Sue Hayman

Susan Mary Hayman, Baroness Hayman of Ullock (née Bentley; born 28 July 1962) is a British politician 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 (MP) for Workington from 2015 to 2019. Prior to her parliamentary career, she was a public relations consultant and local councillor.

The Right Honourable The Baroness Hayman of Ullock
Hayman in 2017
Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
In office 9 February 2017 – 13 December 2019
Leader	Jeremy Corbyn
Preceded by	Rachael Maskell
Succeeded by	Luke Pollard
Shadow Minister for Flooding and Coastal Communities
In office 13 October 2016 – 9 February 2017
Leader	Jeremy Corbyn
Succeeded by	Holly Lynch
Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal
Incumbent
Assumed office 29 September 2020 Life Peerage
Member of Parliament for Workington
In office 7 May 2015 – 6 November 2019
Preceded by	Tony Cunningham
Succeeded by	Mark Jenkinson
Personal details
Born	Susan Mary Bentley 28 July 1962 Upper Bucklebury, Berkshire, England
Political party	Labour
Spouse(s)	Ross Hayman ​ (m. 1997)​
Children	4
Alma mater	Anglia Ruskin University
Website	Campaign website

Early life and career

Susan Mary Bentley was born on 28 July 1962 in Upper Bucklebury, Berkshire to John and Rita Bentley. She attended St Bartholomew's School in Newbury.[1][2] Bentley studied English literature at Anglia Ruskin University.[3]

Her first job was working in a bookshop.[4] She has also worked in social services.[5] From 1997 to 2001, she worked as the office manager for MP Tess Kingham in Gloucester.[3] She then worked as campaigns and communication manager for MP Mike Foster.[6] Hayman worked in public relations 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.[3]

Political career

Hayman was third on Labour's party list for West Midlands in the 2004 European Parliament election but was not elected as an MEP.[7] She stood as a candidate in the 2005 general election for Preseli Pembrokeshire after the incumbent Labour MP stood down.[6] Hayman lost to Conservative Stephen Crabb.[8] In the 2010 general election, she contested Halesown and Rowley Regis. The constituency had been represented by Labour MP Sylvia Heal since 1997. Hayman lost the seat to Conservative James Morris.[9]

In 2013, she was elected as a councillor on the Cumbria County Council.[10] On the council, she was the vice-chair of the Children's Scrutiny Committee.[3]

She was elected as MP for the all women shortlist seat of Workington in the 2015 general election, she became the first female MP to represent a constituency in Cumbria.[11][12] From July to October 2015, she sat on the Justice Select Committee. 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.[13]

She supported Owen Smith in the failed attempt to replace Jeremy Corbyn in the 2016 Labour Party leadership election.[14] In October, following Jeremy Corbyn's re-election as Labour leader, Hayman was appointed as Shadow Minister for Flooding and Coastal Communities in the opposition's front-bench Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) team.[15] In February 2017, she was promoted to the position of Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs following the resignation of Rachael Maskell.[16]

Hayman retained her seat in the June 2017 general election with a majority of 3,925 (9.4%).[17] 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 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.[18]

She was co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Nuclear Energy,[19] and vice-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Rural Business.[20] Since 2017, she has written articles on the environment and animal welfare in the New Statesman.[21][22]

Hayman supported the United Kingdom (UK) remaining within the European Union (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 Norway plus and for a customs union with the EU.[23]

Hayman lost her seat at the 2019 general election to Mark Jenkinson of the Conservatives.[24][25]

In July 2020, it was announced that Hayman received a nomination for a peerage.[26] She was created Baroness Hayman of Ullock, of Ullock in the County of Cumbria, on 9 September 2020.[27][28] She chose to wear fake fur robes to take her oath of allegiance.[29]

Personal life

She married Ross Hayman in 1997. They have two daughters and two sons. They live in the village of Ullock in Cumbria.[1][3][4] A keen chorister, Hayman sang in the Parliament Choir and was its chair.[30]

References

1. "Hayman, Susan Mary". A & C Black. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
2. Garvey, John (3 January 2016). "Local people honoured in Who's Who 2016". Newbury Today. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
3. Carr, Tim (18 May 2015). The Politicos Guide to the New House of Commons 2015: Profiles of the New MPs and Analysis of the 2015 General Election Results. Biteback Publishing. p. 266. ISBN 978-1-84954-924-0.
4. "Profile – Sue Hayman, Labour Party". Times and Star. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
5. "Workington Labour candidate announced". ITV. 9 February 2015. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
6. "Labour chooses Preseli candidate". BBC News. 20 December 2004. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
7. "UK Women Candidates for the European Parliament June 2004". Queen's University Belfast. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
8. "Preseli Pembrokeshire". UK Polling Report. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
9. "Halesowen & Rowley Regis". BBC News. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
10. "Howgate (Copeland) : seats won". Cumbria County Council. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
11. "Election 2015: First female MP for Cumbria seat". BBC News. 8 May 2015.
12. "Workington Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
13. "Workington Magistrates Court saved". Times and Star. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
14. "Full list of MPs and MEPs backing challenger Owen Smith". LabourList. 21 July 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
15. "Cumbrian MP named shadow minister by Jeremy Corbyn". Times and Star. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
16. "Corbyn replaces Lewis in shadow cabinet reshuffle". BBC News. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
17. "Workington". Parliament of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
18. "Row over mail sent out by Workington election candidate". Retrieved 26 March 2018.
19. Commons, The Committee Office, House of. "House of Commons – Register Of All-Party Parliamentary Groups as at 2 May 2017: Nuclear Energy". Parliament of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
20. Commons, The Committee Office, House of. "House of Commons – Register Of All-Party Parliamentary Groups as at 2 May 2017: Rural Business". Parliament of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
21. "Fox hunting is deeply unpopular – so why does Theresa May care so much about bringing it back?". New Statesman. 31 May 2017. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
22. "Why is there a magic money tree for Johnson and Hunt, but not for the Environment Agency?". New Statesman. 9 July 2019. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
23. "How MPs voted on May's withdrawal deal defeat". Financial Times. 29 March 2019. Archived from the original on 2 September 2019.
24. "Workington parliamentary constituency – Election 2019". Retrieved 13 December 2019.
25. "Tories win Workington for first time in 40 years". 13 December 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
26. "Former Workington MP Sue Hayman given peerage". ITV News. 31 July 2020. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
27. "Baroness Hayman of Ullock". UK Parliament. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
28. "No. 61230". The London Gazette. 18 May 2015. p. 9120.
29. "New peer wears fake fur robes to take oath". BBC News. 29 September 2020. Retrieved 29 September 2020.
30. Hayman, Sue. "People". Parliament Choir. Retrieved 29 November 2019.

External links

• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Voting record at Public Whip
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou