David Lammy

The Right Honourable David Lammy FRSA MP
Minister of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills
In office 5 October 2008 – 11 May 2010
Prime Minister	Gordon Brown
Preceded by	Bill Rammell
Succeeded by	David Willetts
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills
In office 28 June 2007 – 5 October 2008
Prime Minister	Gordon Brown
Preceded by	New department
Succeeded by	Siôn Simon
Baby of the House
In office 22 June 2000 – 18 September 2003
Preceded by	Chris Leslie
Succeeded by	Sarah Teather
Member of Parliament for Tottenham
Incumbent
Assumed office 22 June 2000
Preceded by	Bernie Grant
Majority	16,931 (41.6%)
Member of the London Assembly for the Labour Party (London-wide)
In office 4 May 2000 – July 2000
Preceded by	New constituency
Succeeded by	Jennette Arnold
Personal details
Born	David Lindon Lammy (1972-07-19) 19 July 1972 Tottenham, London, England
Nationality	British
Political party	Labour
Spouse(s)	Nicola Green
Alma mater	School of Oriental and African Studies, Harvard Law School
Religion	Anglican[1]
Website	www.davidlammy.co.uk

David Lindon Lammy, FRSA^[2] (born 19 July 1972), is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tottenham since 2000.

Early life and education

Lammy was born in Tottenham, North London, to Guyanese parents^[3] David and Rosalind Lammy^[4] and brought up by his mother. Lammy advocates positive parenting and he has said fathers should be active in the lives of their children. Lammy has spoken publicly on the topic of black fatherhood in the 21st century, attempting to address issues with fatherhood, particularly in the black working class.^[5]

Lammy was awarded an Inner London Education Authority choral scholarship to The King's School, Peterborough. He studied law at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, obtaining a first-class degree. Lammy went onto study an LL.M. at Harvard Law School and is a member of Lincoln's Inn having been called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1994.

Political career

Early career and Government 2000 – 2010

In 2000 he was elected for Labour on the London-wide list to the London Assembly. During the London election campaign the sitting member for Tottenham, Bernie Grant, died and Lammy was selected as the Labour candidate. He was elected to the seat, on a low turnout, in a by-election held on 22 June 2000. Upon his election Lammy become the Baby of the House. In 2002 he became Parliamentary under-Secretary in the Department of Health. In 2003 Lammy was appointed as a Minister in the Department for Constitutional Affairs. He voted in favour of the authorization for Britain to invade Iraq in 2003. After the 2005 general election Lammy was appointed Minister for Culture at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.

In June 2007 Lammy was appointed as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills. In October 2008 he was promoted to Minister of State and was appointed to the Privy Council. In June 2009 the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills was abolished and merged with the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform to form the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Lammy continued in the new department in his previous role as the Minister for Higher Education.

Backbench MP 2010– Onwards

After Labour lost the 2010 general election a Labour Party leadership contest was announced. During the contest Lammy nominated Diane Abbott, although declaring his support for David Miliband. After the election of Ed Miliband, Lammy pledged his full support for Miliband, though he turned down a post in the Shadow Cabinet offered by Miliband. Lammy asserted a need to speak on a wide range of issues that would arise in his constituency due to the "large cuts in the public services" that his constituents rely on.^[6] Deciding instead to become a back-bench opposition MP. Lammy has opposed the Coalition Government's comprehensive spending review.

2012 Mayor of London

In 2010 there were suggestions that Lammy might stand for election as Mayor of London in 2012. Lammy pledged his support to Ken Livingstone's bid to become the Labour London Mayoral candidate, declaring him "London's Mayor in waiting".^[7] Lammy became Livingstone's selection campaign chair.

Political comment

On election night in 2005 Lammy described George Galloway of the Respect party as a "carpetbagger" and said that he had "come down from Scotland to whip up racial tensions".^[8] Galloway contested that, saying his previous constituency in Scotland had been abolished because of boundary changes and that he had the right to stand as a British MP wherever he had support.^{[citation needed]}

On 11 August 2011, in an address to Parliament, Lammy attributed part of the cause for England's riots of a few days earlier to three destructive 'culture's that had emerged under the prevailing policies: "A Grand Theft Auto culture that glamorises violence. A consumer culture fixated on the brands we wear, not who we are and what we achieve. A gang culture with warped notions of loyalty, respect and honour."^[9]

He has also suggested that corporal punishment of a kind currently illegal in the UK could have been used to prevent the riots.^[10]

Lammy has commented on Britain's history of slavery.^[11][12][13]

On 5 February 2013, Lammy gave a passionate speech in the House of Commons on why he would be voting in favour of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill 2013, critically comparing the relegation of British same-sex couples to civil partnerships to the "separate but equal" legal doctrine which justified Jim Crow laws in the 20th-century United States. U.S. television host Lawrence O'Donnell praised Lammy's speech, relating it to Oscar Wilde's testimony on "the love that dare not speak its name" during his 1895 trial for sodomy and gross indecency.

On 12 March 2013, Lammy apologised for claiming the BBC made a "silly innuendo about the race of the next Pontiff".^[14] David Lammy was commenting on a BBC Twitter message, which asked "will smoke be black or white?". Mr Lammy, tweeting from the Commons chamber, said the BBC message was "crass and unnecessary". He later apologised after Twitter users pointed out the role played by black and white smoke in announcing the election of a new Pope.

Personal life

Lammy married Nicola Green in 2005;^[4] the couple have two sons.^[15]

In November 2011, he published a book – Out of the Ashes: Britain after the Riots – that serves as his account on the causes and consequences of the August 2011 riots.^[16]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to David Lammy.

• David Lammy official website
• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
• Current session contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Electoral history and profile at The Guardian
• Voting record at Public Whip
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou
• Profile at Westminster Parliamentary Record
• Profile at BBC News Democracy Live
• Articles authored at Journalisted