Susan Mary Hayman, Baroness Hayman of Ullock (''née'' Bentley; born 28 July 1962) is a British politician and life peer who served as Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2017 to 2019. A member of the Labour Party, she was

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 o ...

(MP) for

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England. The town was historically in Cumberland. At the 2011 census it had a population of 25,207. Locat ...

from 2015 to 2019 and appointed to the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

in 2020. Hayman served as an

Opposition 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 ...

from 2015 to 2016 and Shadow Minister for Flooding and Coastal Communities from 2016 to 2017. She has been a Shadow Spokesperson for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and an Opposition Whip since 2020, and a Shadow Spokesperson for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities since 2021.

Early life and career

Susan Mary Bentley was born on 28 July 1962 in

Upper Bucklebury Upper may refer to: * Shoe upper or ''vamp'', the part of a shoe on the top of the foot * Stimulant, drugs which induce temporary improvements in either mental or physical function or both * ''Upper'', the original film title for the 2013 found f ...

, Berkshire to John and Rita Bentley. She attended St Bartholomew's School in Newbury, and studied English literature at

Anglia Ruskin University Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) is a public university in East Anglia, United Kingdom. Its origins are in the Cambridge School of Art, founded by William John Beamont in 1858. It became a university in 1992, and was renamed after John Ruskin in ...

. Her first job was working in a bookshop. She has also worked in social services. From 1997 to 2001, she worked as the office manager for MP Tess Kingham in Gloucester. She then worked as campaigns and communication manager for MP Mike Foster. Hayman worked in

public relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. ...

as a consultant for Copper Consultancy where she was account director before becoming their head of public affairs. She then became a self-employed consultant.

Political career

Hayman was third on Labour's party list for

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

in the 2004 European Parliament election but was not elected as an MEP. She stood as a candidate in the 2005 general election for

Preseli Pembrokeshire Preseli Pembrokeshire (, ; cy, Preseli Sir Benfro) was one of six local government districts of Dyfed in West Wales from 1974 to 1996. Until 1987 the name of the district was Preseli. The district took its name from the Preseli Hills. Creation Th ...

after the incumbent Labour MP, Jackie Lawrence, stood down. Hayman lost to Conservative Stephen Crabb. In the 2010 general election, she contested Halesowen and Rowley Regis. The constituency had been represented by Labour MP Sylvia Heal since 1997. Hayman lost the seat to Conservative James Morris. Hayman was elected to represent Howgate division on

Cumbria County Council Cumbria County Council is the county council for the non-metropolitan county of Cumbria in the North West of England. Established in April 1974, following its first elections held the previous year, it is an elected local government body respon ...

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

, on which she later became vice-chair of the Children's Scrutiny Committee. She resigned her seat shortly after her election to Parliament in 2015.

House of Commons

She was elected as MP for the all women shortlist seat of

in the 2015 general election, she became the first female MP to represent a constituency in

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. C ...

. From July to October 2015, she sat on the

Justice Select Committee The Justice Select Committee of the United Kingdom is a select committee of the House of Commons which scrutinizes the policy, administration, and spending of the Ministry of Justice. In addition, the committee examines the work of the Law Offi ...

. Hayman was an opposition whip from September 2015 to October 2016. She campaigned against the closure of Workington's magistrates court. In February 2016, the Ministry of Justice announced that the court would not be closed. She supported

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 failed attempt to replace

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 ...

in the 2016 Labour Party leadership election. Following Corbyn's re-election as Labour leader, she was appointed to the new Shadow Minister for Flooding and Coastal Communities post in October 2016. In February 2017, she was promoted to Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs after

Rachael Maskell Rachael Helen Maskell (born 5 July 1972) is a British politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for York Central since 2015. A member of the Labour and Co-operative parties, she was Shadow Environment Secretary from 2016 to 2017 and Sh ...

's resignation. Hayman retained her seat in the June 2017 general election with a majority of 3,925 (9.4%). During the election, the Conservative Party candidate claimed Hayman had breached election rules over mail sent to constituents. However, a complaint sent to the

Serjeant-at-Arms of the House of Commons The Serjeant at Arms of the House of Commons is a parliamentary official responsible for order in the House of Commons. The office dates to 1415 and traditionally included responsibility for security. The role is now mainly ceremonial. The Hou ...

was not investigated because the mailing, to flood victims, was unrelated to the election and Hayman had notified it to Parliament once the election was called. She was co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Nuclear Energy, and vice-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Rural Business. Since 2017, she has written articles on the environment and animal welfare in the ''

New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British Political magazine, political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney Webb, Sidney and Beatrice ...

''. Hayman supported the United Kingdom (UK) remaining within the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

(EU) in the 2016 UK EU membership referendum. In the indicative votes on 27 March, she voted for a referendum on a Brexit withdrawal agreement, for the

Norway-plus model In British politics, the "Norway-plus model" was a proposal for a post-Brexit settlement, which the British government did not pursue. Proposed in November 2018 as an alternative to the Chequers plan, it would have consisted of membership of the ...

and for a customs union with the EU. Hayman lost her seat at the 2019 general election to

Mark Jenkinson Mark Ian Jenkinson (born 28 January 1982) is a British Conservative Party politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Workington since 2019. Early life and career Jenkinson was born in Whitehaven and raised in Workington. He was ed ...

of the

Conservatives 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 in ...

House of Lords

In July 2020, it was announced that Hayman received a nomination for a peerage. She was created Baroness Hayman of Ullock, ''of Ullock in the County of Cumbria'', on 9 September 2020. Due to her view on animal welfare, she chose to wear fake fur robes to take her oath of allegiance. She was appointed as a shadow

DEFRA DEFRA may refer to: * Deficit Reduction Act of 1984, United States law * Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, United Kingdom government department {{Disambiguation ...

spokesperson and an opposition whip in October 2020, and a shadow DLUHC spokesperson in December 2021.

Personal life

She married Ross Hayman in 1997. They have two daughters and two sons. They live in the village of

Ullock Ullock is a village in Cumbria, England, located at National Grid reference NY076239, approximately south west of Cockermouth and south east of Workington. The River Marron flows through the village. It is located just outside the Lake Dist ...

in Cumbria. A keen

chorister A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

, Hayman sang in the Parliament Choir and was its chair. Hayman is Vice President of local charity Hospice at Home Cumbria.

References

External links

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hayman, Sue 1962 births Living people Members of Cumbria County Council People from Workington 21st-century British women politicians Alumni of Anglia Ruskin University Cumbria MPs Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Labour Party (UK) life peers Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 2015–2017 UK MPs 2017–2019 UK MPs who were granted peerages Women councillors in England