Karen Elizabeth Lee (born 15 January 1959) is a British
Labour Party politician. She was 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 ...
(MP) for
Lincoln
Lincoln most commonly refers to:
* Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States
* Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England
* Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S.
* Lincol ...
between the
2017 general election and the
2019 general election.
She defeated the sitting
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
MP,
Karl McCartney
Karl Ian McCartney (born 25 October 1968) is a British politician who served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport from July to September 2022. He is the Conservative Member of Parliament for Lincoln. He was first elected at ...
by 1,538 votes in the 2017 general election but lost to him in 2019.
In July 2017, Lee 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 Shadow Chancellor
John McDonnell
John Martin McDonnell (born 8 September 1951) is a British politician who served as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2015 to 2020. A member of the Labour Party, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Hayes and Harlington since 1997. ...
.
In January 2018, Lee was promoted to Labour's Shadow Home Office Team as Shadow Minister for Fire and Rescue Services.
Early life and career
Karen Lee was educated at
South Park High School, Lincoln
South Park High School, Lincoln, opened in 1922 and closed in 1989, was a secondary school in Lincoln, England.
History Grammar school
The school had originally opened in May 1922 as an all-girls grammar school (South Park High School for Girls ...
and
Lincoln College, Lincolnshire
Lincoln College is a predominantly further education college based in the City of Lincoln, England.
The college's main site is on Monks Road (B1308), specifically to the north, and to the south of Lindum Hill ( A15). It was formerly known as th ...
. She has lived in Lincoln for all of her life.
Prior to her career in politics, Lee worked in various retail jobs before training as a nurse. She worked as a nurse at
Lincoln County Hospital
Lincoln County Hospital is a large district general hospital on the eastern edge of north-east Lincoln, England. It is the largest hospital in Lincolnshire, and offers the most comprehensive services, in Lincolnshire. It is managed by the United ...
for 14 years. Since being elected to parliament, Lee has continued to serve the NHS as a nurse.
Lee has described herself as a ‘proud trade unionist’,
and before entering politics she was a Learning Representative and a Workplace Representative for UNISON.
Local Government
Karen Lee was first elected as a local councillor in 2003. She served as Mayor of Lincoln from May 2012 to May 2013.
Lee chaired Lincoln City Council Community Leadership Scrutiny Committee, which received an award from The Centre for Public Scrutiny for its efforts to reduce the effects of poverty in the city. Lee also chaired Lincoln City Council's Equality and Diversity Group.
Since being elected as Lincoln's MP, Lee has campaigned extensively on homelessness in the city and has helped establish Lincoln's Homelessness Hub. Lee has also campaigned on local issues including transport, universal credit and local health services.
Parliamentary career
Karen Lee made her maiden speech to parliament on 6 July 2017. She focused her speech on the historical significance of Lincoln, the impact of austerity and the “indignity” of poverty and food-bank use.
In her maiden speech, Lee reiterated her support for The University of Lincoln in its efforts to secure funding for a Medical School.
Frontbench positions
In July 2017 Lee was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell.
In January 2018, Lee was promoted to Labour's Shadow Home Office Team as Shadow Minister for Fire and Rescue Services.
Lee was responsible for formulating Labour's national fire policy and was the party's spokesperson for fire and emergency services.
In this role, Lee focused on the impact of austerity on firefighter pay and working conditions and called for sweeping reforms
to the substandard fire regulations
which contributed to the
Grenfell Tower fire
On 14 June 2017, a high-rise fire broke out in the 24-storey Grenfell Tower block of flats in North Kensington, West London, at 00:54 BST and burned for 60 hours. 72 people died, two later in hospital, with more than 70 injured and 223 escapin ...
.
Lee also criticised the government for failing to urgently rehouse those affected by the Grenfell tower fire. Lee has several articles relating to her role as Shadow Fire Minister in ''
HuffPost
''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...
'',
the ''
Morning Star''
and ''
LabourList
LabourList is a British news website supportive of, but independent of, the Labour Party, launched in 2009. Describing itself as Labour's "biggest independent grassroots e-network", the site's content includes news, commentary, interviews, campa ...
''.
Views
Outside of her Shadow Ministerial brief, Lee regularly participates in debates relating to healthcare. Citing her experience as a trainee Nurse, Lee has campaigned to re-instate the Nursing Bursary. She has also accused the government of under-funding and privatising the NHS. Lee is an Ambassador for Breast Cancer Care,
and helped to secure a Westminster Hall debate on the future of Breast Cancer treatment.
Lee has spoken regularly in favour of the
re-nationalisation of public services, such as railways, and against the public sector pay cap. Lee has also advocated for a more re-distributive taxation system and accused the government of forcing people in Lincoln into poverty through ‘unjust’ welfare policies and the ‘chaotic’ roll-out of Universal Credit.
Lee is considered to be on the left wing of the Labour Party's political spectrum and was a member of the
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 ...
of MPs. At
The World Transformed
The World Transformed (or TWT) is a political festival which takes place in September, at the same time as the Labour Party Conference (UK), Labour Party conference. Beginning in 2016, organisers describe its purpose as "to create a space in whi ...
festival in September 2018, Lee spoke at a Socialist Campaign Group Rally entitled Towards a Socialist Government.
Lee held elected positions on several
All Party Parliamentary Group
An all-party parliamentary group (APPG) is a grouping in the Parliament of the United Kingdom that is composed of members of parliament from all political parties, but have no official status within Parliament.
Description and functions
All-part ...
s, such as the APPG on Breast Cancer.
Lee has an interest in international human rights issues; she helped to establish the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Democracy and Human Rights in the Gulf, was the chair of the
All Party Parliamentary Group
An all-party parliamentary group (APPG) is a grouping in the Parliament of the United Kingdom that is composed of members of parliament from all political parties, but have no official status within Parliament.
Description and functions
All-part ...
on Cuba and was a member of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Tibet.
Lee voted Remain in the
2016 Brexit 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 ...
.
She was in favour of a "confirmatory" second vote and contended that a 'no-deal' Brexit would cost jobs in Lincoln.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Karen
1950s births
Living people
Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
UK MPs 2017–2019
Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Lincoln
21st-century British women politicians
Politics of Lincoln, England
People educated at Lincoln College, Lincolnshire
People educated at South Park High School, Lincoln
British women nurses
English nurses
English socialists
Mayors of Lincoln, England
21st-century English women
21st-century English people
Women mayors of places in England