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Valerie Vaz

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The Right Honourable
Valerie Vaz
MP
Official portrait, 2024
Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
In office
6 October 2016 – 9 May 2021
LeaderJeremy Corbyn
Keir Starmer
Preceded byPaul Flynn
Succeeded byThangam Debbonaire
Member of Parliament
for Walsall and Bloxwich
Walsall South (2010–2024)
Incumbent
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded byBruce George
Majority3,914 (8.1%)
Personal details
Born
Valerie Carol Marian Vaz

(1954-12-07) 7 December 1954 (age 69)
Aden Colony (now Yemen)
Political partyLabour
SpousePaul Townsend
RelationsKeith Vaz (brother)
Children1 daughter
Alma materBedford College, University of London
WebsiteOfficial website

Valerie Carol Marian Vaz[1] (born 7 December 1954) is a British Labour politician and former solicitor who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Walsall and Bloxwich, previously Walsall South since 2010. She served as Shadow Leader of the House of Commons from 2016 to 2021 in the Shadow Cabinets of Jeremy Corbyn and Keir Starmer.

Early life and career

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Valerie Vaz was born on 7 December 1954 in Aden (now part of Yemen) to Anthony Xavier and Merlyn Verona Vaz.[2] Her family originates from Goa, India, and settled in Twickenham and then East Sheen.[3] Vaz is a distant relative of Saint Joseph Vaz, a 17th-century missionary.[4] Her father, previously a correspondent for The Times of India,[5] worked in the airline industry, while her mother worked two jobs, as a teacher and for Marks & Spencer. Her father died by suicide when she was 16.[6]

Vaz was educated at Twickenham County Grammar School[3] and later Bedford College. She attended the University of London, where she completed a BSc (Hons) degree in Biochemistry in 1978.[7] The same year, she matriculated at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge to do research, but did not take a degree.[8][9]

In 1984 she qualified as a solicitor[3] and subsequently worked on legal issues for local government in London. She set up her own law firm, Townsend Vaz Solicitors,[3] and has sat as a Deputy District Judge in the County Court on the Midland and Oxford Circuit.

Vaz was a councillor in the London Borough of Ealing from 1986 to 1990, and the council's Deputy Leader from 1988 to 1989.

At the 1999 European Parliament elections, Vaz stood in the East Midlands, but was not elected.[10]

In 2001, she joined the Government Legal Service, and worked at the Treasury Solicitors Department and the Ministry of Justice. She worked as a presenter and interviewer for the BBC TV programme Network East in 1987.[3]

Parliamentary career

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Vaz stood as the Labour candidate in Twickenham at the 1987 general election, coming third with 8.4% of the vote behind the incumbent Conservative MP Toby Jessel and the Liberal Party candidate.[11]

At the 2010 general election, Vaz was elected to Parliament as MP for Walsall South with 39.7% of the vote and a majority of 1,755.[12][13]

In June 2010 she was selected as a Labour member of the Health Select Committee.[14]

At the 2015 general election, Vaz was re-elected as MP for Walsall South with an increased vote share of 47.2% and an increased majority of 6,007.[15]

In October 2016 she was appointed to Jeremy Corbyn's shadow cabinet as the Shadow Leader of the House of Commons.[16]

At the snap 2017 general election, Vaz was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 57.4% and an increased majority of 8,892.[17]

In October 2018, it was revealed that two former members of Vaz's parliamentary staff had alleged that they were bullied by her, but the complaints were not followed up by the party.[18]

On 8 October 2019, Vaz was appointed as a member of the Privy Council, giving her the style of The Right Honourable for life.[19]

At the 2019 general election, Vaz was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 49.1% and a decreased majority of 3,456.[20]

She continued in her role as Shadow Leader of the House after the election of Keir Starmer as the Leader of the Labour Party. In the 2021 British shadow cabinet reshuffle, she returned to the backbenches.

