Anneliese Midgley | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2024 | |
| Member of Parliament forKnowsley | |
| Assumed office 4 July 2024 | |
| Preceded by | George Howarth |
| Majority | 18,319 (50.9%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Stockbridge Village,Merseyside, England |
| Party | Labour |
Anneliese Midgley is a BritishLabour Party politician and trade unionist who has served as theMember of Parliament forKnowsley since2024. She is a former senior trade union and Labour Party official. In Parliament she serves as Secretary of theTrade Union Group of Labour MPs.
Midgley grew up inStockbridge Village, formerly known as Cantril Farm. Midgley’s parents had been moved there from Everton and Liverpool. Her father worked at the nearby Ford Halewood car plant, now Jaguar Land Rover Halewood. She credits her father's secure, unionised job as what provided the family with stability and enabled them to eventually purchase their own home. He died three years before Midgley’s election to Parliament.[1]
Midgley has worked as Political Director ofUnite the Union and for theTrade Union Congress.[2]
She also worked for Ken Livingstone at City Hall during his time as Mayor of London, for Jeremy Corbyn’s 2015 leadership campaign (becoming his Deputy Chief of Staff), and later joined Keir Starmer’s team as a senior adviser in opposition.[3]
Midgley wasSir Keir Starmer's initial choice for the role ofLabour Party General Secretary,[4][5] though she did not stand for the position.[3]
In February 2024, she was selected to succeed long-serving MP for KnowsleyGeorge Howarth in the2024 United Kingdom general election.[6] She was elected with 67.3% of the vote.[7]
Midgley has worked with Cheryl Korbel, mother of murder victimOlivia Pratt-Korbel, in support of a proposed law requiring offenders to face victims’ families in court.[8] She read Korbel’s victim impact statement aloud in the House of Commons to press the issue.[9]
She has also campaigned on behalf of creatives and musicians with regard to the impact of generative artificial intelligence on copyright, performers’ rights and livelihoods.[10]
Midgley has supported theHillsborough Law, calling for a statutory “duty of candour” on public authorities to ensure transparency and justice for victims’ families.[11]
Midgely was married toBob Stanley of the bandSaint Etienne. The two later divorced but remain close friends; Stanley supported her election campaign by allowing her to use the band’s trackOnly Love Can Break Your Heart in a campaign video.[1]
