London (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Dawn Butler is a British Labor Party politician. She is serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Brent Central since 2015. During the 2005 general election, Butler was elected MP for Brent South. Between 2009 and 2010, she was Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office and Minister. It is for Young Citizens and Youth Engagement in Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s government. In 2010, she lost her seat to Sarah Teather (Liberal Democrat). However, she was later elected as an MP for Brent Central in 2015.
Early Life & Bio
Dawn Butler was born on 3rd November 1969 in Forest Gate, East London. Her parents were Jamaican immigrants Milo and Ambrozene Butler. While she has one sister and four brothers. She was an officer of the GMB Union, serving as a national race and equality officer. Moreover, she has been an adviser to the Mayor of London on employment and social issues. Even though she belonged to a middle-class family, she has good memories from her childhood.
Parliamentary Career
Following his re-election as Labour Leader in October 2016, she was appointed Shadow Minister for Black and Minority Ethnic Communities. She was selected by Jeremy Corbyn and became close to him afterward. In February 2017, she resigned from the Official Opposition frontbench to oppose the triggering of Article 50. However, it formally launched the Brexit negotiations. In June 2017, she became Shadow Minister for Black and Minority Ethnic Communities.
She was promoted to Jeremy Corbyn’s Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Women and Equalities. She stood in the 2020 Labour Party deputy leadership election and came last, in fifth place. In 2020, Keir Starmer removed her from the Shadow Cabinet and she returned to the backbenches.
First Term (2005-2010)
Dawn worked hard to seek out and become a Labour MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch. However, she failed to secure the nomination from an all-women shortlist. She then attempted to become a candidate for West Ham in 2005 but was unsuccessful. After the retirement of Paul Boateng, she could take up his role as High Commissioner of Great Britain to South Africa.
She was selected for Brent South and held the seat for her party with a majority of 11,326. This is how the 2005 General Election became a big success. In doing so, she became one of only three black women ever elected to Parliament in Britain. This position is alongside Diane Abbott and Oona King.
In Parliament, one of her main interests was youth services. She was appointed chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Youth Affairs on 24 October 2006. Apart from that she is an honorary vice president of the British Youth Council. In June 2007, after Gordon Brown became prime minister, Butler became one of Labour’s six vice chairs, responsible for youth issues.
Second Term (2015 –Present)
In 2013, Butler was selected as the Labour candidate for Brent Central at the general election in 2015. Teather had announced she would stand down from parliament before the election, so she did not contest the seat. Dawn won by a margin of over 19,000 votes which is massive. After a vote in September 2016, Butler was succeeded by Jess Phillips as chair of the Women’s Parliamentary Labour Party.
Dawn was backed by Andy Burnham in the 2015 Labour Leadership Election. However, she lent her nomination to Jeremy Corbyn to ensure that he was on the ballot. In October 2016, Butler was appointed Labour’s Shadow Minister for Black and Minority Ethnic Communities.
Jeremy Corbyn Resigns From The Frontbench
Dawn decided to resign before the House of Commons vote on the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill 2017. It also triggered Article 50 and changed everyone’s perspective. Labour MPs were instructed to vote in favor of the bill by a three-line whip. In March 2017, Dawn used British Sign Language to ask a question in the House of Commons. It was all about granting this language legal recognition. She was reappointed as Shadow Minister for Black and Minority Ethnic Communities in June 2017. Similarly, she launched a cross-party parliamentary group that focuses on ethnic minority issues in the same month.
Women and Equalities Shadow Secretary
Following the resignation of Sarah Champion, Butler was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Women and Equalities in August 2017. In February 2018, she appointed Anthony Watson as LGBT+ advisor. In September 2018, she pointed out that current Labour councils are facing public sector funding constraints.
They needed to draw inspiration from the actions of Liverpool City Council in the early 1980s. During the same month, she was promoted to Shadow Secretary of State. It was announced that Women and Equalities would become a full-time department under a Labour government.
Personal Life & Net Worth
Dawn Butler was diagnosed with breast cancer in December 2021. She is battling with the disease and got surgery. Dawn is a popular politician and her net worth exceeds $5 million. In March 2009, Butler was reprimanded for claiming the second home allowance. Although her main residence in Stratford was just as distant from Parliament as Brent South.
Her office emphasized that she has moved into the Wembley house post her election in 2005. It was to provide better service to her constituents. Amidst discrepancies in 2005-8, it led up to an overcharge of £2,600. She decided to take care of her future expenses by paying off this debt.
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Criticism
During an interview with Richard Madeley on Good Morning Britain in February 2020, she claimed that: “A child is born without sex”. She was participating in a debate about reactions to updates to the Gender Recognition Act 2004. These changes were proposed by the governing Conservative Party.
As Butler explained later, she was referring to gender neutrality, in which non-binary identities can be used. Moreover, Dawn was criticized when she praised Extinction Rebellion protestors who blocked the printworks of several major newspapers. Apart from that her comments on homosexuality also came into the limelight.