Lisa Forbes (politician) explained

Lisa Forbes
Office:Member of Parliament
for Peterborough
Term Start:6 June 2019
Term End:6 November 2019
Predecessor:Fiona Onasanya
Successor:Paul Bristow
Birth Name:Lisa Jane Forbes
Birth Date:28 July 1969
Party:Labour
Children:4

Lisa Jane Forbes (born 28 July 1969) is a British Labour Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament for Peterborough from a June 2019 by-election to the general election in December that year.[1]

Early career

Forbes, who is a member of GMB,[2] was an official in Unite the Union. She has worked for Thomas Cook.[3]

Early political career

Forbes was elected as a Labour councillor for Orton Longueville ward on Peterborough City Council in 2012, standing down in 2016 to focus on her parliamentary candidacy.[4] [5]

She was the Labour candidate for Peterborough at the 2015 General Election, reducing the Conservative majority by over half, but chose not to stand in the 2017 election at which Fiona Onasanya won the seat for Labour.[6] After Onasanya's removal by means of a recall petition, Forbes was selected to contest the seat again in the ensuing by-election.[7]

Parliamentary career

See main article: 2019 Peterborough by-election. Forbes was elected MP for Peterborough at the by-election on 6 June 2019 with a majority of 683 over the Brexit Party candidate Mike Greene, who had been expected to win.[8] [9] She ran in the by-election on a platform of seeking to invest more into local schools,[10] revitalise the local police force and combat illegal dumping.[11] Jewish groups called on Labour to disown her[12] for having commented on a Facebook thread and also a video containing anti-Israel and allegedly antisemitic remarks: Forbes said she had not noticed the phrases.[13] [14] After she was elected, Jeremy Corbyn said she was "not a racist in any way",[15] while she arranged to meet Jewish groups.[16]

During her brief time in Parliament she unsuccessfully called for a government bailout for Thomas Cook Group, which employed 1000 people at their head office in her constituency[17] and campaigned for there to be statutory guidance on school uniform costs.[18]

Forbes stood for re-election at the 2019 general election but lost to Conservative candidate Paul Bristow by a margin of 2,580 votes.

Personal life

Forbes has lived in the constituency for 30 years. She has four children.[19]

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: Peterborough by-election: Labour beats Brexit Party to hold seat. 7 June 2019. 7 June 2019. BBC News.
  2. Web site: Peterborough By-Election Thursday 6th June 2019. 24 May 2019. 19 October 2019. GMB.
  3. News: Thomas Cook: Peterborough MP calls for government 'leadership'. 21 September 2019. 19 October 2019. BBC News.
  4. News: Labour's Lisa Forbes not standing for Peterborough City Council re-election but targets return contest with Stewart Jackson. Peterborough Telegraph. 14 March 2016. 7 June 2019.
  5. Web site: Results of previous elections. Peterborough City Council. 7 June 2019.
  6. News: Labour shortlists two candidates to stand in Peterborough election . Lamy . Joel . . 14 February 2019 . 7 June 2019.
  7. Web site: Labour selects Lisa Forbes to replace Fiona Onasanya in Peterborough. Sienna. Rodgers. LabourList. 21 February 2019. 10 June 2019.
  8. News: Labour sees off Brexit Party in by-election . . 7 June 2019 . 7 June 2019.
  9. News: Can the Brexit Party win the Peterborough by-election? . 6 June 2019 . . 9 June 2019.
  10. News: Peterborough by-election: Fifteen candidates set out views . 26 May 2019 . . 12 June 2019.
  11. Web site: Lisa Forbes: Who is the new Labour MP for Peterborough?. Leishman. Fiona. 7 June 2019 . CambridgeshireLive. 7 June 2019.
  12. News: Labour urged to disown by-election candidate who endorsed antisemitic Facebook post. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220614/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/peterborough-byelection-labour-antisemitism-lisa-forbes-theresa-may-zionist-a8940696.html . 14 June 2022 . subscription . live. Buchan. Lizzy. 2 June 2019. The Independent. 3 June 2019.
  13. News: New Labour MP Lisa Forbes sorry amid antisemitism row. Sky News. 7 June 2019. 7 June 2019.
  14. News: Peterborough Labour by-election candidate 'active in Israel hate group' . Lamy . Joel . 3 June 2019 . . 7 June 2019.
  15. News: Jeremy Corbyn: new Labour MP Lisa Forbes 'not a racist in any way' . Gayle . Damien . 8 June 2019 . . 9 June 2019.
  16. News: New Labour MP Lisa Forbes to meet Jewish groups after she apologises for 'the hurt' she caused . 24 June 2019 . . 17 June 2019.
  17. News: Thomas Cook: Peterborough MP calls for government 'leadership'. 21 September 2019. 19 October 2019. BBC News.
  18. News: Families in England hit by 70% cut in school uniform grant. Savage. Michael. 13 October 2019. The Guardian.
  19. News: New Peterborough Labour parliamentary candidate wants to 'challenge huge police and school cuts' . Lamy . Joel . . 20 February 2019 . 7 June 2019.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Lisa Forbes (politician)".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.