Lyn Carol Brown (born 13 April 1960) is a British politician serving 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

West Ham West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham. The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancien ...

since

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

. A member of the Labour Party, she was a Shadow Minister for the Home Office from 2015 to 2016, Shadow Policing Minister from 2016 to 2017,

Shadow Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury The Shadow Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury is a member of the Official Opposition frontbench in the United Kingdom. The officeholder shadows the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury. The current officeholder is Labour MP Abena Oppong-Asare ...

from 2018 to 2020, and Shadow Minister for Prisons and Probation from 2020 to 2021.

Early life and career

Brown was born in London to Joseph and Iris Brown. She was educated at Drew Road Primary School,

Silvertown Silvertown is a district in the London Borough of Newham, in east London, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, Thames and was historically part of the parishes of West Ham and East Ham, Becontree Hundred, hundred of Becontr ...

and Plashet Comprehensive School before attending the

Whitelands College Whitelands College is the oldest of the four constituent colleges of the University of Roehampton. History Whitelands College is one of the oldest higher education institutions in England (predating every university except Oxford, Cambridge, Lo ...

, Putney (now part of

Roehampton University The University of Roehampton, London, formerly Roehampton Institute of Higher Education, is a public university in the United Kingdom, situated on three major sites in Roehampton, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. Roehampton was formerly an e ...

). In 1984 she began work as a

social worker Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social work ...

for the

London Borough of Ealing The London Borough of Ealing () is a London borough in West London. It comprises seven major towns: Acton (W3), Ealing (W5, W13, NW10), Greenford (UB6), Hanwell (W7), Northolt (UB5), Perivale (UB6) and Southall (UB1, UB2). With a population of 3 ...

.Ms Lyn Brown, MP Authorised Biography – Debrett’s People of Today, Ms Lyn Brown, MP Profile
. Debretts.com (13 April 1960). Retrieved on 2011-07-16. She was elected as a councillor to

Newham London Borough Council Newham London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Newham. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. The council is unusual in that its executive function is controlled by a dir ...

in 1988. She unsuccessfully contested Wanstead and Woodford at the 1992 general election but was beaten by 16,885 votes by 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 ...

James Arbuthnot James Norwich Arbuthnot, Baron Arbuthnot of Edrom, (born 4 August 1952), is a British Conservative Party politician. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Wanstead and Woodford from 1987 to 1997, and then MP for North East Hampshire from 19 ...

Parliamentary career

In 2005,

MP Tony Banks retired and Lyn Brown was selected to contest the safe Labour seat 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 ...

. Lyn Brown became the seat's MP at the 2005 general election with a majority of 9,801 votes. She made her

maiden speech A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament. Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...

on 23 May 2005. In 2006, Brown 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 ...

to the Communities and Local Government Minister,

Phil Woolas Philip James Woolas (born 11 December 1959) is a British environmental consultant, political lobbyist and former television producer and politician who served as Minister of State for Borders and Immigration from 2008 to 2010. A member of the ...

. In July 2007 she was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to

John Denham John Denham may refer to: * John Denham (died 1556 or later), English MP for Shaftesbury * John Denham (judge), (1559–1639), father of the poet below, and one of the Ship Money judges * John Denham (poet) (1615–1669), English poet * John Denham ...

, Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills. In June 2009 she was promoted to become an Assistant

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 ...

. She remained as a whip, in opposition, following the 2010 general election. In June 2011, Brown was criticised by campaigners for recruiting an unpaid

intern An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and gover ...

whilst also supporting "a

living wage A living wage is defined as the minimum income necessary for a worker to meet their basic needs. This is not the same as a subsistence wage, which refers to a biological minimum, or a solidarity wage, which refers to a minimum wage tracking labor ...

for all". Gus Baker of

Intern Aware Intern Aware is the United Kingdom national campaign for fair internships, founded in 2010. Working closely in cooperation with businesses, trade bodies and trade unions, they aim to help employers develop high quality internship schemes with recru ...

stated Brown had replaced a paid member of staff with an unpaid intern, accusing her of double

hypocrisy Hypocrisy is the practice of engaging in the same behavior or activity for which one criticizes another or the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform. In moral psychology, it is the ...

and noting how such conduct denied opportunities to poorer people such as those from Brown's constituency. Brown stated she "would like to pay everyone" in her office, but "did not have the resources to do so". In October 2013, Brown was appointed by

Ed Miliband Edward Samuel "Ed" Miliband (born 24 December 1969) is a British politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Climate Change and Net Zero since 2021. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Doncaster North since 2005. Miliband ...

to serve as Shadow Minister for Communities and Local Government. In September 2015, she was appointed as a Shadow Home Office Minister by Labour leader

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialist ...

, a position from which she resigned on 28 June 2016, before subsequently supporting

Owen Smith Owen Smith (born 2 May 1970) is a former Labour Party politician and subsequently a British lobbyist, who has been the UK government relations director for pharmaceutical company Bristol Myers Squibb since 2020. Smith was Member of Parliamen ...

in the

2016 Labour Party (UK) leadership election The 2016 Labour Party leadership election was called when a challenge to Jeremy Corbyn as Leader of the Labour Party arose following criticism of his approach to the Remain campaign in the referendum on membership of the European Union and q ...

. In October 2016, Corbyn reappointed Brown to serve as a Shadow Minister, as Shadow Minister for Policing, during which time, Brown temporarily replaced

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 ...

as Shadow Home Secretary during a period of ill health for Abbott.

Personal life

In May 2008 Brown married John Cullen and exercised her privilege as a member of Parliament to hold the ceremony in the

Chapel of St Mary Undercroft The Chapel of St Mary Undercroft is a Church of England chapel located in the Palace of Westminster, London, England. The chapel is accessed via a flight of stairs in the south east corner of Westminster Hall. It had been a crypt below St St ...

in the

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

. The ceremony was performed by fellow Labour MP and former vicar

Chris Bryant Christopher John Bryant (born 11 January 1962) is a British people, British politician and former Anglican priest who is the Chair of the Committees on Commons Select Committee on Standards, Standards and Commons Select Committee of Privileges, ...

. Until May 2009, Brown rented a central London flat using the second home allowance, despite her constituency being only 6 miles from Westminster. Brown's hobbies include reading

crime fiction Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

and

walking Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an 'inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults o ...

References

External links

Lyn Brown MP
''official constituency website''
Newham Labour Party
* * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Lyn 1960 births 21st-century British women politicians People from Silvertown Alumni of the University of Roehampton Councillors in the London Borough of Newham Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Living people People educated at Plashet School Politicians from London UK MPs 2005–2010 UK MPs 2010–2015 UK MPs 2015–2017 UK MPs 2017–2019 UK MPs 2019–present 21st-century English women 21st-century English people Women councillors in England