Ellie Reeves | |
---|---|
Labour Party Deputy National Campaign Coordinator | |
Assumed office 4 September 2023 | |
Leader | Keir Starmer |
Preceded by | Conor McGinn |
Shadow Minister for Prisons and Probation | |
In office 4 December 2021 – 5 September 2023 | |
Leader | Keir Starmer |
Preceded by | Lyn Brown |
Succeeded by | Ruth Cadbury |
Shadow Solicitor General for England and Wales | |
In office 9 April 2020 – 4 December 2021 | |
Leader | Keir Starmer |
Preceded by | Nick Thomas-Symonds |
Succeeded by | Andy Slaughter |
Member of Parliament for Lewisham West and Penge | |
Assumed office 8 June 2017 | |
Preceded by | Jim Dowd |
Majority | 21,543 (41.3%) |
Personal details | |
Born | [1] Beckenham, London, England | 11 December 1980
Political party | Labour |
Spouse | |
Children | 2 |
Relatives | Rachel Reeves (sister) |
Alma mater | St Catherine's College, Oxford |
Profession | Barrister |
Website | Official website |
Eleanor Claire Reeves[2] (born 11 December 1980) is a British politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Lewisham West and Penge since 2017.[3] A member of the Labour Party, she has served as Labour Party Deputy National Campaign Coordinator since 2023.[4] She previously served as Shadow Solicitor General for England and Wales from April 2020 to December 2021 and Shadow Minister for Prisons and Probation from 2021 to 2023.
Ellie Reeves was born in Lewisham, the daughter of teachers,[5] Graham and Sally Reeves,[6][7] and the sister of fellow Labour MP, Rachel Reeves.[8]
Reeves grew up in Sydenham and was educated at Adamsrill Primary School and Cator Park Secondary School.[9] She has a bachelor's degree in law from St Catherine's College, Oxford.[10]
Before entering Parliament, Reeves worked as an employment law barrister representing trade unions.
Reeves joined the Labour Party at 15,[5] chaired the Oxford University Labour Club in 2001 and was National Chair of Labour Students from 2002 to 2003.
In 2006, she was first elected as a constituency party representative on Labour's National Executive Committee (NEC), supported by Progress and Labour First.[3] Reeves was returned to the governing body in subsequent elections, and served as Vice-Chair from 2015 to 2016,[11] until she was defeated by Momentum in 2016.[12] She later served as vice-chair of the London Labour Party.[13][14]
Reeves was selected as the Labour candidate for Lewisham West and Penge in April 2017, chosen over left-wing Momentum activists.[15][3]
Reeves was elected for the Labour-held seat of Lewisham West and Penge at the 2017 general election, almost doubling the party's majority.
She was appointed to the opposition front bench as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Kate Osamor, Shadow International Development Secretary, in March 2018.[16] On 13 June 2018, Reeves and five other MPs resigned as frontbenchers to vote in favour of remaining in the single market, defying the party whip.[17][18]
After signing a letter criticising the decision to re-admit Chris Williamson into Labour, a heavily pregnant Reeves was threatened with deselection by a party member in July 2019.[19] Following backlash, Party Leader Jeremy Corbyn wrote that pregnant MPs wouldn't face deselection and the member withdrew their plans to challenge her.[20]
On 9 April 2020, Reeves was re-appointed to the opposition front bench as Shadow Solicitor General for England and Wales.[21]
She served as Labour's political lead for the 2021 Old Bexley and Sidcup by-election,[22] in which there was a 7.4% increase in the party's vote share and 10.2% swing from the Conservatives to Labour, however the Conservatives held the seat with a 20.6% majority.[23]
In the 2023 British shadow cabinet reshuffle she joined the Shadow Cabinet as Labour Party Deputy National Campaign Coordinator.[24]
She is married to John Cryer MP, Parliamentary Labour Party Chair.[3] She had a son with Cryer in 2015, and another in late 2019.[5]