Emily Thornberry - Parliamentary Career

Parliamentary Career

In the 2001 general election she stood for Parliament in Canterbury and was defeated by the Conservative incumbent, Julian Brazier by a margin of over 2,000 votes.

Following the retirement of Chris Smith, Thornberry was selected as the Labour candidate for Islington South and Finsbury at the 2005 general election through an all women shortlist of prospective candidates. She was elected with a majority of 484 in the election. Nick Smith (who subsequently was elected to Parliament), served as her election agent.

Thornberry made her maiden speech in the House of Commons on 24 May 2005. In Parliament, she has been a member of the Environmental Audit Committee and was on the Communities & Local Government Select Committee in the 2005-10 Parliament. She is currently vice-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Cycling Group and the All-Party Parliamentary Pro-Choice and Sexual Health Group.

Thornberry's main interests since becoming an MP have been in health, housing, the environment, and equality. She has spoken on the need for more affordable housing, particularly in Islington. In 2006, Thornberry introduced the Housing Association Bill - a Private member's bill which sought to improve the control of housing association residents over their landlords. Many of the ideas from this Bill were taken up by the Cave Review. On the environment, Thornberry has worked with Friends of the Earth and World Wide Fund for Nature on campaigns for a Climate Change Bill and a Marine Bill. In 2006, Thornberry won the ePolitix Award for Environment Champion of the Year after being nominated by WWF.

In 2008, she helped to organise the votes of progressive MPs in the Human Fertilisation & Embryology Bill. In the Commons, she spoke to defend the right of lesbian mothers to access IVF treatment, and was criticised by other MPs including Conservative MP Sir Patrick Cormack and DUP member Iris Robinson. Following her intervention, she was nominated for Stonewall Politician of the Year 2008.

In March 2008, Thornberry claimed that almost every child in Islington had been mugged at some stage. This was denied by the Metropolitan Police as 'speculation', pointing out that out of a borough population of 180,000, only 750 people under 18 had reported being the victims of mugging in 2007. However, the comments were seen as a hindrance to Labour London mayor Ken Livingstone's re-election campaign.

Though normally voting with the Whip, Thornberry has voted against the Government on national security matters, regarding the detention of terror suspects without charge for 90 days in the Terrorism Act 2006, on the same matter for 42 days in the Counter-Terrorism Bill 2008, and against the renewal of Trident. Thornberry emerged “unscathed” and "squeaky clean" from the expenses scandal, She was praised by David Cameron for the hard line she took on "false claims" in her constituency, and he commented that she had "support … on both sides of the house" for her actions. In 2009 Thornberry was made a ministerial aide in the Department of Energy & Climate Change and attended the Copenhagen Summit in December that year with Joan Ruddock and Ed Miliband.

In May 2010, Thornberry was re-elected as MP for Islington South and Finsbury with an increased majority, in a seat identified as the Liberal Democrats top target in England for the 2010 election.

After the 2010 general election, Thornberry was promoted to Shadow Minister for the Department of Energy and Climate Change, under Ed Miliband. In the role she shadowed Charles Hendry, and addressed issues such as energy security, green jobs, and fuel poverty. Thornberry missed out on a place in Labour's Shadow Cabinet by one vote, but she was promoted to the role of Shadow Care Minister, under Shadow Health Secretary John Healey.

In this role Thornberry challenged the government’s lack of action over failing care home operator Southern Cross, calling for action and that the government put in place a plan B should the operator fail. She criticised government over the Winterborne View care home abuse scandal, calling for an investigation into the affair. In April 2011, Thornberry surveyed all the Local Government Directors of Adult Social Care and highlighted the pressures on care for the elderly by the coalition government’s cuts to Local Authority funds.

Thornberry was appointed Shadow Attorney General in October 2011, and attends Shadow Cabinet meetings. In this role she has won praise for being “very sensible and pertinent”, and has taken an active role in holding the government to account. She has highlighted the lack of prosecutions over corporate manslaughter, the need for action against white-collar crime, links between Liam Fox and lobbyists, and posed "serious questions" arising from the CPS’s prosecution of Mark Kennedy.

Thornberry has called for action from Dominic Grieve over Applied Language Solutions' failure to provide interpreters for court proceedings, and called on the Attorney General to ensure that allegations of bribery involving Bernie Ecclestone were properly investigated.

In 2011 Thornberry challenged David Cameron over his false claims about wages at Islington Council, campaigning against government measures which have exacerbated child poverty in Islington, and answering over 1,000 enquiries a month from constituents.