Wes Streeting

Wesley Paul William Streeting (/ˈstritɪŋ/; born 21 January 1983) is a British politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ilford North since 2015, and since 2020 as Shadow Minister for Schools.[1] A member of the Labour Party, he was previously President of the National Union of Students (NUS), as well as Deputy Leader of the London Borough of Redbridge and Cabinet Member for Health.

Wes Streeting

MP
Streeting in 2019
Shadow Minister for Schools
Assumed office
16 October 2020
LeaderKeir Starmer
Preceded byMargaret Greenwood
Shadow Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury
In office
9 April 2020 – 16 October 2020
LeaderKeir Starmer
Preceded byLyn Brown
Succeeded byAbena Oppong-Asare
Member of Parliament
for Ilford North
Assumed office
7 May 2015
Preceded byLee Scott
Majority5,198 (10.4%)
53rd President of the National Union of Students
In office
1 July 2008 – 10 June 2010
Preceded byGemma Tumelty
Succeeded byAaron Porter
Personal details
Born
Wesley Paul William Streeting

(1983-01-21) 21 January 1983
Stepney, London, England
ResidenceRedbridge, London, England
Alma materSelwyn College, Cambridge
Websitewww.wesstreeting.org

Early life and education

Streeting was born in Stepney, London, where he grew up in a council flat.[2] He attended Westminster City School, a comprehensive state school in Victoria, London. He went on to study history at Selwyn College, University of Cambridge. Streeting served as Selwyn College's Junior Common Room (JCR) President, in which capacity he was a member of Cambridge University Students' Union (CUSU) Council. He was subsequently elected CUSU President for the 2004–5 academic year, a sabbatical officer role. As CUSU President, he campaigned against the proposed closure of Cambridge's architecture department.[3]

Early career

National Union of Students

Streeting was elected as President of the National Union of Students (NUS) in April 2008 as a candidate from Labour Students, with the support of the Union of Jewish Students.[4] He had been a member of the NUS National Executive Committee since 2005, having previously held the post of Vice-President (Education) from 2006 to 2008. In April 2009, he was elected to a second term as President of the NUS. He also served as a member of the National Committee of Labour Students for four years during this time. In March 2009, Pink News listed him as the 33rd-most powerful LGBT politician in the UK.[5]

As President of the NUS, Streeting was a strong proponent of his predecessor Gemma Tumelty's proposed reforms to the NUS governance structures, which had been denounced and narrowly defeated by many left-wing groups in NUS as an attack on NUS democracy.[6] His election was reported by The Guardian as "a move that will lend weight to the fight to modernise the union".[7]

He was a leading figure in efforts to change the NUS's position on higher education funding in advance of the government's 2009/10 independent review of higher education funding in England.[8]

As NUS President, Streeting was a non-executive director of the NUS's trading arm, NUS Services Ltd, and of Endsleigh Insurance. He was also a non-executive director of the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), as well as the Higher Education academy, having served on their board as Vice President (Education) when he was also a non-executive director of the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIAHE). Shortly after his election as NUS President, Streeting was appointed as a member of the government's Youth Citizenship Commission, chaired by Professor Jonathan Tonge of Liverpool University, which published its report in June 2009.[9]

Professional career

Streeting worked for the Labour Party-related organisation Progress for a year.[10] After completing his term as President of the NUS, Streeting served as Chief Executive of the Helena Kennedy Foundation, an educational charity that promotes access to higher education to students from further education colleges.[11]

He went on to serve as Head of Education at Stonewall, a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights charity, where he led their Education for All campaign to tackle homophobia in schools.[12]

He was subsequently a public sector consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), which he gave up on election as a councillor, because Redbridge Council was a "current audit client" of the firm; this forced him to choose between keeping his job or forcing a second by-election.[13] In 2010, shortly after leaving PwC, Streeting was appointed as Head of Policy and Strategic Communications for Oona King's unsuccessful bid to win the Labour Party's nomination to be its candidate in the 2012 London Mayoral election.[14]

Local government

In a July 2010 by-election, Streeting was elected as a Labour councillor for the Chadwell ward on Redbridge London Borough Council. He held the seat for Labour by 220 votes, winning with 31.5% of the vote (a fall of 1.4% for Labour in the ward) on a 25.5% turnout (a fall of 34.5% in turnout).[15][16] The by-election had been triggered by a previous elected candidate subsequently being found to be ineligible to serve on the council.[17]

Streeting was elected as Deputy Leader of the Labour Group in October 2011.[18] In 2014, he contested the Aldborough ward on Redbridge Council, winning 2,100 votes and defeating Conservative opponent Ruth Clark.

At a public meeting of the Redbridge Citizens' Assembly on 6 May 2014, Cllr Streeting on behalf of his group promised that, if elected, he would not reduce the level of Council Tax Support provided to low-income working-age residents. Once elected, the Labour council cut the level of support, so as to treble from April 2016 the amount of Council Tax paid by supported residents; the council made a further reduction from April 2017, and made a third reduction from April 2018.[19][20][21][22]

In May 2014, Labour took control of Redbridge Council for the first time and Streeting was appointed Deputy Leader of the Council.[23][24] He resigned the latter in May 2015, shortly after being elected Member of Parliament for Ilford North.[25] Whilst he remained a backbench councillor following his election to Parliament he chose not to claim his councillor allowance.[26] Streeting did not stand for re-election after being elected to Parliament, and ceased to be a Councillor on Monday 7 May 2018.

Parliamentary career

In the 2015 general election, Streeting was elected as the Member of Parliament for Ilford North. Representing the Labour Party, he overturned a Conservative majority of 5,404, winning by 589 votes.[27]

After being elected to Parliament, Streeting was elected Honorary President of the British Youth Council.[28] He is also a Vice President of the Local Government Association and a Patron of LGBT Labour.

Parliamentary backbencher (2015-2020)

Since his election, Streeting was described as a "long-time critic" of Jeremy Corbyn, who was leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. He has accused Corbyn of a "flat-footed and lackadaisical attitude" to tackling antisemitism which is "simply unacceptable".[29] He stated prior to the 2017 general election that he was "not going to pretend to have had a damascene conversion" with regard to Corbyn's suitability to be prime minister.[30] His views have provoked a response from Corbyn's supporters such as Ken Livingstone and the trade union leader Len McCluskey. Livingstone described him as "consciously undermining Jeremy and damaging the Labour party" while McCluskey said his reason for raising issues had been "about attacking Jeremy Corbyn".[31][32] Streeting was among the 70 per cent of Labour MPs who nominated Owen Smith in the 2016 party leadership election.[33]

Streeting campaigned against Brexit in the run up to the 2016 EU membership referendum.[34] His constituency subsequently voted by a small-margin in favour of leaving the European Union.[35] Afterwards, Streeting campaigned for a People's Vote, a campaign group calling for a public vote on the final Brexit deal between the UK and the European Union.[36]

Ilford North has among the largest Jewish and Muslim communities in the UK. Streeting is a vice-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Antisemitism, a co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Jews and a supporter of Labour Friends of Israel.[37][38][39] He is also a co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims and a supporter of Labour Friends of Palestine and Middle East.[40] In September 2018, he held the last in a series of London-wide consultations to create the Working Definition of Islamophobia.[41] In July 2018, Streeting called for “targeted economic sanctions” against Israeli settlements in the West Bank in response to the Israeli government “grossly infringing on the human rights of Palestinians”.[42]

In July 2019, Streeting was reported in the media as using abusive language towards a non-Jewish antisemitism campaigner.[43][44]

Shortly before the 2019 general election, Streeting told a Labour First meeting that the party faced electoral oblivion in any snap poll due to the leadership's poor handling of Brexit and allegations of antisemitism.[45]

Following Labour's defeat in the general election, Streeting endorsed Jess Phillips in the 2020 Labour Party leadership election.[46]

Shadow Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury

Until the 2019 general election, Streeting was a member of the Treasury Select Committee.[47]

After the election of Keir Starmer as Leader of the Labour Party, Streeting was appointed Shadow Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury.

On the 16th October, Streeting was moved, being Shadow Schools Minister following the resignation of Margaret Greenwood the previous day following her opposition to the Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Bill. Abena Oppong-Asare replaced Streeting as Shadow Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury.

Personal life

Streeting lives in Redbridge, London. His partner is Joseph Dancey, a communications and public affairs adviser.

Streeting has strongly criticised those campaigning against LGBT+ education in schools.[48][49]

