Debbie Abrahams | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2024 | |||||||||||||
| Chair of theWork and Pensions Select Committee | |||||||||||||
| Assumed office 11 September 2024 | |||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Stephen Timms | ||||||||||||
| Member of Parliament forOldham East and Saddleworth | |||||||||||||
| Assumed office 13 January 2011 | |||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Phil Woolas | ||||||||||||
| Majority | 6,357 (15.9%) | ||||||||||||
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| Personal details | |||||||||||||
| Born | Deborah Angela Elspeth Marie Morgan (1960-09-15)15 September 1960 (age 64) Sheffield,West Riding of Yorkshire, England | ||||||||||||
| Political party | Labour | ||||||||||||
| Spouse | |||||||||||||
| Alma mater | University of Salford University of Liverpool | ||||||||||||
| Website | debbieabrahams | ||||||||||||
Deborah Angela Elspeth Marie Abrahams (née Morgan; born 15 September 1960) is a BritishLabour Party politician who has served asMember of Parliament (MP) forOldham East and Saddleworth since2011. Abrahams was a member of theShadow Cabinet of Jeremy Corbyn from 2015 to 2018. She remains in theHouse of Commons as abackbencher.
Deborah Angela Elspeth Marie Morgan was born on 15 September 1960 inSheffield,West Riding of Yorkshire.[1][2] Her father was a dentist. She was educated atKent College, a private girls' school inTunbridge Wells, and received threeO-levels.[3][4]
She studied at theBolton Institute of Technology and received aBachelor of Science degree in biochemistry and physiology fromUniversity of Salford. She was awarded aMaster of Education degree from theUniversity of Liverpool.[3]
Her early employment was as a community worker for a charity inWythenshawe in south Manchester, where she set up job training programmes for teenagers.[5] Abrahams was head of healthy cities forKnowsley and served on the board of Bury and Rochdale Health Authority.[5]
In 2002, Abrahams was appointed chair ofRochdalePrimary Care Trust.[6] She was Director of the International Health Impact Assessment Consortium at the University of Liverpool between 2006 and 2010.[7]
She resigned from the Chair of Rochdale Primary Care Trust in 2007, over the use of private health companies in theNational Health Service, which she said was "destroying the NHS".[8] She then joined theLabour Party, declaring that she wanted "to challenge health policy at a local and national level to ensure that it reflects [the] core values" of the NHS. She was appointed bySimon Danczuk, then Labour candidate forRochdale, as his advisor on health,[6] and she stood for Rochdale Borough Council in Milnrow and Newhey ward in the2008 local elections.[9] She criticised the local council in Rochdale for failing to address health inequalities in the town.[10]
At the2010 general election, Abrahams stood as the Labour candidate inColne Valley, coming third with 26.4% of the vote behind theConservative candidateJason McCartney and theLiberal Democrat candidate.[11][12]
In December 2010, Abrahams was placed on a shortlist of three to be the Labour Party candidate for the2011 Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election.[13] At the by-election, Abrahams was elected to Parliament as MP forOldham East and Saddleworth with 42.1% of the vote and a majority of 3,558.[14]
Abrahams was appointed parliamentary private secretary toAndy Burnham and elected Chair of theParliamentary Labour Party's Health Committee. In 2014, she organised an Inquiry Into The Effectiveness Of International Health Systems which she said demonstrated that "where there is competition, privatisation or marketisation in a health system, health equity worsens".[15] She sought to reassureClinical commissioning groups that the Labour Party's proposed health reforms would not amount to a top-down 'big bang' shake up of the NHS.[16]
At the2015 general election, Abrahams was re-elected as MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth with a decreased vote share of 39.4% and an increased majority of 6,002.[17][18]
She was elected as a member of theWork and Pensions Select Committee in July 2015.[19] In September 2015, Abrahams was appointedShadow Minister for Disabled People by Labour leaderJeremy Corbyn in recognition on her work with disabled people in the past.[20] Abrahams was appointedShadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in June 2016, followingOwen Smith's resignation from the Shadow Cabinet in the wake of theEU Referendum result.[21]
At the snap2017 general election, Abrahams was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 54.5% and an increased majority of 8,182.[22] Abrahams was again re-elected at the2019 general election, with a decreased vote share of 43.5% and a decreased majority of 1,503.[23]
In February 2021, Abrahams was one of three MPs who successfully took legal action against theDepartment of Health and Social Care over contracts awarded during theCOVID-19 pandemic.[24]
She is a member ofLabour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East.[25] She is the current Chair of the APPG on Palestine.[26]
At the2024 general election, Abrahams was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 35.2% and an increased majority of 6,357.[27][28]
In September 2024, she was elected chair of theWork and Pensions Select Committee.[29]
In March 2018, Abrahams was suspended from her position as Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary whilst she was investigated by the Labour Party over a "workplace issue", reported by several media outlets to be related to claims that she bullied staff;[30] she has vehemently denied the claims, adding that she is the victim of a "bullying culture of the worst kind".[31][32] In May that year she was removed from the Shadow Cabinet. In a statement, Abrahams said: "I strongly refute the allegations of bullying made against me. I believe the investigation was not thorough, fair or independent." She said she would now go to the party'sNational Executive Committee disputes panel.[33][34]
In January 2013, Abrahams was awarded theGrassroot Diplomat Initiative Award in the Business Driver category, for her campaign to improve late payments affecting small businesses. She not only signed up to be a Champion of the Federation of Small Businesses Real-Life Entrepreneurs Campaign, but has been at the forefront of a campaign to improve the speed with which small businesses are paid by their customers.[35]
Abrahams marriedJohn Abrahams, a former captain ofLancashire County cricket team, in the late 1980s. They have two daughters, Victoria and Dawn.[5]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forOldham East and Saddleworth 2011–present | Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 2016–2018 | Succeeded by |
