Jennette Arnold, OBE is a

Labour Co-op Labour and Co-operative Party (often abbreviated Labour Co-op; cy, Llafur a'r Blaid Gydweithredol) is a description used by candidates in United Kingdom elections who stand on behalf of both the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party and the Co-operativ ...

politician who served as chair of the

London Assembly The London Assembly is a 25-member elected body, part of the Greater London Authority, that scrutinises the activities of the Mayor of London and has the power, with a two-thirds super-majority, to amend the Mayor's annual budget and to reject ...

for five terms. From 2004 to 2021, Arnold represented the North East constituency, comprising the

London Boroughs The London boroughs are the 32 local authority districts that together with the City of London make up the administrative area of Greater London; each is governed by a London borough council. The present London boroughs were all created at t ...

of Hackney,

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

and

Waltham Forest The London Borough of Waltham Forest () is a London borough in north-east London, England. Its population is estimated to be 276,983 in 2019. It borders five other London boroughs: Enfield to the north-west, Haringey to the west, Hackney to t ...

. Born in

Montserrat Montserrat ( ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, with r ...

, Arnold trained as a

nurse Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health c ...

. She then worked as an Industrial Relations Officer and as Regional Director of Services and Special Adviser (Equalities) to the General Secretary of the

Royal College of Nursing The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is a registered trade union in the United Kingdom for those in the profession of nursing. It was founded in 1916, receiving its royal charter in 1928. Queen Elizabeth II was the patron until her death in 2022. ...

. She then worked as an associate for organisational development consultancy, Beacon Associates. Arnold was elected to

Islington Council Islington London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Islington in Greater London, England. The council was created by the London Government Act 1963 and replaced two local authorities: Finsbury Metropolitan Borough C ...

in 1994, eventually serving a term as deputy mayor. On the creation of the

Greater London Authority The Greater London Authority (GLA), colloquially known by the metonym "City Hall", is the devolved regional governance body of Greater London. It consists of two political branches: the executive Mayoralty (currently led by Sadiq Khan) and the ...

in 2000, she was included on Labour's Londonwide list for the

, but missed out on a spot. Following the resignation of

David Lammy David Lindon Lammy (born 19 July 1972) is an English politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs since 2021. A member of the Labour Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Tottenh ...

prompted by his election as a

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 ...

, Arnold as next in line on Labour's list became a Londonwide member of the Assembly in July 2000. She was subsequently selected as Labour's candidate for the North East constituency and elected in the 2004 Assembly election. Arnold served as Chair of the London Assembly for five terms. She was the London Assembly Labour Group's lead spokesperson on education and Chair of the London Assembly's Education Panel. Arnold previously chaired the

Cultural Strategy Group The Cultural Strategy Group is an official body of City Hall London and the Greater London Authority, whose members are appointed by the Mayor of London to develop strategic policy in the capital city in regard to culture, media, sport, arts, her ...

for London, playing a role in bringing the 2012 Olympic and

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

to London. She has also sat on the Assembly's Economic and Social Development Committee and served as a member of the

Metropolitan Police Authority The Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) (2000–2012) was the local police authority responsible for scrutinising and supporting the work of the Metropolitan Police Service, the police force for Greater London (excluding the City of London Police ...

. During her time in the Assembly, Arnold campaigned on issues including the provision of education for young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and the improvement of services on the Gospel Oak to Barking line. She also campaigned extensively on the eradication of

Female Genital Mutilation Female genital mutilation (FGM), also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision, is the ritual cutting or removal of some or all of the external female genitalia. The practice is found ...

(FGM), often citing witnessing a victim of FGM during her time as a student nurse as what prompted her to take action. In 2007 Arnold was listed by ''

New Nation ''New Nation'' was a weekly newspaper published in the UK for the Black British community. Launched in 1996, the newspaper was Britain's Number 1-selling black newspaper. The paper was published every Monday. ''New Nation'' was initially lau ...

'' newspaper as one of Britain's 50 most influential black women. A member of the UK delegation on the

European Committee of the Regions The European Committee of the Regions (CoR) is the European Union's (EU) assembly of local and regional representatives that provides sub-national authorities (i.e. regions, counties, provinces, municipalities and cities) with a direct voice w ...

, Arnold is currently: a council member of the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a non-commercial West End theatre in Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, Englan ...

; a governor of the

Museum of London The Museum of London is a museum in London, covering the history of the UK's capital city from prehistoric to modern times. It was formed in 1976 by amalgamating collections previously held by the City Corporation at the Guildhall, London, Gui ...

; a governor of

Sadler's Wells Theatre Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue in Clerkenwell, London, England located on Rosebery Avenue next to New River Head. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500-seat ...

Foundation, a patron of the Victoria Climbie Foundation, and a former Chair of the

Stephen Lawrence Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; h ...

Charitable Trust. During the 2015 Labour Party leadership election Arnold endorsed

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 socialist ...

. In January 2019 Arnold announced in a statement to the Assembly that she would not be standing in the 2020 London Assembly election. In May 2020, she stepped down as chair and was replaced by

Navin Shah Navin Fakirchand Shah (born September 1946) is a British Labour Party politician. Shah moved to the United Kingdom in 1973 to study at University College London. He joined the Labour Party in 1977 and was elected to Harrow London Borough Cou ...

. However, with the deferral of the election by one year due to 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 ...

, she continued as an AM until the

2021 London Assembly election The 2021 London Assembly election was held on 6 May 2021 to elect the members of the London Assembly, alongside the 2021 London mayoral election. The mayoral and Assembly elections were originally to be held on 7 May 2020, but on 13 March 2020 ...

References

External links

Personal website Jennettearnold.com

Biography from the London Assembly
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arnold, Jennette Year of birth missing (living people) Living people British nurses Labour Co-operative Members of the London Assembly Politics of the London Borough of Hackney Montserratian emigrants to the United Kingdom Councillors in the London Borough of Islington British socialist feminists Black British women politicians Officers of the Order of the British Empire Women councillors in England