Roberta Blackman-Woods

Roberta Carol Blackman-Woods (née Woods; 16 August 1957) is a British academic and former Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the City of Durham from 2005 to 2019.

Roberta Blackman-Woods
Shadow Minister for Planning
In office
12 January 2018 – 6 November 2019
LeaderJeremy Corbyn
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byPosition abolished
Shadow Minister for International Development
In office
3 July 2017 – 12 January 2018
LeaderJeremy Corbyn
Preceded byImran Hussain
Succeeded byDan Carden
Preet Gill
Shadow Minister for Housing
In office
18 September 2015 – 3 July 2017
LeaderJeremy Corbyn
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byMelanie Onn
Shadow Minister for Communities and Local Government
In office
7 October 2011 – 18 September 2015
LeaderEd Miliband
Shadow Minister for Civil Society
In office
8 October 2010 – 7 October 2011
LeaderEd Miliband
Preceded byNick Hurd (Charities, Social Enterprise and Volunteering)
Succeeded byGareth Thomas
Member of Parliament
for City of Durham
In office
5 May 2005 – 6 November 2019
Preceded byGerry Steinberg
Succeeded byMary Foy
Personal details
Born
Roberta Carol Woods

(1957-08-16) 16 August 1957
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Political partyLabour
Alma materUniversity of Ulster
WebsiteOfficial website
Academic background
ThesisThe state and community work in Northern Ireland 1966–1982 (1989)

Early life and career

Blackman-Woods is from Northern Ireland and was educated at the University of Ulster, graduating with a BSc degree and later a PhD in social science. Following this she was employed by Newcastle City Council, before going on to pursue a career in academia.

As a sociologist with expertise in housing, she served as professor of social policy and an associate dean in the School of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Northumbria prior to her election, and had previously been dean of social and labour studies at Ruskin College, Oxford and head of policy at the Local Government Information Unit. Blackman-Woods had previously been chair of the City of Durham Constituency Labour Party and before that in Newcastle upon Tyne East and Wallsend. She has also served as a councillor on Oxford and Newcastle City Councils.[1]

Parliamentary career

In 2004, Blackman-Woods was selected as the Labour candidate for the City of Durham constituency through an All-Women Shortlist.[2] In her previous work she had been known by her maiden name, Roberta Woods, but added her husband's surname, Blackman, after selection to avoid confusion with Liberal Democrat candidate Carol Woods.[3]

Elected at the 2005 general election with a majority of 3,274, Blackman-Woods made her maiden speech to the House of Commons on 24 May 2005, making reference to the work of her predecessor Gerry Steinberg, the importance to Durham of Durham Cathedral, the University of Durham and the historic legacy of mining within the area.[4]

Blackman-Woods was a member of the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments from 2005–2010 and has also been a member of the Education and Skills Select committee and the Business, Innovation, Science and Skills Select Committee. In 2006 she became the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Hilary Armstrong. This post lasted until Armstrong returned to the backbenches when Gordon Brown became Prime Minister, but Blackman-Woods was then appointed PPS to the Secretary of State for Defence, Des Browne, in 2007. Following Des Brown's retirement to the backbenches she served as PPS to David Lammy MP as Minister of State for Higher Education. She was also Chair of the All Party Afghanistan Group from 2005 and the All Party Balanced and Sustainable Communities Group from 2007.

Blackman-Woods was also a member of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and the Inter-Parliamentary Union throughout her Parliamentary career.

In 2010, she was re-elected to Parliament with a majority of 3,067, and was appointed Shadow Minister for Business in June 2010, before being moved to shadow the Civil Society Minister by new Labour Leader Ed Miliband in October 2010. In the October 2011 shadow cabinet re-shuffle, Blackman-Woods was moved to become Shadow Minister in Communities and Local Government covering planning policy and procurement.

In 2015, she was re-elected with a majority of 11,439, and was confirmed as the shadow housing minister.[5] She resigned from the front bench in June 2016, before supporting Owen Smith in the 2016 Labour leadership election.[6] She subsequently rejoined the front bench on Corbyn's re-election.[7]

She was re-elected in 2017 with a majority of 12,362, and in July 2017 she was appointed as a Shadow International Development Minister.[8]

On 16 July 2019 she announced that she would not be standing at the next general election for family reasons.[9] She gave her valedictory speech in the House of Commons on 5 November 2019.[10]

In 2021 it was reported that Blackman-Woods had been subject to an investigation by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. The Commissioner applied no sanctions to Blackman-Woods, who stated there was "strong medical reasons" for the issues that were raised.[11]

Post-parliamentary career

Blackman-Woods was appointed as chairwoman of governors at Northumbria University in December 2019, commencing the role in August 2020.[12]

References
  1. "Roberta Blackman-Woods MP, a brief biography". Durham Labour. Archived from the original on 24 July 2007.
  2. Kelly, Richard; White, Isobel (29 April 2009). "SN/PC/05057: All-women shortlists" (PDF). House of Commons Library. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 June 2009. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  3. "Candidate considers changing her name". Northern Echo. 30 January 2004. Archived from the original on 19 February 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2008.
  4. "Health and Education". TheyWorkForYou. 24 May 2005. Archived from the original on 20 November 2018. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  5. Spurr, Heather (20 May 2015). "Labour appoints new shadow housing minister". Inside Housing. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  6. "Full list of MPs and MEPs backing challenger Owen Smith". LabourList. 21 July 2016. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  7. "Labour shadow cabinet and ministers resignations – the letters in full". The Daily Telegraph. 30 June 2016. Archived from the original on 10 August 2016. Retrieved 14 August 2016.
  8. "Reshuffle 2: The Maintenance of the Malcontents". New Socialist. 8 July 2017. Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  9. Blackman-Woods, Roberta [@robertabwMP] (16 July 2019). "As you may have heard, I have taken the difficult decision to stand down as MP for the City of Durham at the next General Election" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 31 July 2019. Retrieved 16 July 2019 – via Twitter.
  10. "Valedictory Debate". TheyWorkForYou. 5 November 2019. Archived from the original on 16 January 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  11. Webber, Esther (3 April 2021). "Bully case against former Labour MP 'shows flaws in system'". The Times. Archived from the original on 3 April 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  12. "Northumbria University appoints Chair elect". northumbria.ac.uk. 17 December 2019. Archived from the original on 25 January 2021. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
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