Dame Angela Eagle
DBE (born 17 February 1961) is a British
Labour Party politician serving as the
Member of Parliament
A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
(MP) for
Wallasey since 1992. Eagle was born in Yorkshire and studied
PPE at the University of Oxford, before working for the
CBI and then a trade union.
Eagle served as the
Minister of State
Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. I ...
for
Pensions and Ageing Society from June 2009 until May 2010. Eagle was
elected to the Shadow Cabinet in October 2010 and was appointed by
Ed Miliband
Edward Samuel "Ed" Miliband (born 24 December 1969) is a British politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero since 2021. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Doncaster North since 2005. Miliba ...
to be
Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
In October 2011, she was appointed
Shadow Leader of the House of Commons when Miliband reshuffled
his Shadow Cabinet. She was appointed as both
Shadow First Secretary of State
The Shadow First Secretary of State is a position in the United Kingdom's Shadow Cabinet that was created on 11 May 2015 by the Leader of the Opposition, Harriet Harman for her interim shadow cabinet. From 2005 to 2010, the office was known as ...
and
Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills in September 2015 in
Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialis ...
's
first Shadow Cabinet. She
resigned from the Shadow Cabinet in June 2016. Eagle announced a
leadership challenge to Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn on 11 July 2016, but eight days later she withdrew leaving
Owen Smith to challenge Corbyn for the leadership.
Eagle is the twin sister of fellow Labour MP
Maria Eagle.
She remains in the
House of Commons as a
backbencher.
Education and early employment
Eagle was born in
Bridlington,
East Riding of Yorkshire
The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire t ...
, the daughter of Shirley (Kirk), a factory worker, and André Eagle, a print worker. She was educated at St. Peter's C of E Primary School and
Formby High School. She read
Philosophy, Politics and Economics at
St John's College, Oxford, graduating from the university with a second-class
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
degree in 1983. While at Oxford, she was chairwoman of the Oxford University
Fabian Society during 1980–1983. In 1976, Eagle was joint winner of the British Girls' Under-18 chess championship.
In 1984 she worked in the economic directorate of the
Confederation of British Industry
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) is a UK business organisation, which in total claims to speak for 190,000 businesses, this is made up of around 1,500 direct members and 188,500 non-members. The non members are represented through the 1 ...
(CBI), before joining the
Confederation of Health Service Employees (COHSE) trade union where she held a number of positions. She was elected secretary for the
Constituency Labour Party in
Peckham for two years from 1989.
Parliamentary career
Backbencher and first period as government minister
Eagle was first elected to parliament as
member for Wallasey in the
1992 election, defeating by 3,809 votes the Conservative Minister for Overseas Development at the
Foreign Office Lynda Chalker
Lynda Chalker, Baroness Chalker of Wallasey, , (; born 29 April 1942) is a British Conservative politician who was the Member of Parliament for Wallasey from 1974 to 1992. She served as Minister of State for Overseas Development and Africa at ...
. Allegations were made about irregularities in her selection as parliamentary candidate, including the exclusion of a local favourite from the shortlist of candidates, and in the vote count itself.
In parliament she became a member of the Employment
Select committee Select committee may refer to:
*Select committee (parliamentary system) A select committee is a committee made up of a small number of parliamentary members appointed to deal with particular areas or issues originating in the Westminster system o ...
in 1994, and was promoted by
Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of t ...
in 1996 to the position of an
Opposition Whip
A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideolog ...
, and became a member of the Blair government following the
1997 general election as the
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the
Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions
The Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions was a United Kingdom Cabinet position created in 1997, with responsibility for the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR). The position and department ...
, moving to the
Department of Social Security
The Department of Social Security (DSS) was a governmental agency in the United Kingdom from 1988 to 2001. The old abbreviation is still often used informally. Advertisements for rented accommodation used to describe prospective tenants who wou ...
in 1998.
Following the
2001 general election, she succeeded
Mike O'Brien as an Under-Secretary of State at the
Home Office. However, she was sacked by Blair in 2002, reportedly in error, and replaced by
Lord Filkin.
As a backbencher, Eagle joined the
Treasury Select Committee in January 2003. She voted in favour of the
U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, and repeatedly against investigating it in 2003, 2006, and 2007.
Brown government minister
She returned to the government under
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in Tony ...
on 29 June 2007 as
Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury
The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury is a junior ministerial post in His Majesty's Treasury, ranked below the First Lord of the Treasury, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the Paymaster General and the Fina ...
, the most junior minister at
HM Treasury
His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury), occasionally referred to as the Exchequer, or more informally the Treasury, is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's Government ...
