Ellie Reeves
Lewisham West and Penge (2017-2024)
8 June 2017
(1980-12-11) 11 December 1980 (age 43)[1]
Beckenham, London, England
Eleanor Claire Reeves[2] (born 11 December 1980) is a British politician who has served as Chair of the Labour Party and Minister of State without Portfolio since July 2024.[3] A member of the Labour Party, she has been the Member of Parliament for Lewisham West and East Dulwich, formerly Lewisham West and Penge, since 2017. She previously served as Shadow Solicitor General for England and Wales from April 2020 to December 2021 and Shadow Minister for Prisons and Probation from 2021 to 2023.
Early life and education
Eleanor Reeves was born on 11 December 1980 in Lewisham, the daughter of teachers[4] Graham and Sally Reeves.[5][6] Her older sister, Rachel, is the Labour MP for Leeds West and Pudsey[7] and the Chancellor of the Exchequer under Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Reeves grew up in Sydenham and was educated at Adamsrill Primary School and Cator Park Secondary School.[8] She then studied law at St Catherine's College, Oxford, graduating with a bachelor's degree.[9]
Political career
Reeves joined the Labour Party at 15,[4] chaired the Oxford University Labour Club in 2001 and was National Chair of Labour Students from 2002 to 2003.
In 2006, she was first elected as a constituency party representative on Labour's National Executive Committee (NEC), supported by Progress and Labour First.[10] Reeves was returned to the governing body in subsequent elections, and served as Vice-Chair from 2015 to 2016,[11] until she was defeated by Momentum in 2016.[12] She later served as vice-chair of the London Labour Party.[11][13]
Parliamentary career
Reeves was selected as the Labour candidate for Lewisham West and Penge in April 2017, chosen over a left-wing Momentum activist.[14][10]
At the snap 2017 general election, Reeves was elected to Parliament as MP for Lewisham West and Penge, with 66.6% of the vote and a majority of 23,162.[15][16]
Reeves was appointed to the opposition front bench as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Kate Osamor, Shadow International Development Secretary, in March 2018.[17] On 13 June 2018, Reeves and five other MPs resigned as frontbenchers to vote in favour of remaining in the single market, defying the party whip.[18][19]
After signing a letter criticising the decision to re-admit Chris Williamson into Labour, Reeves was threatened with deselection by a party member in July 2019.[20] Following backlash, Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn wrote that pregnant MPs would not face deselection and the member withdrew their plans to challenge her.[21]
At the 2019 general election, Reeves was re-elected as MP for Lewisham West and Penge with a decreased vote share of 61.2% and a decreased majority of 21,543.[22][23]
On 9 April 2020, Reeves was re-appointed to the opposition front bench as Shadow Solicitor General for England and Wales.[24]
She served as Labour's political lead for the 2021 Old Bexley and Sidcup by-election,[25] in which there was a 7.4% increase in the party's vote share and 10.2% swing from the Conservatives to Labour, however the Conservatives held the seat with a 20.6% majority.[26]
In the 2023 British shadow cabinet reshuffle she joined the Shadow Cabinet as Labour Party Deputy National Campaign Coordinator.[27]
Prior to the 2024 general election, Reeves' constituency of Lewisham West and Penge was abolished, and replaced with Lewisham West and East Dulwich. In October 2023, Reeves was selected as the Labour candidate for Lewisham West and East Dulwich at the 2024 general election, and was elected.[28] On 6 July 2024, Keir Starmer appointed her a Minister of State in the Cabinet Office.
Personal life
She is married to John Cryer, the former Labour MP for Leyton and Wanstead.[10]
References
- ^ "Members' Names Data Platform query". UK Parliament. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
- ^ "No. 61961". The London Gazette. 19 June 2017. p. 11776.
- ^ "Ministerial Appointments: July 2024". GOV.UK. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
- ^ a b Forrester, Kate (8 October 2017). "17 From '17: Ellie Reeves On Her Journey Into Politics At A Young Age". HuffPost. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
- ^ Whale, Sebastian (23 May 2020). "Rachel Reeves interview". politicshome. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
- ^ Hello (13 September 2007). "The legal eagle who left sisters scuppered". Yorkshire Evening Post. Archived from the original on 4 June 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
- ^ Rampen, Julia (26 April 2017). "How Labour's power-brokers will divide up the party's safe seats". New Statesman. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
- ^ Little, Mandy (28 April 2017). "Ellie Reeves to fight for Lewisham West and Penge seat for Labour". London News Online. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
- ^ "The Year 2017 – alumni magazine for St Catherine's College, Oxford" (PDF). Retrieved 18 February 2019.
- ^ a b c "Former Labour official Ellie Reeves selected for safe seat in London". LabourList. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
- ^ a b Savage, Michael. "Hard left set for Labour power grab". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
- ^ "Corbyn's Allies Run Rings Round Eddie Izzard". Sky News. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
- ^ Kenber, Billy. "Labour hopefuls aiming for Westminster". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
- ^ "General election 2017: Key Corbyn allies not selected by Labour". BBC News. 28 April 2017. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
- ^ "Lewisham West and Penge parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
- ^ "Commons Briefing Paper 7979. General Election 2017: results and analysis" (PDF) (Second ed.). House of Commons Library. 29 January 2019 [7 April 2018]. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 November 2019.
- ^ Aweys, Suleega (3 March 2018). "Ellie Reeves MP for Lewisham West and Penge gets front bench promotion". East London Lines. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
- ^ Culbertson, Alix (14 June 2018). "Six Labour MPs quit frontbench roles over key Brexit vote". Sky News. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
- ^ Morris, Nigel (13 June 2018). "Six Labour frontbenchers resign in protest at Labour's Brexit position". i News. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
- ^ "EXCL Pregnant Labour MP facing deselection threat for signing Chris Williamson statement". Politics Home. 25 February 2020. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
- ^ "Corbyn Blocks Activist's Bid To Oust Pregnant Labour MP". HuffPost UK. 3 July 2019. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
- ^ "General election 2019". lewisham.gov.uk. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
- ^ "Commons Briefing Paper 8749. General Election 2019: results and analysis" (PDF). London: House of Commons Library. 28 January 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
- ^ Rodgers, Sienna (9 April 2020). "Shadow ministers appointed as Starmer completes frontbench". LabourList. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
- ^ Reeves, Ellie (31 October 2021). "As Labour's political lead on the Old Bexley & Sidcup by-election..." Twitter. Archived from the original on 31 October 2021.
- ^ "Conservatives hold seat in Old Bexley and Sidcup byelection". ITV News. 3 December 2021. Retrieved 3 December 2021.
- ^ "Labour reshuffle live: Angela Rayner gets new role as Keir Starmer reshuffles team". BBC News. 4 September 2023. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
- ^ Ellie Reeves [@elliereeves] (2 October 2023). "It's been a privilege to represent Lewisham West & Penge The boundary changes mean that the constituency will no longer exist at the next election It was very sad to say goodbye to our wonderful CLP last month I will be standing in Lewisham West & East Dulwich at the election" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
- Contributions in Parliament at Hansard
- Voting record at Public Whip
- Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou
Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by Jim Dowd | Member of Parliament for Lewisham West and Penge 2017–present | Incumbent |
Political offices | ||
Preceded by | Shadow Solicitor General for England and Wales 2020–2021 | Succeeded by |
Preceded by | Minister of State without Portfolio 2024–present | Incumbent |
Party political offices | ||
Preceded by | Chair of the Labour Party 2024–present | Incumbent |
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