GetWiki

{{Short description|British Labour politician}}{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}{{Use British English|date=December 2019}}

factoids

factoids

}}Borough of Darlington>Darlington Councilfor Cockerton West| term_start6 = 3 May 2007| term_end6 = May 2010| successor6 = Jan Cossins| birth_name = Jennifer Chapmandf=yes9|25}}| birth_place = Surrey, EnglandNick Smith (British politician)>2014}}Labour Party (UK)>LabourBrunel University (Bachelor of Science>BSc)Durham University (MA)}}Jennifer Chapman, Baroness Chapman of Darlington (born 25 September 1973) is a British politician serving as a Member of the House of Lords since 2021. A member of the Labour Party, she served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Darlington from 2010 to 2019.Chapman was political secretary to the Leader of the Opposition, Keir Starmer, from 2020 to 2021. As a shadow Cabinet Office minister from 2021 to 2023, she served as a member of the shadow cabinet. She was appointed Chancellor of Teesside University in 2023.

Early life and career

Chapman was born in September 1973 in Surrey but moved to Darlington at a young age, where she attended Hummersknott School and Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College.{{London Gazette |issue=59418 |date=13 May 2010 |page=8741}}WEB, Westminster parliamentary record,weblink Jenny Chapman MP, 11 May 2010,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20090630013226weblink">weblink 30 June 2009, dead, before completing a BSc in psychology at Brunel University in 1996, and later took an MA in archaeology at Durham University in 2004.WEB, Chapman, Jennifer, (born 25 Sept. 1973),weblink 2021-06-22, WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO, en, 10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u251480, 978-0-19-954088-4, She had work placements attached to prison psychology departments whilst studying for her undergraduate degree.NEWS, James, Erwin, The would-be minister with inside knowledge of the prisons beat,weblink The Guardian, 25 February 2015, 11 September 2018, Chapman worked as constituency office manager for Darlington Labour MP Alan Milburn. After a career break to have children, she returned to politics at Darlington Borough Council when she was elected as borough councillor for the Cockerton West ward in 2007.NEWS, Pyrah, Lauren, Labour shortlist confirmed,weblink The Northern Echo, 20 November 2009, 10 May 2010,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20090630013226weblink">weblink 30 June 2009, dead,

House of Commons

In November 2009, Chapman was shortlisted as one of four candidates to succeed Milburn as Labour's parliamentary candidate for Darlington on an open shortlist, i.e. not an all-women shortlist. She was selected to stand for parliament by the local constituency party the following month. She was elected Darlington MP in the 2010 general election with a majority of 3,388.NEWS, Darlington,weblink live, BBC News, 10 May 2010,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20090630013226weblink">weblink 30 June 2009, As a result of her election victory, she decided to stand down as a councillor.NEWS, Four contest Darlington Borough Council seat,weblink dead, The Northern Echo, 11 June 2010, 18 June 2010,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20090630013226weblink">weblink 30 June 2009, Chapman made her maiden speech in Parliament on 7 June 2010, during which she asked for social network services to be regulated to stop paedophiles. She also backed the Building Schools for the Future programme.NEWS, Cook, Paul, New MP calls for tighter controls on sex offenders,weblink dead, The Northern Echo, 8 June 2010, 22 October 2010,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20090630013226weblink">weblink 30 June 2009, During her time as an MP, she served as a vice-chair of ProgressWEB,weblink Chair and Vice-chairs, Progress, 13 September 2015, live,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150906094627weblink">weblink 6 September 2015, dmy-all, and campaigned to remain in the European Union in the 2016 EU membership referendum.NEWS, 22 June 2016, EU vote: Where the cabinet and other MPs stand, BBC News,weblink 23 May 2021, In 2011, Chapman was appointed as Shadow Minister for Prisons.NEWS, Moss, Richard, North East MP Jenny Chapman handed shadow prison role,weblink live, BBC News, 10 October 2011, 20 March 2015,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20150925215000weblink">weblink 25 September 2015, dmy-all, She had previously written policy recommendations on the subject of incarceration, including a recommendation that prison officers should receive training to help them rehabilitate inmates. She became Shadow Minister for Childcare and Early Years in January 2016, but resigned in June of the same year among dozens of Labour frontbench colleagues.WEB,weblink Darlington MP Jenny Chapman resigns from education team, 12 June 2017, live,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20161122221137weblink">weblink 22 November 2016, dmy-all, She supported Owen Smith in the failed attempt to replace Jeremy Corbyn in the subsequent leadership election.WEB,weblink Full list of MPs and MEPs backing challenger Owen Smith, 2016-07-21, LabourList, en-GB, 2019-07-15, She later rejoined the Opposition frontbench as Shadow Minister for Exiting the European Union.WEB,weblink Corbyn appoints 21 frontbenchers – LabourList, 9 October 2016, 12 June 2017, live,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20161122223814weblink">weblink 22 November 2016, dmy-all, Chapman was one of the many Labour MPs to be defeated at the 2019 general election, losing her seat to Conservative Peter Gibson following 27 years of Labour holding the constituency.NEWS,weblink General election 2019: Tories take five Labour heartland seats, BBC News, 13 December 2019, After losing her seat, she became chair of Keir Starmer's successful campaign in the 2020 Labour Party leadership election and later accepted the role of political secretary to Starmer in his role as Leader of the Labour Party.NEWS, 8 January 2020, Labour leadership frontrunner Starmer hires ex-Corbyn aide as key strategic advisor, ITV News,weblink 9 January 2020, NEWS, Pogrund, Gabriel, 19 July 2020, Keir Starmer's team — haven't we seen something like this before?, The Sunday Times,weblink 16 August 2020,