References
  1. "Wes Streeting MP - Latest news and updates on the Labour MP for Ilford North - Mirror Online". mirror. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  2. Streeting, Wes. "Wes Streeting: This country needs good quality social housing, now". LabourList. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  3. Layfield, Luke (29 October 2004). "Architecture under threat at Cambridge". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  4. "UJS at NUS Conference 2009". Union of Jewish Students. 7 June 2009. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 5 March 2011.
  5. "The 50 most powerful gay, lesbian and bisexual people in British politics". Pink News. Retrieved 6 March 2009.
  6. "www.nusdemocracy.org.uk".
  7. Lipsett, Anthea (2 April 2008). "New NUS president voted in | Students". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
  8. "NUS drops free education doctrine | Students". London: EducationGuardian.co.uk. 2 April 2008. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
  9. "Home – Youth Citizenship Commission". Ycc.uk.net. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
  10. Wes Streeting. "About Wes". Wes Streeting's blog. Archived from the original on 28 December 2011.
  11. "Wes Streeting, CEO, Helena Kennedy Foundation". FE Week. 2 October 2011. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  12. "Former Stonewall campaigner Wes Streeting elected as MP". PinkNews - Gay news, reviews and comment from the world's most read lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans news service. 8 May 2015. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  13. "The Week in Higher Education". Times Higher Education. 10 August 2010. Retrieved 2 September 2010.
  14. Jess Freeman (12 August 2010). "What's stopping Oona King?". Total Politics. Retrieved 1 September 2011.
  15. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 25 February 2012. Retrieved 9 July 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  16. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 11 May 2010. Retrieved 9 July 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  17. "Redbridge: Ineligible councillor resigns". East London and West Essex Guardian Series. 25 May 2010. Archived from the original on 9 May 2011.
  18. "Councillor Wes Streeting". Redbridge London Borough Council. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
  19. Blackburn, Ralph (25 November 2015). "Redbridge parties clash over council tax relief cuts". Ilford Recorder. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
  20. Blackburn, Ralph (12 September 2015). "Council tax support could be cut for Redbridge residents". Ilford Recorder. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
  21. Keay, Lara (25 January 2016). "12,000 poor workers to be hit by cuts to council tax reduction scheme". Wanstead & Woodford Guardian. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
  22. "Local Council Tax Reduction Scheme 2017/18" (PDF). Redbridge Council. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
  23. "Redbridge i – Local Election result, 2014". Redbridge Council.
  24. Hill, Dave (23 May 2014). "Local elections: Labour wins control of Redbridge council for first time". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
  25. Patient, Douglas (20 May 2015). "New deputy leader of Redbridge council announced". East London and West Essex Guardian Series. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  26. "Wes Streeting MP on Twitter". Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  27. "2015 General Election Results". Redbridge Council. Archived from the original on 22 May 2015. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  28. "British Youth Council Honorary Presidents". British Youth Council. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  29. Helm, Toby (28 May 2016). "Jeremy Corbyn 'failed to reply' to Israeli Labour on fears of antisemitism". The Observer. Guardian News and Media. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
  30. Casalicchio, Emilio (23 April 2017). "Labour MP Wes Streeting: Jeremy Corbyn would not make a good prime minister". PoliticsHome. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  31. Syal, Rajeev; Stewart, Heather (2 May 2016). "Corbyn ally Len McCluskey attacks 'treacherous' Labour MPs". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  32. Mason, Rowena (22 March 2017). "Ken Livingstone calls for Labour to suspend 'disloyal' MPs". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
  33. "Owen Smith nominated by 70% of Labour MPs". ITV. 20 July 2016. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  34. Streeting, Wes (1 February 2017). "Chuka Umunna and Wes Streeting: Why we Labour Remainers voted to trigger Article 50". Inews. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  35. Streeting, Wes (22 January 2019). "Wes Streeting MP: I would rather risk losing my job than stay silent on Brexit and risk my constituents losing theirs". Politics Home. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  36. Streeting, Wes (13 July 2018). "Streeting – No deal Brexit would be very worst possible outcome". People's Vote. Open Britain. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
  37. Streeting, Wes; Siddiq, Tulip (24 April 2017). "We've heard your anxieties loud and clear". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  38. "APPG on British Jews". Board of Deputies of British Jews. Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  39. "LFI Supporters in Parliament". Labour Friends of Israel. 23 March 2018.
  40. "Parliamentary Supporters". Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East (LFPME). Retrieved 19 September 2018.
  41. Walawalkar, Aaron. "All-Party Parliamentary Group consultation in Hainault on legal definition of Islamophobia draws in around 80 people". Ilford Recorder. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  42. Weich, Ben (5 July 2018). "'Friend of Israel' MP calls for economic sanctions against West Bank settlements". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  43. "Labour moderate explodes in row over MP hopeful's apology for antisemitism". Jewish Chronicle. 28 July 2019. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  44. "These non-Jews are fighting Labour anti-Semitism from the inside". Haaretz.com. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  45. Wearmouth, Rachel (17 July 2019). "Jeremy Corbyn-Led Labour Party 'Destined To Lose General Election', MPs Claim". Huffpost. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
  46. "Agree with Pete - Jess can count on my nomination and I'll also be sharing thoughtful contributions from other candidates, too. 'We need a conversation not a fight' - too right". Twitter. 3 January 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  47. Partington, Richard (5 December 2018). "Brexit betrayal would damage society, Philip Hammond tells MPs". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  48. West, Amy (8 June 2019). "Labour MP criticises colleague for supporting anti-LGBT education protesters: 'There must be no place for hatred'". Pink News. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
  49. "Gay MP Wes Streeting: 'Parents cannot pick and choose which parts of the Equality Act should apply'". GAY TIMES. 13 June 2019. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
Non-profit organization positions
Preceded by
Gemma Tumelty		 President of the National Union of Students
2008–2010		 Succeeded by
Aaron Porter
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Lee Scott		 Member of Parliament
for Ilford North
2015–present		 Incumbent
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