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Rosie Duffield

Rosemary Clare Duffield (born 1 July 1971) is a British politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Canterbury since 2017. After resigning as a member of the Labour Party in September 2024, she sits as an independent.

Rosie Duffield
MP
Official portrait, 2024
Opposition Whip in the House of Commons
In office
14 April 2020 – 31 May 2020
LeaderKeir Starmer
Chief WhipNick Brown
Preceded byAlex Norris
Succeeded byGill Furniss
Member of Parliament
for Canterbury
Incumbent
Assumed office
8 June 2017
Preceded byJulian Brazier
Majority8,653 (18.4%)
Personal details
Born
Rosemary Clare Duffield

(1971-07-01) 1 July 1971 (age 53)
Norwich, Norfolk, England
Political partyIndependent
Other political
affiliations		Labour (until 2024)
Children2
Websitewww.rosieduffieldmp.co.uk Edit this at Wikidata

Early life

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Rosemary Duffield was born on 1 July 1971 in Norwich, and later moved to south-east London where her father worked as an anti-terrorism police officer.[1][2][3] She left school at the age of 16 with no qualifications and completed an administration apprenticeship at Guy's Hospital in London. She then attended a further education college.[3] She moved to Canterbury in 1998 and worked as a primary school teaching assistant in various schools, before becoming briefly a political satire writer.[4][5]

In 2015, Duffield stood for Labour in the St Stephen's ward of Canterbury City Council where both seats were won by the Conservatives.[6][7][8]

Parliamentary career

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1st term (2017–2019)

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Official parliamentary portrait, 2017

At the snap 2017 general election, Duffield was elected to parliament as MP for Canterbury with 45% of the vote and a majority of 187.[9][10]

Once elected, she was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to Dawn Butler, the Shadow Secretary of State for Women and Equalities. On 13 June 2018, Duffield was one of six MPs to resign from the Opposition frontbench to vote in favour of remaining in the single market by joining the European Economic Area, as the party had instructed its MPs to abstain.[11]

In July 2017, she appeared on RT, a television network funded by the Russian government. Duffield later apologised to the LGBT+ community for doing so.[12]

Duffield is opposed to new grammar schools, and Eleven-plus exams. She was criticised for this stance after it emerged that both her children had gone to grammar schools.[13][14]

Duffield voted for the UK remaining within the EU in the 2016 UK EU membership referendum. In the indicative votes on 27 March 2019, she voted for a customs union with the EU and a referendum on a Brexit withdrawal agreement, but abstained on the "Common Market 2.0" proposal.[15]

In September 2018, Duffield attended a march protesting against Labour's stance on antisemitism and said that MPs could strike if the party did not endorse the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA)'s definition of antisemitism.[16] She was criticised by some local party members for her attendance.[17] In July 2019 the chair of her constituency Labour Party said her language was "incredibly reckless" after she agreed with a remark by the Chair of the Jewish Labour Movement that Labour "probably is" institutionally antisemitic.[18]

In October 2019, Duffield succeeded Jess Phillips as Chair of the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party.[19][20]

2nd term (2019–2024)

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Duffield was re-elected as MP for Canterbury at the 2019 general election with an increased vote share of 48% and an increased majority of 1,836.[21]

She has been a member of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee since March 2020 and was previously a member of the Work and Pensions Select Committee between June 2018 and November 2019 and the Women and Equalities Committee between September 2017 and June 2018 and March and May 2020.[22]

On 14 April 2020, Duffield was appointed a Labour whip by new Labour leader Keir Starmer.[23] In May 2020, she resigned from the position after breaking COVID-19 lockdown rules when she met her married partner whilst they were living in separate households. Duffield apologised and said she accepted her actions constituted a breach of the law at the time.[24][25][26]

In July 2020, Duffield voiced in Parliament concerns about nitrous oxide being sold to and used recreationally by young people, calling for tighter restrictions on its sale. Duffield said that use of the drug had become "much more prevalent" during the 2020 coronavirus lockdown and cited health concerns over its use.[27]

Duffield is a member of Labour Friends of Israel.[28]

In June 2024, Duffield announced that she would not be attending local hustings for the general election because of concerns about her security, referring to "constant trolling, spite and misinterpretation".[29][30]

