Janet Jessica Daby (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Sarju; born 15 December 1970) is a British politician who has served as

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 ...

(MP) for

Lewisham East Lewisham East is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since the by-election on 14 June 2018 by Janet Daby of the Labour Party. History Lewisham East was created for the 1918 general election. ...

since

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

. A member of the

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

Party, she was Shadow Minister for Faiths from April to December 2020 and a Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities from July to December 2020.

Early life

Janet Jessica Sarju was born to parents who were ''Windrush'' migrants from

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

and

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. She was brought up on a

council estate Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council estates, council housing, or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011 when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in so ...

where, as a child, racists pelted her windows with eggs three nights in a row. She attended

Blackheath Bluecoat School Blackheath Bluecoat Church of England School was a secondary school and sixth form located in the Blackheath Standard area of Blackheath, London, Blackheath, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich. Its closure was announced in January 2012 and the sch ...

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

. She worked in volunteer management and children's social care, acting as a registered fostering manager.

Political career

Daby was elected as a

Lewisham Lewisham () is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified i ...

borough councillor at the

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local elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...

, in which she gained the Whitefoot ward from the Liberal Democrats and received the most votes of the three elected candidates. She was re-elected in

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

and

, also topping the poll on these occasions. In addition, Daby served as deputy mayor of the

London Borough of Lewisham Lewisham () is a London borough in south-east London; it forms part of Inner London. The principal settlement of the borough is Lewisham. The local authority is Lewisham London Borough Council, based in Catford. The Prime Meridian passes throug ...

during this period. In 2013, she founded the Whitefoot and Downham Community Food + Project, which she also became a director of. A by-election was triggered in

by the resignation of the incumbent Labour MP

Heidi Alexander Heidi Alexander (born 17 April 1975) is a British politician who served as Deputy Mayor of London for Transport from 2018 to 2021. A member of the Labour Party, she was Member of Parliament (MP) for Lewisham East from 2010 to 2018. Alexander ...

in May 2018; the seat, which included Daby's Whitefoot ward, has generally been considered

safe A safe (also called a strongbox or coffer) is a secure lockable box used for securing valuable objects against theft or fire. A safe is usually a hollow cuboid or cylinder, with one face being removable or hinged to form a door. The body and ...

for the Labour Party in recent years. Daby was selected as Labour's by-election candidate after hustings involving an

all-women shortlist All-women shortlists (AWS) is an affirmative action practice intended to increase the proportion of female Members of Parliament (MPs) in the United Kingdom, allowing only women to stand in particular constituencies for a particular political p ...

. She retained the seat for Labour at the June 2018 by-election with 50.2% of the vote, although Labour's majority was reduced by 19.3%. In response to ongoing uncertainty over

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...

, Daby pledged to fight for the UK to remain in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

customs union A customs union is generally defined as a type of trade bloc which is composed of a free trade area with a common external tariff.GATTArticle 24 s. 8 (a) Customs unions are established through trade pacts where the participant countries set up ...

and the single market. Daby announced her resignation as a Lewisham councillor on 20 March 2019, to concentrate on her role as an MP, noting that she would continue to represent Whitefoot residents in the

Houses of Parliament The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north bank ...

. She was re-elected to

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

at the December 2019 general election with 26,661 votes, representing a majority of 17,008. On 9 April 2020, Daby was given her first shadow ministerial post by Labour Party leader

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 (MP) for Holborn and St Pancras ...

as Shadow Minister for Faiths. She also became a Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities in July 2020. She resigned from the front bench on 7 December 2020, after she suggested that registrars who have a religious objection to

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

should be protected from losing their jobs if they refuse to certify the partnership, an action which would be viewed as unlawful discrimination. She later apologised for her remarks. Daby was appointed

Parliamentary Private Secretary A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...

to the shadow Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs team on 4 December 2021.

Personal life

Daby married Donald Daby in 2003; the couple have a son and a daughter. She has lived in Lewisham for over 20 years.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Daby, Janet 1970 births Living people 21st-century British women politicians Black British women politicians Councillors in the London Borough of Lewisham English people of Guyanese descent English people of Jamaican descent Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies People from the London Borough of Lewisham UK MPs 2017–2019 UK MPs 2019–present Black British MPs Women councillors in England