Pat Glass

Pat Glass
Shadow Secretary of State for Education
In office
27 June 2016 – 29 June 2016
Leader Jeremy Corbyn
Shadowing Nicky Morgan
Preceded by Lucy Powell
Succeeded by Angela Rayner
Shadow Minister of State for Europe
In office
5 January 2016 – 27 June 2016
Leader Jeremy Corbyn
Shadowing David Lidington
Preceded by Pat McFadden
Succeeded by Fabian Hamilton
Member of Parliament
for North West Durham
In office
6 May 2010 – 3 May 2017
Preceded by Hilary Armstrong
Succeeded by Laura Pidcock
Personal details
Born (1957-02-14) 14 February 1957
Esh Winning, England, UK
Political party Labour
Website Official website

Patricia "Pat" Glass (born 14 February 1957) is an English Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for North West Durham from 2010 to 2017. She was appointed Shadow Education Secretary on 27 June 2016 by Jeremy Corbyn, but resigned two days later after announcing that she would be standing down at the next United Kingdom general election.[1]

Early life and career

She was born in Esh Winning, County Durham. Before becoming an MP, Glass worked in various positions with local education authorities, and became a Government Education Adviser specialising in Special Needs Education, and Assistant Director of Education in Sunderland and Greenwich.[2]

Glass was elected as a councillor on Lanchester Parish Council in 2007. Subsequently she was selected as the Labour Party parliamentary candidate for North West Durham, with the retirement of Hilary Armstrong at the 2010 general election.

Political career

Glass was elected to the House of Commons at the 2010 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for North West Durham. Her particular interest is education and she has sat on the Education Select Committee[3]

In 2014, Glass accused rival politicians in Parliament of "orchestrated barracking" of women with regional accents, saying "I get the impression they think women who are northerners should not be there."[4]

In September 2015, Glass was appointed as Shadow Education Minister with responsibility for childcare by the new Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.[5] On 5 January 2016, she was named the Shadow Europe Minister after Corbyn had conducted the first reshuffle of his shadow cabinet.[6]

Glass took a prominent role in Labour's campaign to remain in the EU in the June 2016 referendum campaign. On 19 May 2016, she apologised after calling a member of the public in Sawley, Derbyshire "a horrible racist", which was caught at the end of a radio interview recording and reported by the media. She also added "I'm never coming back to wherever this is".[7][8]

At a Labour rally she suggested voters try to persuade their mothers and grandmothers to vote to stay in, but joked they didn't bother with their grandfathers because "the problem is older white men".[9] She reported having received death threats during the referendum campaign, and on the advice of the police did not attend the referendum count.[10]

In June 2016, Glass was appointed Shadow Education Secretary following the resignation of Lucy Powell and several other Cabinet ministers in protest at Corbyn's leadership during the EU referendum.[11] The next day, Glass announced that she will not stand as the Labour candidate at the next General Election.[12] The day after that, she resigned as Shadow Education Secretary, saying that the "situation is untenable",[1] and making the statement:

While I had always intended to do more than two terms in Parliament I have found the last six months very, very difficult. The referendum has been incredibly divisive, it divided families and communities and I have found it bruising in many respects. It has had an impact on both me and my family as I am sure it has had on many others.[10]

Glass stood down at the 2017 general election, citing the 'bruising referendum' as a major cause.[13]

References

  1. 1 2 "Pat Glass resigns as Labour education shadow secretary". BBC News. 29 June 2016. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  2. ↑ "Pat Glass". Politics.co.uk. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  3. ↑ Profile, parliament.uk; accessed 12 May 2015.
  4. ↑ Morse, Felicity (17 February 2014). "Tories 'deliberately mock women MPs for their northern accents' says Pat Glass". The Independent. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  5. ↑ Gaunt, Catherine (18 September 2015). "Pat Glass takes on shadow childcare role". Nursery World. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  6. ↑ "Jeremy Corbyn keeps Hilary Benn as shadow foreign secretary in reshuffle". BBC News. 5 January 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  7. ↑ Josh May (19 May 2016). "Labour MP Pat Glass describes member of the public as 'horrible racist'". PoliticsHome. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  8. ↑ "Labour MP Pat Glass calls Derbyshire voter 'a horrible racist'". BBC News. 19 May 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  9. ↑ Keate, Georgie (2 June 2016). "ignore old white men, suggests MP". The Times. Retrieved 3 June 2016. (subscription required)
  10. 1 2 Tom Eden (29 June 2016). "Who is Labour Party MP Pat Glass and why has she resigned?". ChronicleLive. Newcastle upon Tyne. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  11. ↑ "Jeremy Corbyn unveils new top team after resignations". BBC News. 27 June 2016.
  12. ↑ "MP Pat Glass to stand down after 'bruising' EU campaign". BBC News. 28 June 2016. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  13. ↑ http://www.patglassmp.org.uk/pat-glass-to-stand-down-on-8th-june/
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Hilary Armstrong		 Member of Parliament
for North West Durham
2010–2017 		Succeeded by
Laura Pidcock
Political offices
Preceded by
Pat McFadden		 Shadow Minister of State for Europe
2016 		Succeeded by
Fabian Hamilton
Preceded by
Lucy Powell		 Shadow Secretary of State for Education
2016 		Succeeded by
Angela Rayner
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