Christopher (Chris) John Lennie (born 22 February 1953) is a British politician and

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages ...

who served as Deputy General Secretary of the Labour Party from 2001 to 2012. He has been 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 ideology ...

in the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

since 2016 and a Shadow Spokesperson since 2021.

Political career

Lennie was regional director of the Labour Party in Northern England, and appointed Assistant General Secretary of the national party after the 2001 general election. He also served as Acting General Secretary on a couple of occasions. He was shortlisted alongside

Iain McNicol Iain Mackenzie McNicol, Baron McNicol of West Kilbride (born 17 August 1969) is a British politician, trade unionist and life peer who served as General Secretary of the Labour Party from 2011 to 2018. He was National Political Officer of the ...

, then GMB Political Officer, to become General Secretary of the Labour Party in 2011. Despite reportedly being party leader's

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. Miliband ...

's favoured candidate, Labour's NEC selected McNicol in a move seen as a departure from the New Labour era. Lennie was appointed as a

in the House of Lords on 22 September 2014, as Baron Lennie of Longsands

Tynemouth Tynemouth () is a coastal town in the metropolitan borough of North Tyneside, North East England. It is located on the north side of the mouth of the River Tyne, hence its name. It is 8 mi (13 km) east-northeast of Newcastle upon T ...

in the County of

Tyne and Wear Tyne and Wear () is a metropolitan county in North East England, situated around the mouths of the rivers Tyne and Wear. It was created in 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972, along with five metropolitan boroughs of Gateshead, Newcastl ...

. He joined the opposition front bench as a

whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

in October 2016, and became a Shadow Spokesperson for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and

International Trade International trade is the exchange of capital, goods, and services across international borders or territories because there is a need or want of goods or services. (see: World economy) In most countries, such trade represents a significant ...

in May 2021.

References

External links

Profile
at

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

, - Labour Party (UK) life peers Life peers created by Elizabeth II Place of birth missing (living people) 1953 births Living people {{life-peer-stub