Bellavia Janet Ribeiro-Addy (born 1 March 1985) is a

British Labour Party The Labour Party is a List of political parties in the United Kingdom, political party in the United Kingdom that has been described as an alliance of Social democracy, social democrats, Democratic socialism, democratic socialists and trade u ...

politician who has served 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 of ...

for

Streatham Streatham ( ) is a district in south London, England. Centred south of Charing Cross, it lies mostly within the London Borough of Lambeth, with some parts extending into the neighbouring London Borough of Wandsworth. Streatham was in Surrey ...

since the 2019 general election. Solidly on the left of the Party, she considers herself a "life-long socialist" and a feminist and was briefly Shadow Minister of State for Immigration in 2020.

Early life

Born and raised in

, Ribeiro-Addy grew up in a working-class family on a council estate on

Brixton Hill Brixton Hill is the name given to a section of road between Brixton and Streatham Hill in south London, England. Brixton Hill and Streatham Hill form part of the traditional main London to Brighton road (A23). The road follows the line of a ...

. She is Christian and of Ghanaian descent. Ribeiro-Addy was able to attend the independent

Streatham and Clapham High School Streatham & Clapham High School is an independent day school for girls aged 3 to 18, in south London. The school was founded in 1887 by the Girls' Day School Trust, Girls' Public Day School Company, which established schools for girls providin ...

on a scholarship. She went on to graduate with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in Biomedical Science with Ethics & Philosophy of Science from the

University of Bradford The University of Bradford is a Public university, public research university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. A plate glass university, it received its royal charter in 1966, making it the 40th university to be creat ...

in 2006. She then completed a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in Medical Law & Ethics at

Queen Mary University of London , mottoeng = With united powers , established = 1785 – The London Hospital Medical College1843 – St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College1882 – Westfield College1887 – East London College/Queen Mary College , type = Public researc ...

, awarded in 2007, and a

Graduate Diploma in Law The Graduate Diploma in Law/Postgraduate Diploma in Law/Common Professional Examination (GDL/PGDL/CPE) is a postgraduate law course in England and Wales that is taken by non-law graduates (graduates who have a degree in a discipline that is not la ...

BPP Law School BPP University Law School is a private, for-profit provider of professional and academic legal education in the United Kingdom and one of the founding schools of BPP University. History BPP Law School has degree awarding powers through its pare ...

, awarded in 2015. She was the National Black Students' Officer for the National Union of Students (NUS) from 2008 to 2010, national co-ordinator of the Student Assembly Against Racism, and the national convenor of the NUS' Anti-Racism/Anti-Fascism campaign. In 2010, she and LGBT+ officer Daf Adley pushed the Durham Union Society to cancel a debate on multiculturalism, concerned for students' safety if BNP MEP

Andrew Brons Andrew Henry William Brons (born 3 June 1947) is a British politician and former MEP. Long active in far-right politics in Britain, he was elected as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Yorkshire and the Humber for the British National ...

were to speak on campus.

Political career

Before becoming an MP, Ribeiro-Addy was chief of staff to former Labour frontbencher

Diane Abbott Diane Julie Abbott (born 27 September 1953) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Hackney North and Stoke Newington since 1987. A member of the Labour Party, she served in the Shadow Cabinet of Jeremy Corbyn as Sh ...

. She has sat as a

school governor In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, school governors are the overseers of a school. In state schools, they have three main functions: *Giving the school a clear vision, ethos and strategic direction *Holding the headteacher to account for the ...

Saint Gabriel's College, Camberwell Saint Gabriel's College, is a Church of England co-educational secondary school located in the London Borough of Lambeth. History Saint Gabriel's, which developed out of Charles Edward Brooke School, opened as a Specialist Arts and Music Coll ...

since 2018. Ribeiro-Addy was elected as the Labour MP for Streatham in the 2019 general election with a majority of 17,690, reduced by over 8,000. Ribeiro-Addy in her

maiden speech A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament. Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...

called for some form of

reparations Reparation(s) may refer to: Christianity * Restitution (theology), the Christian doctrine calling for reparation * Acts of reparation, prayers for repairing the damages of sin History *War reparations **World War I reparations, made from G ...

to former

colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

subjects. In one of her first news interviews as an MP, Ribeiro-Addy called for the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Ghana, stating that "it is my duty to make sure all people are free, and not discriminated against." In January 2020, Ribeiro-Addy was appointed as

Shadow Minister for Immigration The frontbench of His Majesty's Loyal Opposition in the Parliament of the United Kingdom consists of the Shadow Cabinet and other official shadow ministers of the political party currently serving as the Official Opposition. The Opposition fron ...

, just weeks after her election as a member of parliament. She was not retained in the role following the election of

Sir Keir Starmer Sir Keir Rodney Starmer (; born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and barrister who has served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He has been Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) ...

as Labour Leader. She became the Co-chairperson of Labour's left-wing

Socialist Campaign Group The Socialist Campaign Group, officially the Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs and also known as the Campaign Group, is a left-wing, democratic socialist grouping of the Labour Party's Members of Parliament in the House of Commons of the ...

. She has challenged the role of the media in devaluing black female MPs, particularly regarding

BBC Parliament BBC Parliament is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel from the BBC that broadcasts live and recorded coverage of the House of Commons, House of Lords and Select Committees of the British Parliament, the Scottish Parliament ...

errors. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Ribeiro-Addy called on the government to release people held in immigration detention centres. Ribeiro-Addy is a supporter of adopting a

Zero-COVID Zero-COVID, also known as COVID-Zero and "Find, Test, Trace, Isolate, and Support" (FTTIS), is a public health policy that has been implemented by some countries during the COVID-19 pandemic.Anna Llupià, Rodríguez-Giralt, Anna Fité, Lola Ála ...

strategy to combat the

and wrote an article in June 2021 in support of delaying the lifting of lockdown, criticised a 'vaccine only' approach and called for the continuation of restrictions until case numbers reach zero. In December 2021, she voted against the introduction of vaccine passports and mandatory vaccination of

NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

staff. On 24 February 2022, following the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

, Ribeiro-Addy was one of 11 Labour MPs threatened with losing the party whip after they signed a statement by the

Stop the War Coalition The Stop the War Coalition (StWC), informally known simply as Stop the War, is a British group established on 21 September 2001, shortly after the September 11 attacks, to campaign against what it believes are unjust wars. The Coalition has c ...

which questioned the legitimacy of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

and accused the military alliance of "eastward expansion". All 11 MPs subsequently removed their signatures.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ribeiro-Addy, Bell Living people 1985 births 21st-century British women politicians Alumni of Queen Mary University of London Alumni of the University of Bradford British anti-racism activists Black British women politicians English socialists English anti-fascists English people of Ghanaian descent Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies People educated at Streatham and Clapham High School People from the London Borough of Lambeth School governors British socialist feminists UK MPs 2019–present English Christian socialists Black British MPs