On 24 May 2021, Vaz was criticised after she suggested that the condition of Boris Johnson was exaggerated when he was in intensive care with COVID-19.[21]

Vaz is chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Epilepsy.[22]

Due to the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, Vaz's constituency of Walsall South was abolished, and replaced with Walsall and Bloxwich. At the 2024 general election, Vaz was elected to Parliament as MP for Walsall and Bloxwich with 33.5% of the vote and a majority of 4,914.[23][24]

Personal life

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Vaz is married to Paul Townsend.[3] The couple have one daughter.[3] Her hobbies include music and gardening.[3] Her younger brother Keith Vaz was the Labour MP for Leicester East from 1987 to 2019, while her sister Penny is a lawyer.[6] Her late mother Merlyn Vaz was formerly a Labour councillor in Leicester.[25] She is a Catholic.[26]

References

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  1. ^ "Profile: Valerie Carol Marian Vaz". ukwhoswho.com. UK Who's Who. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  2. ^ "Vaz, Valerie Carol Marian – WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO". Ukwhoswho.com. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U251368. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4. Retrieved 14 March 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h "About Valerie". valerievazmp.co.uk. Valerie Vaz MP. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
  4. ^ "Relative of British MP to become Sri Lanka's first saint | CatholicHerald.co.uk". Archived from the original on 20 September 2014.
  5. ^ editor, Helen Pidd North of England (4 September 2016). "Keith Vaz: one scandal too many for the publicity-seeking MP". Theguardian.com. Retrieved 14 March 2019. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  6. ^ a b Laville, Sandra (2 January 2013). "Keith Vaz on Jacintha Saldanha's children: This could be me 42 years ago'". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  7. ^ "Election highs for Royal Holloway alumni". www.rhul.ac.uk. Archived from the original on 9 June 2011. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
  8. ^ The Cambridge University List of Members up to 31 December 1991, Cambridge University Press, p. 1394
  9. ^ "Personal website autobiography". Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  10. ^ "1999 Election candidates". UK Office of the European Parliament. Archived from the original on 28 August 2009. Retrieved 4 June 2009.
  11. ^ "Election 1987 Results - Election Polling". www.electionpolling.co.uk. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  12. ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  13. ^ "BBC NEWS – Election 2010 – Walsall South". BBC News.
  14. ^ Pickard, Jim (24 June 2010). "Westminster select committees: Labour & Tory membership". Financial Times. Retrieved 29 June 2010.
  15. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  16. ^ "Valerie Vaz MP". parliament.uk. UK Parliament. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  17. ^ "Walsall South Parliamentary constituency". BBC Online. Archived from the original on 8 August 2017.
  18. ^ "Labour refused to investigate second bullying allegation against Valerie Vaz". 18 October 2018.
  19. ^ "ORDERS APPROVED AND BUSINESS TRANSACTED AT THE PRIVY COUNCIL HELD BY THE QUEEN AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE ON 8TH OCTOBER 2019" (PDF). 8 October 2019. pp. 1, 19. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  20. ^ "Walsall South Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  21. ^ Merrick, Rob (24 May 2021). "Labour MP claims Boris Johnson's Covid condition was exaggerated because he was 'not at death's door'". The Independent. Retrieved 25 May 2021.
  22. ^ "Register Of All-Party Parliamentary Groups [as at 22 July 2022]". UK Parliament. The House of Commons and House of Lords. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  23. ^ "Walsall and Bloxwich - General election results 2024". BBC News. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  24. ^ "2024 General Election results for Walsall Borough". Walsall Council. 5 July 2024. Archived from the original on 9 July 2024. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  25. ^ Walker, Tim (22 April 2010). "General Election 2010: Joanne Cash says every dog has its day". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 26 May 2010.
  26. ^ Lee, Ceridwen (7 August 2015). "Fall in number of Catholic MPs in the House of Commons ahead of landmark debate on assisted dying". The Tablet. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Walsall South
2010–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Shadow Leader of the House of Commons
2016–2021 		Succeeded by
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