David Lammy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the Scottish Member of Parliament from Ayrshire, see David Lambie.

David Lindon Lammy (born July 19, 1972) is a British politician and the Member of Parliament for Tottenham.

Lammy was born in Tottenham, a working-class area of North London, and brought up by his mother after his father left the family. He won an Inner London Education Authority choral scholarship to The King's School, Peterborough and studied for a degree in law at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, and then took a Masters degree at Harvard Law School, the first Black Briton to do so.

In 2000, he was elected as a Labour candidate on the London-wide list to the London Assembly. However, the sitting Member of Parliament for Tottenham Bernie Grant died during the campaign, and Lammy was selected to succeed him. He retained the seat, on a low turnout, in a by-election held on June 22, 2000, becoming the Baby of the House (the youngest MP). He was promoted to the government in 2002 and served at the Department for Constitutional Affairs from 2003 to 2005. Following the 2005 General Election, Lammy was appointed Minister for Culture under Tessa Jowell at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.

Lammy has stated in speeches and articles that his vision for the arts in the UK is to move towards participation for all. In February 2006 he criticised the Arts Council of England leading to a conflict with its chairman.

He is married to Nicola Green.

[edit] External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Bernie Grant		 Member of Parliament for Tottenham
2000 – present		 Incumbent
Preceded by
Christopher Leslie		 Baby of the House
2000–2003		 Succeeded by
Sarah Teather
Political offices
Preceded by
Estelle Morris		 Minister of State for the Arts
2005 – present		 Incumbent
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../d/a/v/David_Lammy_c8ca.html"