Margaret Greenwood (born 14 March 1959) is a British politician who has served as 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

Wirral West Wirral West is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Margaret Greenwood of the Labour Party since 2015. Constituency profile The constituency is one of four covering the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral. It ...

since

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

. She is a member of the Labour Party.

Biography

A former teacher and community activist, Greenwood later worked as a web consultant. She is a founder member of Defend our NHS. In 2013, she was selected to contest the constituency of

in the 2015 general election. In a high-profile campaign, Greenwood narrowly unseated 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 ...

cabinet minister

Esther McVey Esther Louise McVey (born 24 October 1967) is a British politician and television presenter serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tatton since 2017. A member of the Conservative Party, she served as Minister of State for Housing and Pl ...

. In March 2018, Greenwood began acting as Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions after

Debbie Abrahams Deborah Angela Elspeth Marie Abrahams (' Morgan; born 15 September 1960) is a British Labour Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Oldham East and Saddleworth since 2011. Abrahams was a member of the Shadow Cab ...

temporarily stepped aside. She was appointed as a permanent replacement for the Shadow DWP Secretary in May 2018. Until November 2018, Greenwood was shadowing Esther McVey, who had returned to Parliament at the 2017 general election. In November 2018, Greenwood expressed concern over the effects of poverty and

austerity Austerity is a set of political-economic policies that aim to reduce government budget deficits through spending cuts, tax increases, or a combination of both. There are three primary types of austerity measures: higher taxes to fund spend ...

, saying: "The government should listen to the people being pushed into poverty by its policies.

Universal credit Universal Credit is a United Kingdom social security payment. It is means-tested and is replacing and combining six benefits for working-age households with a low income: income-related Employment and Support Allowance, income-based Jobseeker's ...

is failing miserably, leaving families in debt, nrent arrears and at risk of becoming homeless. Three million children are growing up in poverty despite living in a working household." Greenwood also said in 2018: "There is something seriously wrong when the number of people in work in poverty is increasing faster than employment." On 6 April 2020, upon 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 ...

as Leader of the Labour Party, Greenwood was replaced as Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions by

Jonathan Reynolds Jonathan Neil Reynolds (born 28 August 1980) is a British politician. He has served as Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Industrial Strategy since 2021. A member of the Labour and Co-operative, Labour and Co-operative parties, he has ...

, becoming Shadow Minister for Schools. She resigned as Shadow Minister for Schools on 15 October 2020 to vote against the

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 ...

, which would authorise some undercover police officers and government officials to commit criminal offences, as Labour had whipped MPs to abstain.

References

External links

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Greenwood, Margaret 1959 births Living people Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Politics of the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral UK MPs 2015–2017 21st-century British women politicians UK MPs 2017–2019 UK MPs 2019–present 21st-century English women 21st-century English people