House of Lords

In August 2020, The Telegraph reported that Chapman was "likely" to be nominated for a peerage by Starmer,NEWS,weblink Tom Watson in line to receive peerage after nomination by Sir Keir Starmer, The Telegraph, Hope, Christopher, 15 August 2020, 16 August 2020, and it was announced in December 2020 that she would join the House of Lords as part of the 2020 Political Honours.WEB, Political Peerages 2020,weblink Gov.uk, 22 December 2020, In February 2021, Chapman was made Baroness Chapman of Darlington, of Darlington in the County of Durham, and made her maiden speech on 22 March 2021.WEB, Crown Office,weblink 2021-02-12, www.thegazette.co.uk, Chapman was removed as Starmer's political director in June 2021, after what The Times referred to as "months of friction" with Labour MPs, and was re-appointed to the frontbench as Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office, shadowing Lord Frost at Task Force Europe and the Cabinet Office.NEWS, 2021-06-22, Sir Keir Starmer's closest adviser Baroness Chapman moved to new position, en-GB, BBC News,weblink 2021-06-22, NEWS, Maguire, Patrick, Zeffman, Henry, 22 June 2021, Keir Starmer forced to sideline top aide Baroness Chapman, The Times,weblink 22 June 2021, WEB, Elgot, Jessica, Stewart, Heather, 2021-06-22, Labour leader Keir Starmer axes chief aide Jenny Chapman,weblink 2021-06-22, The Guardian, en, In August 2023, Chapman was announced as the new Chancellor of Teesside University.NEWS, Ex-Darlington MP baroness Jenny Chapman made Teesside uni chancellor,weblink BBC News, 24 August 2023, 5 November 2023,

Personal life

She married fellow Labour MP Nick Smith in July 2014.HANSARD, Chapman-Smith marriage, House of Commons, 9 April 2014,weblink 308, Jim Shannon, live,weblink 14 September 2017, dmy-all, She has two sons from a previous relationship.

References

{{Reflist|30em}}

External links

• Official website
• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20110310220155weblink">Old website (archived)
• {{UK MP links|parliament=jenny-chapman/3972|hansard=|guardian = 13934/jenny-chapman|publicwhip= Jenny_Chapman|theywork=jenny_chapman|record=|bbc=83499.stm|journalisted=}}

{{UK Shadow Cabinet}}{{Authority control}}