Laura Pidcock

Pidcock was born in North Shields, North Tyneside and raised in New Hartley and Seaton Delaval, Northumberland.[3] Her parents were both active in politics. Her mother Mary was a social worker while her father Bernard was an office manager[4] who sat on Northumberland County Council from 2008 until his death in February 2019.[5] Aged just 3, Pidcock recollects attending demonstrations with her parents against then-Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, and against the apartheid system in South Africa.[6] Pidcock has stated, "From a very, very young age I was taught to see everything through a political lens and through a class lens", and that at school she was known as "the political one" and a "swot".[7]

She studied politics at Manchester Metropolitan University,[8] and was a mental health support worker before working within, then managing, the education team at anti-racism charity Show Racism the Red Card.[8] She completed an MSc in Disaster Management and Sustainable Development at Northumbria University in 2012, with research focusing on children's institutions in Bulgaria.[9] Pidcock was a councillor for Cramlington Eastfield ward on Northumberland County Council, losing her seat to the Conservative Party candidate in the 2017 UK local elections.[8] In 2020 she led Richard Burgon’s unsuccessful campaign to be deputy leader of the Labour Party.[10]

Only weeks prior to the 2017 United Kingdom general election, Pidcock was selected to stand for Labour in North West Durham, when the previous MP, Pat Glass stood down.[11]

A feminist,[12] she said in her maiden speech, that the Palace of Westminster dated from "a time when my class and my sex would have been denied a place in it, because we are deemed unworthy".[13] Her speech was shared over 200,000 times on social media in 48 hours.[14]

On 12 January 2018, she was appointed Shadow Minister for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy,[15] and announced at the 2019 TUC that the next Labour Government would create a Ministry for Employment Rights to "bring about the biggest extension of rights for workers that our country has ever seen" to deliver better wages, greater security and give workers more of a say over how their workplaces are run.[16]

Although once tipped as a future party leader,[6] Pidcock lost her seat at the 2019 general election. Her successor, Richard Holden stated in his acceptance speech that "she represented a branch of the Labour Party that wasn't mainstream, which wasn't what people thought of as traditional Labour and that's what happened tonight".[17] It was the first time the seat had not returned a Labour MP since its creation in 1950.[18]

Views

Pidcock identifies as a socialist, and supported the policies of party leader Jeremy Corbyn.[19] A strong critic of the Conservative Party, she said that "I go to parliament to be a mouthpiece for my constituents and class".[20] She stated in mid-2017 that Tories were "the enemy" and said she was "disgusted at the way they're running this country".[21] Pidcock did not socialise with Conservative MPs[22] and said that she had "absolutely no intention of being friends with any Tories."[23]

Pidcock speaking at the Britain is Broken rally in 2019

In June 2017, Pidcock raised the issue of social housing, as it affected her personally: she said she would accept a council house, but there were none available. She also said that she was unable to afford the deposit for her first home, despite her MP's salary, because of university debt, so she was renting in the private sector.[24] Despite saying this, she purchased a house at a cost of £230,000 three months later.[25]

She criticised the Conservative government for doing far too little for working-class people, and said that her then constituency had suffered long-term de-industrialisation and lack of investment, leading to significant financial difficulties for many residents. She highlighted the rise in volunteer organisations to help support people who have been left behind by the state.[26] In December 2017, in a Parliamentary question to the Prime Minister, Theresa May, Pidcock condemned delays to payments under the Universal Credit system in the period just before Christmas, "the toughest financial time" for her constituents. She asked "Is the roll-out a matter of gross incompetence or calculated cruelty?"[27]

She criticised the lack of proxy voting for pregnant women in Parliament, attending a vote in 2018 whilst in the late stages of pregnancy.[28]

Pidcock described climate change as the "biggest issue facing humanity",[29] and spoke at School Strike for Climate demonstrations.[30]

Pidcock's partner since 2015 is Daniel Kebede, a National Education Union official.[31] They have one son, born in July 2018.[32]

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