Lisa Nandy was originally an underdog in the race to replace Corbyn as leader but she later received a boost in support that allowed her to secure enough backing to qualify for the first requirement of the leadership election, it wasn’t long until she got enough backing from Labour affiliates/Trade Unions where she qualified for the Leadership ballot. Her odds of winning were slashed after the first party hustings.
Featured photo by Richard Townshend. License.
She placed slightly behind Rebecca Long-Bailey and ahead of Jess Phillips in terms of backing in the first round, Phillips was another outsider candidate who had received a surprising amount of support, but struggled in the 2nd phase leading her to drop out, she later endorsed Lisa Nandy for leader. A poll from Labour Party members originally put Lisa Nandy in last place out of the other candidates, with only 5%.
In her speech at the hustings which enabled her to gain increased support and recognition, she said that if the party does not steady the ship and change course “we will die and we will deserve too”. She also attacked Jeremy Corbyn and his inner circle supporters saying that factions and friends of the party leader should never again determine where resources go.
Before getting into politics Nandy volunteered as a researcher at homeless charity Centrepoint and was also a senior policy advisor for The Children’s Society from 2005 until she was elected as an MP in 2010, during her work in The Children’s Society she specialized in issues facing young refugees and she was also a councillor for Hammersmith and Fulham Council during much of this time where she also served as a shadow cabinet member for housing where she exposed and fought Tory plans to demolish council homes.
Her time volunteering for homeless and children charities based her politics on the belief that the unemployment, inequality and despair of the 1980s and 1990s must never be allowed to happen again.
While working as an aide for former Labour MP Neil Gerrard she played a pivotal role in the 2008 Children’s and Young Persons Act where she also helped to persuade parliament to pass safeguards for the most vulnerable children. She also helped outlaw discrimination against blind people during this time.
Nandy was born in Manchester, her father is Dipak Nandy, a Marxist and academic that emigrated from India and also founded the Runnymede Trust, a race equality think tank. Nandy has said her father thinks she is right-wing due to her social-democratic stance and Labour Party career. Lisa Nandy also has a maternal grandfather called Frank Byers who was a Liberal MP who served as the party’s chief whip during the 1945-1950 parliament and was also made a peer in the House of Lords.
Lisa Nandy has said she didn’t join the Lib Dem party herself as she believes that currently the Labour Party is the best party to deliver social justice and also said that she and her family isn’t tribal, saying she has family members who support Conservatives, Labour and Lib Dems.
Nandy was first elected as an MP in 2010 to the seat of Wigan after being selected as the Labour candidate in an all-women shortlist, she still holds the seat today. In the 2010 election she fought to be elected on housing, jobs and a fairer deal for children and older people. Nandy also supported Ed Miliband for the leadership of the Labour Party who was an underdog at the time but went on to win.
Following her legacy, she was appointed shadow children’s minister two years later in 2012 and then on October 2013 she was made the shadow charities minister as she began her ascent in the party.
After Ed Miliband resigned Lisa Nandy put her support towards Andy Burnham. Despite not backing the eventual winner Corbyn, she eventually made it to the shadow cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change but was one of many who resigned in protest at Corbyn over the EU referendum result and the blame of Corbyn not doing enough for remain.
In the 2016 leadership challenge against Corbyn, Nandy was approached by colleagues who wanted her to run against him, but she declined to do so, instead she became co-chair of Owen Smith’s campaign for leadership. After Corbyn’s re-election Nandy said she had no intention of becoming a part of the frontbench again unless Shadow Cabinet elections were re-introduced. She also highlighted the abuse she received from not supporting Corbyn and likened it to abuse from the far-right.
Nandy became the second candidate to fully qualify for the Leadership ballot after Keir Starmer, she has been given the backing of the National Union of Mineworkers. She also later got a major backing from the GMB union putting her one step behind full qualification of the Leadership ballot and with Jess Phillips having dropped out of the race, Lisa Nandy was seen as a major contender, she later got backing from Chinese for Labour giving her enough support for full qualification.
Nandy has mentioned that she is skeptical on the monarchy, she has also voiced her strong opposition to a Scottish Independence referendum calling it “divisive nationalism”, saying it was detrimental to socialists and argued that the social justice agenda could beat it, she also referenced places such as Quebec and Catalonia, the latter of which she was criticized for bringing up due to a violent crackdown by authorities there when they held an impromptu independence referendum.
Out of Keir Starmer and Long-Bailey she is still an underdog and the least likely to win.
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