Elizabeth Marion Blackman (born 26 September 1949) is a British Labour Party

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

, who 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 Erewash from

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

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. She served as a

Government 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 o ...

from 2007 to 2008.

Early life

Blackman was born in 1949 in Penrith,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. She was educated at the

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

and County School for Girls (now called

Richard Rose Central Academy Richard Rose Central Academy is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form with academy status. It is located in Carlisle in the English county of Cumbria. History Grammar school The school traces its roots to Carlisle & County High Sch ...

); Prince Henry's Grammar School in

Otley Otley is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at a bridging point on the River Wharfe, in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically a part of the West Ridi ...

; and Clifton College, Nottingham, where she was awarded a

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degree in 1972. She taught history at Bramcote Park Comprehensive School, an

upper school Upper schools in the UK are usually schools within secondary education. Outside England, the term normally refers to a section of a larger school. England The three-tier model Upper schools are a type of secondary school found in a minority of ...

, in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

, and in 1991 she was elected as a councillor to

Broxtowe Borough Council Broxtowe refers to a number of geographic entities, current and historic, in Nottinghamshire, England: * Broxtowe, Nottingham, a housing estate in Apsley ward, within the City of Nottingham * Broxtowe (UK Parliament constituency), the constituency ...

, and became its deputy leader in 1995 until her election to

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

in 1997. She stood down from the council in 1998.

Parliamentary career

Blackman was selected to stand for election for Labour through 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 ...

. Blackman was elected as the Labour MP for Erewash at the 1997 General Election, defeating the

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 ...

Angela Knight Angela Ann Knight CBE (born Angela Ann Cook, 31 October 1950) was the chair of the Office of Tax Simplification. She was replaced on 18 March 2019. Previously she was the Chief Executive of Energy UK, the trade association for the energy indus ...

. She began her progress up the political ladder when she was nominated to the

Treasury A treasury is either *A government department related to finance and taxation, a finance ministry. *A place or location where treasure, such as currency or precious items are kept. These can be state or royal property, church treasure or in p ...

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in 1997, replacing

Diane Abbott Diane Julie Abbott (born 27 September 1953) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Hackney North and Stoke Newington since 1987. A member of the Labour Party, she served in the Shadow Cabinet of Jeremy Corbyn as Sh ...

. In 2000 she became the

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 ...

(PPS) to

Defence Secretary A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

Geoff Hoon Geoffrey William Hoon (born 6 December 1953) is a British Labour Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ashfield in Nottinghamshire from 1992 to 2010. He is a former Defence Secretary, Transport Secretary, Leader of ...

. She remained Hoon's PPS after the 2005 General Election in his new position as

Leader of the House of Commons The leader of the House of Commons is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom whose main role is organising government business in the House of Commons. The leader is generally a member or attendee of the cabinet of the ...

. She was promoted to

and Vice-Chamberlain of the Household in 2007 but stood down from the government in 2008. On 9 January 2010, Blackman announced that she would stand down at the 2010 general election.

Expenses controversy

On 16 May 2009 ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' revealed details of Blackman's expense claims, showing she had made especially large Additional costs allowance claims. The paper revealed that she had gone on shopping sprees at the end of each financial year in order to claim the maximum possible expenses, purchasing items such as a £199 DVD player, £150 on bed linen and £60 on towels. In 2004/5 her claim was £9 below the maximum possible allowable claim of £20,893, and the following year her claim was within just £2 of the limit. Blackman was one of 98 MPs who supported a bill in 2007 to keep their expense details secret.

Personal life

She was formerly married to Derek Blackman; the couple had a son and daughter, but divorced in 1999.

References

External links

Official Website

The Labour Party - Liz Blackman MP
official biography *

TheyWorkForYou.com - Liz Blackman MP
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blackman, Liz 1949 births Living people People from Penrith, Cumbria Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 Councillors in Nottinghamshire Alumni of Nottingham Trent University Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Derbyshire 20th-century British women politicians 21st-century British women politicians People educated at Prince Henry's Grammar School, Otley 20th-century English women 20th-century English people 21st-century English women 21st-century English people Women councillors in England