Jennie Formby | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Formby in 2016 | |
| General Secretary of the Labour Party | |
| In office 3 April 2018 – 26 May 2020 | |
| Leader | Jeremy Corbyn Keir Starmer |
| Preceded by | Iain McNicol |
| Succeeded by | David Evans |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Jennifer Sandle (1960-04-12)12 April 1960 (age 64) London, England |
| Political party | Independent |
| Other political affiliations | Labour (until 2024) |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | Bath High School for Girls St Helen and St Katharine |
Jennifer Formby (néeSandle; born 12 April 1960) is a British trade unionist and political figure who served asGeneral Secretary of the Labour Party from 2018 to 2020. She was previously political director and south-east England regional secretary forUnite the Union.
Born Jennifer Sandle in London, her father served in theRoyal Navy in Korea, Suez and Lebanon. She grew up with an older brother and sister inMalta,Bath andSalisbury. She went toBath High School for Girls thenSt Helen and St Katharine boarding school inAbingdon, paid for by the Royal Navy from the age of 14. Formby left school with 10O levels and 3A levels, but chose not to go to university.[1][2]
Formby became a trade unionist when she began her working life in Salisbury at the bookmakersWilliam Hill in the late 1970s, and became a branch secretary in Unite's predecessor, theTransport and General Workers' Union.[3][4] She later worked forBOC inSouthampton, where she became a unionshop steward.[1][3]
Formby became aTransport and General Workers' Union regional officer in 1988.[3] She represented aSouthampton University Hospitals NHS Trust nurse in a ground-breakingemployment tribunal case in 2004, where the black nurse suffered racial discrimination by being banned from caring for a white baby.[1][5] Formby became the union's national officer for the food, drink and tobacco sector in 2004.[6] In 2013, she was appointed Unite's political director.[7] In March 2016, Formby moved to the post of regional secretary insouth-east England.[8]
Since late 2011, Formby had been a member of theNational Executive Committee (NEC) of theLabour Party.[9]
In February 2018, Formby announced she was a candidate to becomeGeneral Secretary of the Labour Party, shortly after the incumbent,Iain McNicol, resigned.[10] Her main rival,Jon Lansman, the chair ofMomentum, dropped out of contention on 11 March, making Formby the frontrunner.[11]
On 20 March 2018, she was appointed to the role, effective from April 2018.[12][13]
She resigned on 4 May 2020, a month following the election ofKeir Starmer as new Labour leader, saying "now we have a new leadership team it is the right time to step down".[14] She was succeeded byDavid Evans.
In June 2024, Formby publicly stated that she will be voting for theGreen Party in the2024 UK general election.[15]
Formby andLen McCluskey had a child in 1991.[16] She married Freddie Formby in 2000 and the couple had two children together and adopted a third.[2][17]
In March 2019, Formby announced that she was to undergo treatment for breast cancer.[18]
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | General Secretary of the Labour Party 2018-2020 | Succeeded by |