3rd term (2024–)

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At the 2024 general election, Duffield was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 41.4% and an increased majority of 8,653.[31]

On 28 September 2024, Duffield announced that she had resigned the Labour whip and would sit as an independent.[32][33] In her resignation letter, she criticised Starmer's "cruel and unnecessary policies", "sleaze, nepotism and apparent avarice", and "hypocrisy" over his acceptance of gifts.[34][35] The Sunday Times described her resignation of the whip, less than three months after the election, as making her "the fastest MP to jump ship after a general election in modern political history".[32]

Position on transgender rights

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Staff issues

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On 14 August 2020, a lesbian woman, reported to be her only LGBT staff member, quit Duffield's team, saying that her stance was transphobic and had brought an influx of transphobic and homophobic mail to the MP's office in support of the remarks.[36] Duffield reasserted her commitment to reforming the Gender Recognition Act 2004 and to being a supporter of trans rights following the staff member's resignation.[37] In October 2020, a second member of Duffield's staff resigned citing the "overtly transphobic views" of the MP. Duffield was criticised by the GMB trade union for attempting to dox her former staff member by "attempting to reveal her identity on social media".[38]

Views

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During an interview with the BBC's Andrew Marr, Starmer said that Duffield's comment that only women have a cervix was "something that shouldn't be said" and was "not right".[39] Duffield locked her Twitter account after a fake tweet attributed to her was circulated.[40] Labour MPs Jess Phillips,[41] Rachel Reeves and Wes Streeting supported Duffield, as did the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, who tweeted that "she does not seek to demean others".[42] In May 2024, Starmer said of Duffield's comment: "Biologically, she of course is right".[43]

In September 2021, in an interview on BBC Radio 4, Duffield said that: "There are men, activists, out there who are married to women who call themselves the Q word [queer], and they appropriate gay culture in a way that is deeply offensive to quite a lot in the gay movement, the gay rights movement". Her comments were cited in an article on biphobia in Pink News which said: "Comments like these invalidate the identity of bi/pan/queer men in different-gender relationships."[44] Talking to screenwriter and anti-transgender activist[45][46] Graham Linehan in the same month, Duffield described non-binary gender as "choosing not to be male or female". She said that women should be asked "Why are you rejecting mostly being female, being a woman"?[47]

In October 2021, Duffield attended the first annual conference of the LGB Alliance where she spoke on a panel about free speech alongside fellow MP Joanna Cherry.[48] In October 2022, The Daily Telegraph reported that, with fellow "gender critical" parliamentarians Cherry and Anne Jenkin, she was setting up a cross-party "biology policy unit", "to help ensure policies across the public sector that are based on gender identity theory are documented and scrutinised".[49]

On 20 January 2023, Duffield wrote a column in which she stated that being a member of the Labour Party is like being in an "abusive relationship" and that she feels the party has a "woman problem" after she was criticised for voicing her opposition to the First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon's Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill.[50][51]

Complaints

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On 27 July 2021, it was reported that the Labour Party would undertake an investigation into Duffield following complaints by LGBT+ Labour, after she liked a tweet by Kurtis Tripp, a gay American rapper, describing trans people as "mostly heterosexuals cosplaying as the opposite sex".[52]

In 2020 several Labour groups called for the Labour Parliamentary party whip to be withdrawn from Duffield, arguing that her views are transphobic.[53] In October 2022, Labour Students, Young Labour and LGBT+ Labour urged the party to withdraw the whip from Duffield. Labour Students said that "Duffield's behaviour has gone beyond the pale and we echo LGBT+ Labour's calls that she should lose the whip" and that she has "consistently gone out of her way to damage the trans community, including appearing at the conference of an anti-trans lobbying group."[54][55] In the same month Kent Labour Students issued a statement calling for her to lose the Labour whip and to be replaced as the Labour candidate at the next election.[56]

In November 2023 it was reported by Kent Online that Duffield was being investigated by the Labour Party for alleged anti-Semitism for liking a tweet by Graham Linehan which itself was a response to a tweet by comedian Eddie Izzard.[57] The Times reported that Duffield had denied allegations of anti-semitism, stating that the tweet had been "sarcastically mocking" of Izzard's reference to trans people being targeted during the Holocaust.[58] Duffield issued a statement in January 2024, confirming that the complaint had been dismissed by the Labour Party's National Executive Committee.[59][60]

