Jennifer "Jennie" Formby (' Sandle; born 12 April 1960) is a British trade unionist and political figure who served as

General Secretary of the Labour Party The General Secretary of the Labour Party is the most senior employee of the British Labour Party, and acts as the non-voting secretary to the National Executive Committee. When there is a vacancy the National Executive Committee selects a provi ...

from 2018 to 2020. She was previously political director and south-east England regional secretary for

Unite the Union Unite the Union, commonly known as Unite, is a British and Irish trade union which was formed on 1 May 2007 by the merger of Amicus and the Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU). Unite is the second largest trade union in the UK (afte ...

Early life

Born Jennifer Sandle in London, her father served in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

in Korea, Suez and Lebanon. She grew up with an older brother and sister in

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

, Bath and

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...

. She went to Bath High School for Girls then St Helen and St Katharine boarding school in Abingdon, paid for by the Royal Navy from the age of 14. Formby left school with 10

O levels The O-Level (Ordinary Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education. It was introduced in place of the School Certificate in 1951 as part of an educational reform alongside the more in-depth ...

and 3 A levels, but chose not to go to university.

Trade unionism

Formby became a trade unionist when she began her working life in Salisbury at the bookmakers William Hill in the late 1970s, and became a branch secretary in Unite's predecessor, the

Transport and General Workers' Union The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU or T&G) was one of the largest general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland – where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU) to differentiate its ...

. She later worked for BOC in

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

, where she became a union

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 ...

. Formby became a

regional officer in 1988. She represented a Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust nurse in a ground-breaking

employment tribunal Employment tribunals are tribunal public bodies in England and Wales and Scotland which have statutory jurisdiction to hear many kinds of disputes between employers and employees. The most common disputes are concerned with unfair dismissal, red ...

case in 2004, where the black nurse suffered racial discrimination by being banned from caring for a white baby. Formby became the union's national officer for the food, drink and tobacco sector in 2004. In 2013, she was appointed Unite's political director. In March 2016, Formby moved to the post of regional secretary in

south-east England South East England is one of the nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It consists of the counties of Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, ...

Labour Party

Since late 2011, Formby has been a member of the

National Executive Committee National Executive Committee is the name of a leadership body in several organizations, mostly political parties: * National Executive Committee of the African National Congress, in South Africa * Australian Labor Party National Executive * Nationa ...

(NEC) of the Labour Party. In February 2018, Formby announced she was a candidate to become

, shortly after the incumbent,

Iain McNicol Iain Mackenzie McNicol, Baron McNicol of West Kilbride (born 17 August 1969) is a British politician, trade unionist and life peer who served as General Secretary of the Labour Party from 2011 to 2018. He was National Political Officer of the ...

, resigned. Her main rival, Jon Lansman, the chair of Momentum, dropped out of contention on 11 March, making Formby the frontrunner. On 20 March 2018, she was appointed to the role, effective from April 2018. She resigned on 4 May 2020, a month following the election of

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 ...

as new Labour leader, saying "now we have a new leadership team it is the right time to step down". She was succeeded by David Evans.

Personal life

Formby and

Len McCluskey Leonard David McCluskey (born 23 July 1950) is a British trade unionist. He was General Secretary of Unite the Union, the largest affiliate and a major donor to the Labour Party. As a young adult, he spent some years working in the Liverpool D ...

had a child in 1991. She married Freddie Formby in 2000 and the couple had two children together and adopted a third. In March 2019, Formby announced that she was to undergo treatment for breast cancer.Labour party's general secretary diagnosed with breast cancer
''The Guardian''. Retrieved 26 March 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Formby, Jennie 1960 births Living people People educated at Bath High School for Girls People educated at the School of St Helen and St Katharine English trade unionists Labour Party (UK) officials People from Bath, Somerset People from Salisbury Unite the Union English women trade unionists