour Party, she has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Garston and Halewood, previously Liverpool Garston, since 1997.

Contents

The twin sister of Angela Eagle, also a Labour MP, Eagle was born in the East Riding of Yorkshire to a working-class family and raised in Merseyside. She studied Philosophy, politics and economics at Pembroke College, Oxford and Law at the College of Law, London. After graduating with her law degree, she worked as an articled clerk and solicitor in both London and Liverpool. After unsuccessfully contesting Crosby in 1992, she was elected for the Liverpool Garston constituency at the 1997 general election.

Under Tony Blair, Eagle was a junior minister at the Department for Work and Pensions, Department for Education and Skills and Northern Ireland Office. She was Minister of State at the Ministry of Justice and Government Equalities Office under Gordon Brown. Following the 2010 general election, Eagle became Shadow Solicitor General for England and Wales. She served in the Shadow cabinet as Shadow Transport Secretary, Shadow Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary, Shadow Defence Secretary and finally Shadow Culture, Media and Sport Secretary. She resigned from the Jeremy Corbyn's Shadow Cabinet in June 2016.

She was re-elected in 2017 and 2019. She returned to the frontbench as Shadow Minister for Procurement in 2023.

Early life and career

Eagle was born in Bridlington, East Riding of Yorkshire, [1] the daughter of Shirley ( née Kirk), a factory worker, and André Eagle, a print worker. [2] [3] She was educated at St Peter's Church of England School in Formby, Merseyside and Formby High School before attending Pembroke College, Oxford, where she was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy, politics and economics in 1983. [4]

Eagle worked in the voluntary sector from 1983 to 1990, and then went to the College of Law, London, where she took her law finals in 1990, before she joined Brian Thompson & Partners in Liverpool as an articled clerk in 1990. In 1992 she became a solicitor with Goldsmith Williams in Liverpool, and later a Solicitor at Stephen Irving & Co also in Liverpool, where she remained until her election to Westminster. [4]

Political career

Early political career

After joining the Labour Party, Eagle was elected the secretary of the Crosby Constituency Labour Party (CLP) for two years in 1983, [5] and was also elected as the campaigns organiser with that CLP for three years in 1993. [5] She contested the Crosby seat at the 1992 general election [5] where she lost to the sitting Conservative MP Malcolm Thornton by 14,806 votes. [6] At that election, her sister Angela gained the nearby seat of Wallasey which she has held ever since.

Backbencher

Prior to the general election in 1997, Eagle was selected through an all-women shortlist to stand for Labour in Liverpool Garston in Merseyside. [7] [8] She was elected to the House of Commons with a majority of 18,417. [5] She made her maiden speech on 17 June 1997. [9] She became a member of the Public Accounts Committee and in 1999 she was appointed the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister of State at the Department of Health, John Hutton. Her proposed ban on mink fur farming was defeated as a Private member's bill but subsequently picked up by the government and enacted as the Fur Farming (Prohibition) Act 2000. [10]

Government minister

Official portrait, 2007 Maria Eagle 2.jpg
Official portrait, 2007

Eagle was promoted to the Tony Blair government following the 2001 general election as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Work and Pensions. Following the 2005 general election, she was the Minister for Children at the Department for Education and Skills, until the May 2006 reshuffle moved her to Northern Ireland, where she was minister for Employment and Learning.

Eagle was moved to the Ministry of Justice when Gordon Brown became Prime Minister in June 2007. In September 2008, she was nominated for Stonewall Politician of the Year for her work to support equality for lesbian, gay and bisexual people. [11] As part of the government reshuffle in October 2008, she assumed additional responsibility for Equalities. In the June 2009 reshuffle, she was promoted to Minister of State. [5] In 2010, she was given a score of 93% in favour of lesbian, gay and bisexual equality by Stonewall. [12]

Expenses controversy

On 17 May 2009 The Daily Telegraph revealed that Eagle had claimed £3,500 for the refurbishment of the bathroom of her Liverpool home, then switched her second home designation to a different property four months later. Eagle voted in favour of legislation which would have kept MPs' expenses information secret. [13]

In opposition

Official portrait, 2017 Official portrait of Maria Eagle crop 2.jpg
Official portrait, 2017

Eagle was returned as MP for the new constituency of Garston and Halewood at the 2010 general election, following boundary changes. [5] After Labour lost the election, she served in interim Labour leader Harriet Harman's frontbench as Shadow Solicitor General for England and Wales and Shadow Minister for Justice. [5] [14] [15] In October 2010 Eagle was elected to the Shadow cabinet of new Labour Party leader Ed Miliband as Shadow Secretary of State for Transport in the Labour Party Shadow Cabinet election. [16] In February 2013, she voted in favour in the House of Commons Second Reading vote on marriage equality in Britain. [17]

Eagle was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Defence in September 2015 by the newly elected Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. [18] [19] Eagle said she was surprised by her appointment as she had disagreed with Corbyn's advocacy of unilateral nuclear disarmament and supported the renewal of the Trident nuclear weapons system. [20] Tasked with leading Labour's defence review, she said she would not rule out the possibility of it recommending unilateral disarmament. [20] However, she described Corbyn commenting he would not countenance using a nuclear deterrent as "unhelpful" to the policy process. [21]

In January 2016, Eagle was moved to the position of Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. [22] She resigned from the shadow cabinet on 27 June 2016 in the mass resignation of the Shadow Cabinet following the Brexit referendum. [23] She supported Owen Smith in the failed attempt to replace Jeremy Corbyn in the 2016 Labour Party leadership election. [24]