In 2024, 33 student Labour clubs issued a statement condemning "in the strongest terms" the party's national executive committee for dismissing an investigation of Duffield on allegations of antisemitism and transphobia, and said Labour "cannot be a progressive party when we are endorsing rhetoric that creates hate and misery for our trans siblings."[61]

Harassment

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In September 2021, Duffield said she would miss the Labour Party conference in Brighton on security advice. According to The Sunday Times, she received online threats from transgender campaigners. Duffield discussed the abuse directed against her with House of Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Labour's Chief Whip Sir Alan Campbell and her local police.[62] Duffield told The Sunday Times that she mainly took the decision to miss the Party Conference "not because I really thought I was going to be attacked, but because I did not want to be the centre of attention."[63] Duffield later made an unannounced appearance to speak at a fringe event at the party's conference hosted by the Labour Women's Declaration group.[64]

Duffield said in a series of tweets in January 2022 that she was "considering her future in the Labour party very carefully" because of the "obsessive harassment" received from party members and a lack of support from the party leadership against the "constant stream of fictional and factional bile that is written about me".[65]

In June 2024, a man was sentenced to two suspended jail sentences of eight weeks and a 12-month community order for making death threats against Duffield along with J. K. Rowling.[66][67]

Personal life

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Duffield is in a relationship with television producer James Routh and has two sons from a past relationship.[24][68] During a debate on the Domestic Abuse Bill on 2 October 2019, she said she suffered domestic abuse in late 2017 from her then partner.[69][70] Duffield's hobbies include geocaching.[71]

