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| Angela Eagle: who is the woman taking on Jeremy Corbyn? | Angela Eagle: who is the woman taking on Jeremy Corbyn? |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Angela Eagle will tell party members on Monday why she has decided to challenge Jeremy Corbyn for the Labour leadership. | Angela Eagle will tell party members on Monday why she has decided to challenge Jeremy Corbyn for the Labour leadership. |
| She had been set to make the move a week earlier, following a spate of resignations from the shadow cabinet in the wake of the leave vote in the EU referendum but postponed the announcement while Len McCluskey, head of the Unite union, tried to broker a deal with Corbyn to stave off a damaging civil war within the party. | She had been set to make the move a week earlier, following a spate of resignations from the shadow cabinet in the wake of the leave vote in the EU referendum but postponed the announcement while Len McCluskey, head of the Unite union, tried to broker a deal with Corbyn to stave off a damaging civil war within the party. |
| After the deputy leader, Tom Watson, said earlier on Saturday that peace talks had failed, Eagle made her announcement. But what do we know about the MP now challenging for Labour leadership? | After the deputy leader, Tom Watson, said earlier on Saturday that peace talks had failed, Eagle made her announcement. But what do we know about the MP now challenging for Labour leadership? |
| She has been an MP for almost a quarter of a century, representing Wallasey since 1992. Eagle, whose twin sister, Maria, is also an MP, was elected at the age of 31, making her one of the UK’s youngest representatives at the time. | She has been an MP for almost a quarter of a century, representing Wallasey since 1992. Eagle, whose twin sister, Maria, is also an MP, was elected at the age of 31, making her one of the UK’s youngest representatives at the time. |
| Despite having roles in the Blair and Brown governments, which culminated in her serving as a pensions minister for almost a year before Labour lost power in 2010, Eagle does not have a high public profile. | Despite having roles in the Blair and Brown governments, which culminated in her serving as a pensions minister for almost a year before Labour lost power in 2010, Eagle does not have a high public profile. |
| In 1997 she became the first openly gay female MP since Maureen Colquhoun after coming out and embodies modern Labour values as the Yorkshire-born, comprehensive school-educated daughter of a printer who went to Oxford and now represents a Merseyside constituency. | |
| Related: Angela and Maria Eagle: ‘We were brought up to believe that there was nothing we couldn’t do’ | Related: Angela and Maria Eagle: ‘We were brought up to believe that there was nothing we couldn’t do’ |
| A champion of women’s rights, diversity and minority rights, Eagle is seen as being from the “soft left” of the party. | A champion of women’s rights, diversity and minority rights, Eagle is seen as being from the “soft left” of the party. |
| She appeared in a live EU referendum TV debate for the remain camp, but greater exposure has come as shadow business secretary, tackling the government with some success in the Commons. David Cameron was criticised for telling her to “calm down, dear” after she challenged the prime minister over NHS reforms. | She appeared in a live EU referendum TV debate for the remain camp, but greater exposure has come as shadow business secretary, tackling the government with some success in the Commons. David Cameron was criticised for telling her to “calm down, dear” after she challenged the prime minister over NHS reforms. |
| Popular among grassroots Labour members, some on the left criticise her for being pro-Trident and having voted in favour of both the Iraq war and airstrikes in Syria. | Popular among grassroots Labour members, some on the left criticise her for being pro-Trident and having voted in favour of both the Iraq war and airstrikes in Syria. |
| She is also seen as more pro-business than many on the left and was one of the 184 Labour MPs who did not vote against the second reading of the Conservatives’ welfare reform and work bill in July 2015. | She is also seen as more pro-business than many on the left and was one of the 184 Labour MPs who did not vote against the second reading of the Conservatives’ welfare reform and work bill in July 2015. |
| However, analysis of her voting record by theyworkforyou.com shows her having voted against the bedroom tax and consistently voting against reducing spending on benefits. | However, analysis of her voting record by theyworkforyou.com shows her having voted against the bedroom tax and consistently voting against reducing spending on benefits. |
| As well as being a minister or shadow minister in four departments, Eagle has been the vice-chair of the parliamentary Labour party, chaired the party conference, its national executive committee and the national policy forum. | As well as being a minister or shadow minister in four departments, Eagle has been the vice-chair of the parliamentary Labour party, chaired the party conference, its national executive committee and the national policy forum. |
| Born in Bridlington, Eagle went to a comprehensive in Formby on Merseyside and joined Labour at 17. After studying philosophy, politics and economics at St John’s College, Oxford, she worked in various roles for unions before being selected as the Labour candidate for Wallasey. | Born in Bridlington, Eagle went to a comprehensive in Formby on Merseyside and joined Labour at 17. After studying philosophy, politics and economics at St John’s College, Oxford, she worked in various roles for unions before being selected as the Labour candidate for Wallasey. |
| Following Gordon Brown’s 2010 defeat she was appointed shadow chief secretary to the Treasury by Ed Miliband. | Following Gordon Brown’s 2010 defeat she was appointed shadow chief secretary to the Treasury by Ed Miliband. |
| Eagle has a partner, Maria Exall, a trade union activist, and the pair entered into a civil partnership in 2008. | Eagle has a partner, Maria Exall, a trade union activist, and the pair entered into a civil partnership in 2008. |
| Promoted under Jeremy Corbyn, she had called for unity and for members to back the leader until a recent tearful radio interview when she concluded he was not the right man to lead Labour. | Promoted under Jeremy Corbyn, she had called for unity and for members to back the leader until a recent tearful radio interview when she concluded he was not the right man to lead Labour. |