Kim Marie Johnson (born 25 August 1966) is a British Labour Party politician. She has been 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 Liverpool Riverside since the 2019 general election. She is Liverpool's first black MP. She is 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 ...

parliamentary

caucus A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures. The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to a meeting ...

Early life and career

Kim is the daughter of Joseph Johnson and Kathleen Johnson. She has a Diploma in Youth and Community Work, a BA in Social Studies, and a Postgraduate Certificate. Since 2015, Johnson has been the Chairperson of Squash Liverpool, a Community Interest Company. In 2020, she became a patron of Mandela8. Prior to becoming an MP, Johnson was a

Unison In music, unison is two or more musical parts that sound either the same pitch or pitches separated by intervals of one or more octaves, usually at the same time. ''Rhythmic unison'' is another term for homorhythm. Definition Unison or per ...

shop steward A union representative, union steward, or shop steward is an employee of an organization or company who represents and defends the interests of their fellow employees as a labor union member and official. Rank-and-file members of the union hold ...

. She held a role of creative diversity manager in the Capital of Culture bid team, representing the longest established black community in the country.

Parliamentary career

On 4 November 2019, Johnson was selected as Labour's candidate for Liverpool Riverside by a panel made up of national, regional and local party representatives. She replaced Dame Louise Ellman in that role after the latter chose to leave the party over the issue of

anti-Semitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

. She was elected at the 2019 general election, winning 41,170 votes, representing 78.0% of the vote. She sits on the

Women and Equalities Committee The Women and Equalities Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was established following the 2015 general election to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Governm ...

, Education Committee and Speaker's Advisory Committee on Works of Art. On 15 October 2020, Johnson resigned as Parliamentary Private Secretary to

Angela Rayner Angela Rayner (' Bowen; born 28 March 1980) is a British politician serving as Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office and Shadow Secretary of State for the Future of Work since 2021. She has been Shad ...

to vote against the proposed

Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Bill The Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Act 2021 (c. 4) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The act makes provision for the use of undercover law enforcement agents and covert sources and the committing of crime ...

, disagreeing with the Labour whip to abstain. On 10 May 2021, Johnson publicly described the shadow cabinet reshuffle; specifically

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 ...

's treatment of

as a "despicable act of cowardice". She again criticised the leadership after Starmer wrote an article for '' The Sun'', a newspaper her Liverpool constituency had been boycotting after its coverage of the

Hillsborough disaster The Hillsborough disaster was a fatal human crush during a football match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989. It occurred during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in the ...

. In June 2022, Johnson accused

Merseyside Police Merseyside Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing Merseyside in North West England. The service area is 647 square kilometres with a population of around 1.5 million. As of September 2017 the service has 3,484 police of ...

of being "institutionally racist" after officers carried out an armed stop and search of two black men in Liverpool.

Personal life

Johnson has a son and daughter. Outside politics, her recreations are running, boxing, theatre and arts.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Kim 1960 births Living people Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 2019–present 21st-century British women politicians Black British women politicians Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Liverpool constituencies Trade unionists from Liverpool Black British MPs