BRITAIN’s governing ways must change else its future could be at risk, believes politician Lisa Nandy who is currently serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. She is holding the post since 2021.
In her recent book All In: How we built a country that works that was published in November 2022, Nandy unpacks the range of socioeconomic challenges that the UK faces, including the winners and losers from globalization, regional inequalities, and underinvestment, outlining a vision for inclusive development.
A senior member of Labour party, Nandy has always been vocal about economic reform, issues around state capacity, and empowering local communities to be a part of decision-making. She is Member of Parliament for Wigan since 2010.
Following Labour’s disastrous performance in the 2019 general election, Nandy made headlines when she confirmed that she was standing in for Labour party’s leadership race to replace Jeremy Corbyn. She came at third place behind Keir Starmer and Rebecca Long-Bailey. Starmer subsequently appointed her as Shadow Foreign Secretary in April 2020.
Nandy’s political career began in 2010 when she was selected as the Labour parliamentary candidate for Wigan constituency from an all-women shortlist. Elected to parliament in May 2010, she became the constituency's first female MP and one of the first Asian female MPs.
Nandy was Parliamentary Private Secretary to Tessa Jowell from 2010 to 2012. Within two years, she was appointed Shadow Children’s Minister with responsibility for safeguarding, children in care and adoption. In 2013 she was made Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office.
She was promoted to Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change in September 2015, but resigned in June 2016, blaming the then-newly elected Corbyn’s leadership.
Born in August 1979, Nandy was brought up by her British mother and Indian father in Manchester. Her father Dipak Nandy was the founder and first director of the race equality thinktank Runnymede Trust and her mother Louise was a Granada television producer.
She graduated from Newcastle University in 2001, and later earned a Masters degree from the University of London, studying as a mature student.
Subsequent to her graduation, Nandy worked as a researcher and care worker for Labour MP Neil Gerrard before working in several positions across the voluntary sector. Before entering Parliament, she worked for the youth homelessness charity Centrepoint and for national children’s charity, The Children’s Society.
In 2017, Nandy followed in her father’s footsteps and set up her own thinktank – the Centre for Towns. It was created to ensure priority is given to the viability and prosperity of Britain’s towns, the 41-year-old said.
She is reportedly a member of the UNITE union and has been a supporter and grassroots activist in the trade union movement ever since her first job. She is a regular columnist for Tribune and contributes to The Guardian and other publications as well.
Nandy said to have joined the Labour Party "after witnessing the devastation that Thatcher’s Government caused to communities across the North West."
She has been active and playing an influential role in her community ever since – as a school governor, a charity trustee, a director of a local theatre and now as a leading and powerful Labour MP.
