Dawn Butler

Dawn Petula Butler (born 3 November 1969) is a British Labour politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Brent South since 2005, and is Minister for Young Citizens and Youth Engagement ^[1] in the Cabinet Office. She was born in London to Jamaican immigrant parents into a large family with a sister and four brothers.^[2]

Before Parliament

She worked as an officer of the GMB Union, including time as a national race and equality officer. She was also an advisor to the Mayor of London Ken Livingstone on employment and social issues.^[2]

Parliamentary career

Following the retirement of Paul Boateng to become British High Commissioner to South Africa she was selected as the Labour candidate in Brent South and won the subsequent election with a majority of 11,326. She is the third black woman to become a British MP, the others being Diane Abbott and Oona King.

Butler made her maiden speech on 24 May 2005.^[3] In her maiden speech she described her constituency as a “shining example of integration at its best”, highlighted the importance of the Warwick Agreement with the Trade Unions, paid tribute to other sitting and former black MPs and said she would be a voice for youth.

Interest in youth services has continued as one of her main interests in Parliament. On 24 October 2006 she was appointed Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Youth Affairs, and she is an Honorary Vice President of the British Youth Council. After Gordon Brown became Prime Minister, on 27 June 2007, Butler was made one of the Labour Party's six Vice Chairs, with particular responsibility for Youth issues.^[4]

She was appointed to the Select Committee on the Modernisation of the House of Commons shortly after her election, and has also served on standing committees (notably on the Violent Crime Reduction Bill 2006). In November 2007 she was appointed to the Children & Families Select Committee. Earlier (in November 2005), she had been promoted to Parliamentary Private Secretary to the health minister Jane Kennedy, but decided to stand down from this post in early 2006.

On 6 November 2007, Butler was chosen to second the Queen’s Speech.^[5] Her voting record shows she has largely been loyal to the government. She was promoted to Assistant Whip on 12 September 2008.^[6].

Following her appointment as Minister for Young Citizens and Youth Engagement, Ms. Butler became the first black woman to speak from the Despatch Box in the House of Commons during question time on December 9, 2009.

Second Home Controversy

In March 2009 Dawn Butler came under criticism for claiming almost the full £23,000 second home allowance, despite her other home in Stratford being the same distance from parliament as her Brent South home.^[7][8]

Boundary changes

Butler's constituency of Brent South will be superseded at the next general election. Its territory will be mostly divided between two new constituencies: Brent Central and Brent North. Butler has been selected as the Labour candidate in Brent Central. Other known candidates are: Shahrar Ali (Green Party), Sachin Rajput (Conservative) and Sarah Teather (Liberal Democrats).

References

External links

• Dawn Butler MP's Website
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Dawn Butler MP
• Guardian: Ask Aristotle - How they voted: Dawn Butler MP

Online interviews

• WPRadio Talking to Women's Parliamentary Radio about her new role and career in parliament
• WPRadio face to face video