. She was promoted to
Minister of State
Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. I ...
at the
Department for Work and Pensions in the June 2009 reshuffle.
In April 2008 Eagle took part in a debate in Parliament on the UK economy in which the
Liberal Democrats tabled a motion suggesting that the country was facing an "extreme
bubble in the housing market" and the "risk of
recession
In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction when there is a general decline in economic activity. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock). This may be triggered by various ...
". Eagle responded, "Fortunately for all of us … that colourful and lurid fiction has no real bearing on the macro-economic reality." A year later
Jeremy Browne, who led the original debate, said her comments "summed up the Government's delusional attitude" towards warnings of financial crisis.
In opposition
Following
Ed Miliband
Edward Samuel "Ed" Miliband (born 24 December 1969) is a British politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero since 2021. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Doncaster North since 2005. Miliba ...
's accession to
Labour Leader
The ''Labour Leader'' was a British socialist newspaper published for almost one hundred years. It was later renamed ''New Leader'' and ''Socialist Leader'', before finally taking the name ''Labour Leader'' again.
19th century
The origins of th ...
, Eagle was
elected to his
shadow cabinet, finishing tied 4th in the vote and was subsequently appointed to the
Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The chief secretary to the Treasury is a ministerial office in the government of the United Kingdom. The office is the second most senior in the Treasury, after the chancellor of the Exchequer. The office was created in 1961, to share the burde ...
briefing, shadowing
Danny Alexander.
In April 2011, Eagle was put down in the
House of Commons by Prime Minister
David Cameron when he used
Michael Winner's catchphrase "Calm down, dear". Eagle's colleague,
deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman, said: "Women in Britain in the 21st century do not expect to be told to 'calm down, dear' by their Prime Minister", with Labour officials calling for an apology, suggesting the remark was patronising and sexist.
In the October 2011 reshuffle, Eagle became
Shadow Leader of the House of Commons.
In June 2012, Eagle criticised
Take That singer
Gary Barlow in the House of Commons following newspaper allegations of
tax avoidance
Tax avoidance is the legal usage of the tax regime in a single territory to one's own advantage to reduce the amount of tax that is payable by means that are within the law. A tax shelter is one type of tax avoidance, and tax havens are jurisdi ...
made against him. Eagle criticised his recent award of the
OBE and claimed in the House of Commons that Barlow had "given a whole new meaning to the phrase 'Take That'," as well as questioning why Prime Minister David Cameron had not criticised Barlow publicly in the same way he had criticised comedian
Jimmy Carr for tax avoidance.
In May 2012, Eagle became chair of the Labour Party's
National Policy Forum and served as chair of the party's
National Executive Committee 2013–14.
Eagle, "on the vast majority of issues, votes the same way as other Labour MPs."
Deputy leadership election
Following the resignation of Miliband and deputy
Harriet Harman following Labour's defeat at the
2015 general election, Eagle stood in the
Labour Party deputy leadership election.
Eagle was nominated by 32
Constituency Labour Parties
__NOTOC__
A constituency Labour Party (CLP) is an organisation of members of the British Labour Party who live in a particular parliamentary constituency.
In England and Wales, CLP boundaries coincide with those for UK parliamentary constituen ...
and trade unions
UNISON,
CWU,
TSSA, and
UCATT and received joint support from
Unite
Unite may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums
* ''Unite'' (A Friend in London album), 2013 album by Danish band A Friend in London
* ''Unite'' (Kool & the Gang album), 1993
* ''Unite'' (The O.C. Supertones album), 2005
Songs ...
for her and fellow candidate
Tom Watson. Eagle came fourth to eventual winner Tom Watson, with 16.2% in the first round, and was eliminated in the second round on 17.9% of the vote.
Corbyn shadow cabinet
Following the leadership election, Labour Party leader
Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialis ...
appointed Eagle as
Shadow First Secretary of State
The Shadow First Secretary of State is a position in the United Kingdom's Shadow Cabinet that was created on 11 May 2015 by the Leader of the Opposition, Harriet Harman for her interim shadow cabinet. From 2005 to 2010, the office was known as ...
and
Shadow Business Secretary in September 2015.
Angela Eagle resigned from these positions on 27 June 2016 in the
mass resignation of the Shadow Cabinet in the wake of the vote for Leave in the
2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum
The United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, commonly referred to as the EU referendum or the Brexit referendum, took place on 23 June 2016 in the United Kingdom (UK) and Gibraltar to ask the electorate whether the country shoul ...
. Eagle had campaigned for the Remain side in the referendum.
Leadership challenge
After the
28 June 2016 vote of no confidence by Labour MPs in
Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialis ...