Eagle was re-elected in the 2017 and 2019 general elections. [25] [26] On 15 February 2023, she was appointed as a member of the Privy Council. [27] She is a supporter of Labour Friends of Israel. [28]

In the 2023 British shadow cabinet reshuffle, she was appointed Shadow Minister for Procurement. [29]

Personal life

Following her initial election, Eagle joined her twin sister Angela in Parliament. [lower-alpha 2] Maria describes herself as "the straight one", while Angela is a lesbian. [31]

Notes

  1. ↑ Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State from 2007 to 2009
  2. ↑ They are sometimes incorrectly described as the first set of twins to sit in the Commons at the same time; [20] in fact the first set of twins is believed to have been James and Richard Grenville, who sat together for Buckingham between 1774 and 1780. [30]

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References

  1. ↑ "The Biography of Angela Eagle". Angela Eagle. 2008. Archived from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved 17 October 2010.
  2. ↑ "Biography". Archived from the original on 2 July 2016. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
  3. ↑ McDougall, L.; McDougall, Linda (31 January 2012). Westminster Women. Random House. ISBN   9781448130498. Archived from the original on 3 July 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2016– via Google Books.
  4. 1 2 Dod's Parliamentary Companion. Vacher Dod Publishing. 2005. p. 153. ISBN   9780905702513.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Biography – Maria Eagle UK Parliament
  6. ↑ "UK General election results April 9th 1992 [Archive]". www.politicsresources.net. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  7. ↑ "Research Paper 01/75" (PDF). 22 October 2001. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 November 2006. Retrieved 4 February 2009.
  8. ↑ Rentoul, John; Ward, Stephen; MacIntyre, Donald (9 January 1996). "Labour blow as all-women lists outlawed". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  9. ↑ Hansard Debates for 17 June 1997 Archived 27 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine UK Parliament
  10. ↑ "Maria Eagle: Political Profile". BBC. 21 October 2002. Archived from the original on 23 February 2009. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  11. ↑ Shaw, Milly (23 September 2008). "Stonewall Awards shortlist announced". Lesbilicious. Archived from the original on 20 April 2013. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
  12. ↑ "Stonewall MP Voting Records 2010 (Voting on key gay equality issues in Parliament, 2005 to date" (PDF). p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 September 2010. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
  13. ↑ Sawer, Patrick (17 May 2009). "Maria Eagle: bathroom renovated on expenses before flat was 'flipped'". Daily Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on 29 May 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  14. ↑ Thornberry among new Labour front benchers Archived 9 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine ePolitix.com, 28 May 2010
  15. ↑ Opposition Front Bench Archived 5 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine Labour Party
  16. ↑ Cooper tops shadow cabinet vote Archived 7 October 2010 at the Wayback Machine BBC News, 7 October 2010
  17. ↑ "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 05 Feb 2013 (pt 0004)". 5 Feb 2013 : Column 231. Archived from the original on 15 November 2014. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
  18. ↑ "Jeremy Corbyn announces new Shadow Cabinet appointments". Labour Press. Archived from the original on 11 June 2016. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  19. ↑ "Jeremy Corbyn shadow Cabinet live: Labour leader under fire after ignoring women for top jobs". Independent.co.uk . 14 September 2015. 14 Sept. Archived from the original on 15 September 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  20. 1 2 3 Eaton, George (14 October 2015). "Maria Eagle on nuclear disarmament: "I'm not ruling it out"". New Statesman. Archived from the original on 21 November 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  21. ↑ Dathan, Matt (30 September 2015). "Jeremy Corbyn's ability to become Prime Minister questioned by shadow defence secretary". Independent. Archived from the original on 3 November 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  22. ↑ Mason, Rowena; Perraudin, Frances (6 January 2016). "Labour reshuffle: Thornberry replaces Eagle for defence, McFadden sacked and Benn stays". The Guardian . Archived from the original on 14 June 2016. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  23. ↑ 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.
  24. ↑ "Full list of MPs and MEPs backing challenger Owen Smith". LabourList. 21 July 2016. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  25. ↑ "Election results for Garston & Halewood Constituency, 8 June 2017". Liverpool City Council. 8 June 2017. Archived from the original on 25 July 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  26. ↑ "Garston & Halewood parliamentary constituency". BBC News. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
  27. ↑ "Orders Approved and Business Transacted at the Privy Council held by the King at Buckingham Palace" (PDF). Privy Council of the United Kingdom. 15 February 2023. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 February 2023. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  28. ↑ "LFI Supporters In Parliament". Labour Friends of Israel. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  29. ↑ "Meet our Shadow Cabinet". The Labour Party. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
  30. ↑ Farrell, Stephen. "Twins in Parliament: the Grenvilles and Buckingham Borough, 1774". The History of Parliament Online. Archived from the original on 9 June 2016. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  31. ↑ "Interview: Maria Eagle defends homophobic incitement law". 26 November 2007. Archived from the original on 26 March 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2016.

Publications

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Liverpool Garston
1997–2010 		Constituency abolished
New constituency Member of Parliament
for Garston and Halewood
2010–present		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Minister for Disabled People
2001–2005		Succeeded by
Minister for Children and Families
2005–2006		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister for Children in Northern Ireland
2006–2007		Office abolished
Preceded by Minister of State for Justice and Equalities
2007–2010		Succeeded by
Preceded by Shadow Solicitor General for England and Wales
2010		Succeeded by
Preceded by Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
2010–2013		Succeeded by
Preceded by Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
2013–2015		Succeeded by
Preceded by Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
2015–2016		Succeeded by
Preceded by Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
2016		Succeeded by
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