Thame to welcome ‘Corbynista’ MP

CORRECTION – Amended date. AS a front-bench MP and staunch ‘Corbynista,’ Diane Abbott MP is at the heart of everything that is going on inside the Labour Party and on Saturday, October 22, she will be treating a Thame audience to her forthright views on a variety of subjects, including the inside story of the present turmoil within her Party.

Diane Abbott MP

Diane made history in 1987 by becoming the first black woman ever elected to the British Parliament, as MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington. She was re-elected last year with an improved majority. Diane is currently Shadow Secretary of State for Health and was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for International Development in September 2015. She has served on a number of parliamentary committees on social and international issues, and has also served on the Commons Treasury Select Committee.  NB She has just been appointed to the post of Shadow Home Secretary (06/10/16).

Diane is also an experienced public speaker and broadcaster, and has spoken at colleges and universities across the United States including Harvard. She appears regularly on radio and television and, until recently, appeared weekly on the BBC1 late night political discussion show, This Week, with Andrew Neil and Michael Portillo. Michael was also a pupil at Harrow County Grammar School, where they both appeared in a production of Macbeth.

Famous for her feisty style, Diane was one of the first Labour MPs openly to criticise Peter Mandelson, famously calling him a source of ‘poison’ in the government. Diane isn’t afraid to step out of the party line and was a serial rebel against her government. Her direct manner was never better expressed than in her comment to former Bank of England governor, Sir Edward George: ‘You’re just an inflation nutter, aren’t you?’

An Audience with Diane Abbott is at The Players Theatre, Nelson Street, Thame 0X9 2DP at 7.45pm on Saturday, October 22. Tickets cost £18, and are obtainable from Spear Travels, Greyhound Walk, Thame – tel: 01844 217228 or online from www.thameplayers.co.uk