's leadership, Eagle was reported as considering a challenge for the leadership of the Labour Party, and said she would do so if Corbyn did not resign. Eagle asserted that: "I'm not a Blairite. I'm not a Brownite... I am my own woman, a strong Labour woman."
George Eaton
George Ross Eaton (born 12 November 1945) is a Canadian former racing driver who is a member of the prominent Eaton family.
Life and career
Eaton was born in Toronto, he is the youngest son of John and Signy Eaton. He gained attention as a Can ...
of the ''
New Statesman
The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...
'' reported that backers of the other potential challenger,
Owen Smith, contended that Eagle's 2003 vote in support for the
Iraq War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
and her support for extending airstrikes against ISIS into Syria (in December 2015) might harm her bid against Corbyn,
Gary Younge of ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...
'' thought it was less clear what Eagle wanted in place of Corbyn's politics. Eagle announced a leadership challenge to Corbyn on 11 July, saying that "Jeremy Corbyn is unable to provide the leadership this huge task needs. I believe I can".
On Tuesday 19 July 2016, Eagle announced she was withdrawing from the leadership election and would back the other candidate opposing Corbyn, Owen Smith, who had received about 20 more nominations from MPs and MEPs than she had. "We need to have a strong and united party so we can be a good opposition, take the fight to the Conservative Government and heal our country. So I am announcing that I will be supporting Owen in that endeavour with all my enthusiasm and might," Eagle said in an interview.
Eagle's Constituency Labour Party in Wallasey were in favour of Corbyn remaining party leader and called upon Eagle to support Corbyn as leader.
Her local party in Wallasey declared their support for Jeremy Corbyn as party leader "with an overwhelming majority" and proposed a vote of no-confidence in Eagle. This did not take place as the NEC decided to suspend all Labour constituency party meetings during the leadership election. With the support of Eagle, Wallasey Constituency Labour Party was suspended on 20 July 2016 over claims of bullying. An internal Labour Party investigation concerning complaints about incidents in Eagle's Constituency Labour Party and other events during her leadership campaign reported in October 2016. It confirmed that she had received homophobic abuse during a CLP annual general meeting earlier in the year. Pro-Corbyn activists strongly deny these accusations and note that no primary evidence has even been provided that the homophobic attacks even happened.
The day following her declaration a brick was thrown through a downstairs window at her constituency office address, and it was reported that her staff had stopped answering the telephones because of "abusive" calls. Eagle herself claimed to have received hundreds of abusive and homophobic messages at this time.
It emerged on 21 July that the police have advised Eagle not to hold any open constituency surgeries over fears for her safety, advice which she has agreed to follow with regret. "It’s highly likely that the brick thrown through the window of Angela Eagle’s office was related to her leadership challenge". According to an internal party report, "
e position of the window made it very unlikely that this was" an action of "a random passerby" and it "was directly between two Labour offices". The claim "that the building was occupied by many companies and the window was in an unrelated stairwell" was judged to be misleading as "the landlord had a number of companies registered there; in fact the only other occupant is the landlord on the upper floor".
Personal life
Eagle was joined in the
House of Commons at the 1997 general election by her twin sister,
Maria Eagle. The Eagles are one of two pairs of sisters in the Commons, as of 2017. They are identical twins.
Eagle is a
lesbian
A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...
,
coming out in a newspaper interview in September 1997. She is the second openly lesbian MP, after
Maureen Colquhoun in the 1970s.
In September 2008, Eagle entered into a
civil partnership
A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...
with Maria Exall who is also involved in the Labour Party through the
National Committee.
She is an honorary associate of the National Secular Society.
Eagle was appointed
Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...
(DBE) in the
2021 New Year Honours for parliamentary and political service.
Notes
References
External links
*
*
*
Ministerial Departures since 1997
, -
, -
, -
, -
, -
, -
, -
, -
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eagle, Angela
1961 births
Living people
Alumni of St John's College, Oxford
Confederation of Health Service Employees-sponsored MPs
Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
British identical twins
British secularists
British socialists
Chairs of the Labour Party (UK)
Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Identical twin politicians
Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Labour Friends of Israel
Lesbian feminists
Lesbian politicians
LGBT feminists
LGBT members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
LGBT politicians from England
People from Bridlington
People from Formby
British socialist feminists
English twins
UK MPs 1992–1997
UK MPs 1997–2001
UK MPs 2001–2005
UK MPs 2005–2010
UK MPs 2010–2015
UK MPs 2015–2017
UK MPs 2017–2019
UK MPs 2019–present
21st-century British women politicians
21st-century LGBT people
Women deputy opposition leaders