Jenny Chapman
| Baroness Chapman link (Politician) | |
|---|---|
| File:Jenny Chapman.jpg | |
| Born | 25 September 1973 |
| Alma mater | Brunel University, Durham University |
| Spouses | Tony Chapman, Nick Smith |
Jennifer Chapman, Baroness Chapman of Darlington, is a British Labour Party politician and life peer whom Keir Starmer appointed Minister of State for International Development, Latin America and Caribbean in 2025. She was previously Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Latin America and Caribbean from 2024 to 2025. She was Member of Parliament (MP) for Darlington from 2010 to 2019.
Parliamentary career
Jenny Chapman supported Owen Smith in the failed attempt to replace Jeremy Corbyn in the 2016 Labour leadership election.[1] She later rejoined the Opposition frontbench as Shadow Minister for Exiting the European Union.[2]
In 2018, Chapman became a member of the secretive Arlington Group of Labour MPs and activists who were seeking to install Keir Starmer as Labour leader.[3]
Chapman was one of the many Labour MPs to be defeated at the UK/General election/2019, losing her seat to Conservative Peter Gibson following 27 years of Labour holding the constituency.
During her time as an MP, she served as a vice-chair of Progress.
After losing her seat, Chapman became chair of Keir Starmer's successful campaign in the 2020 Labour Party leadership contest and later accepted the role of political secretary to Starmer in his role as Leader of the Labour Party.[4]
House of Lords
In December 2020 it was announced that Chapman would join the House of Lords as part of the 2020 Political Honours. In February 2021, she was made Baroness Chapman of Darlington, of Darlington in the County of Durham.
Baroness Chapman was removed as Starmer's political director in June 2021, after what The Times referred to as "months of friction" with Labour MPs, and was re-appointed to the frontbench as Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office, shadowing Lord Frost at Task Force Europe and the Cabinet Office.
She was made Minister of State for International Development, Latin America and Caribbean on 28 February 2025, and appointed to the Privy Council in May that year.
Personal life
Jenny Chapman married fellow Labour MP Nick Smith in July 2014. She has two sons from a previous marriage.
In February 2022, Baroness Chapman won a libel case against The Sunday Times chief political commentator Tim Shipman. Shipman's May 2021 tweets falsely suggested she had a "secret adulterous relationship" with Labour leader Keir Starmer. She received substantial damages and legal costs.
In August 2023, Baroness Chapman was announced as the Chancellor of Teesside University.
References
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