References

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  1. ^ "Duffield, Rosemary Clare, MP (Lab) Canterbury, since 2017". WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. 2017. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U289474. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4.
  2. ^ "No. 61961". The London Gazette. 19 June 2017. p. 11783.
  3. ^ a b Claridge, Alex (15 June 2017). "How 'Ms Ordinary' among the hottest". Kentish Gazette. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  4. ^ Claridge, Alex (9 June 2017). "Labour's Rosie Duffield makes history in Canterbury - but who is she?". KentOnline.
  5. ^ Proctor, Kate (2 October 2019). "Labour MP moves colleagues to tears with domestic abuse story". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  6. ^ "Declaration of Results of Poll". Canterbury City Council. p. 15. Archived from the original on 2 November 2019. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  7. ^ Grierson, Jamie (9 June 2017). "Canterbury tale: single mum becomes town's first ever Labour MP". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  8. ^ Castle, Vicky (9 June 2017). "Who is Rosie Duffield? Meet the Labour MP who has made history". Kent Live. Archived from the original on 9 June 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  9. ^ "Election 2017: Canterbury parliamentary constituency". BBC News. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  10. ^ "Candidates standing in Kent and Medway across Kent's 17 parliamentary constituencies". Kent Online. 12 May 2017.
  11. ^ Yorke, Harry; Mikhailova, Anna; Maidment, Jack (13 June 2018). "EU Withdrawal Bill: Six members of Labour's frontbench resign to vote against their party". The Daily Telegraph.(subscription required)
  12. ^ Walker, Joe (27 October 2017). "Russia Today appearance sparks apology from Canterbury Labour MP Rosie Duffield". Kent Online. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  13. ^ Swinford, Steven (27 July 2017). "New Labour MP who stood on anti-grammar school platform during election sent her children to one". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  14. ^ Francis, Paul (15 May 2019). "Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield urges Prime Minister to scrap 11-plus and SATS". Kent Online. Retrieved 2 November 2019.
  15. ^ "How MPs voted on May's withdrawal deal defeat". Financial Times. 29 March 2019. Archived from the original on 2 September 2019.
  16. ^ Francis, Paul (11 September 2018). "Jeremy Corbyn fails to back Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield in row with party members over anti-Semitism protestors". Kent Online. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  17. ^ McPolin, Sean (13 September 2018). "MP considering future in parliament". Kent Online. Retrieved 19 December 2019.
  18. ^ Wright, Joe (17 July 2019). "Rosie Duffield criticised by Canterbury Labour chairman for 'incredibly reckless' comments on anti-Semitism". Kent Online. Archived from the original on 23 September 2019. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  19. ^ @RosieDuffield1 (15 October 2019). "Thanks so much @jessphillips and @UKLabour women. I am thrilled to be the new Chair of Women's PLP. I have huge boots to fill! Thanks so much for all you've done to represent us Jess and I'll do my best to carry on your great work" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  20. ^ Scott, Geraldine (22 October 2019). "MP Naz Shah to launch legal action against her own party over mayoral shortlist". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  21. ^ "Canterbury Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
  22. ^ "Parliamentary career for Rosie Duffield". UK Parliament. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
  23. ^ "Rosie Duffield MP - Parliamentary career". Parliament of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
  24. ^ a b "Labour MP quits Commons role over lockdown breach". BBC News. 31 May 2020.
  25. ^ "Labour frontbencher no longer in role after lockdown breach – reports". Shropshire Star. 30 May 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  26. ^ Walker, Peter (31 May 2020). "Labour's Rosie Duffield 'right to resign', says shadow chancellor". The Guardian.
  27. ^ Webster, Lucy (21 July 2020). "MP proposes laughing gas sale restrictions". BBC News. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  28. ^ "LFI Parliamentary Supporters". Labour Friends of Israel. 6 July 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  29. ^ McKiernan & Catt (14 June 2024). "Labour candidate Rosie Duffield cancels hustings". bbc.co.uk. BBC. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  30. ^ Courea, Elelna (16 June 2024). "Labour peer says sorry for calling Rosie Duffield too 'frit or lazy' to go to hustings". theguardian.com. Guardian. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
  31. ^ "Canterbury - General election results 2024". BBC News.
  32. ^ a b Wheeler, Caroline (28 September 2024). "Rosie Duffield: Sleaze, nepotism and greed — why I'm quitting Labour". The Times. Archived from the original on 28 September 2024.
  33. ^ "Rosie Duffield resigns as Labour MP". Sky News. 28 September 2024. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
  34. ^ "Rosie Duffield quits as Labour MP with attack on Keir Starmer". BBC News. 28 September 2024. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
  35. ^ Mustoe, Howard (28 September 2024). "Your lack of 'political instincts have come crashing down on us': Rosie Duffield's resignation letter in full". The Independent. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
  36. ^ Parsons, Vic (16 September 2020). "Lesbian staffer quits Rosie Duffield's office over the Labour MP's 'overtly transphobic' opinions". PinkNews. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
  37. ^ "Duffield reiterates support for trans rights after LGBT+ staffer quits". LabourList. 16 September 2020. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  38. ^ Rodgers, Sienna (15 October 2020). "GMB MPs staff branch condemns "actions of Rosie Duffield towards staff member"". LabourList. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  39. ^ "Labour conference: Not right to say only women have a cervix, says Starmer". BBC News. 26 September 2021. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
  40. ^ Jee, Alex (1 August 2020). "Canterbury and Whitstable MP Rosie Duffield embroiled in 'transphobe' twitter feud". KentOnline. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  41. ^ Chappell, Elliot (2 August 2020). ""I don't think Rosie Duffield is a transphobe," says Jess Phillips". LabourList. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  42. ^ Langford, Eleanor (11 August 2020). "Labour LGBT+ affiliate calls on Keir Starmer to take 'measurable action' against MP Rosie Duffield over controversial tweets". Politics Home. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  43. ^ Luck, Flaminia (1 May 2024). "Rosie Duffield wants apology after Keir Starmer U-turns on view in gender row". lbc.co.uk. LBC. Retrieved 22 August 2024.
  44. ^ Shearing, Lois (23 September 2021). "We have to start taking biphobia seriously – and that begins within the LGBT+ community". PinkNews.
  45. ^ "NSW Liberal candidate likens anti-trans activism to opposing the Holocaust". The Guardian. 14 April 2022. Retrieved 5 May 2022.
  46. ^ Andrews, Penny (20 November 2020). Choose your fighter: Loyalty and fandom in the free speech culture wars. Manchester University Press. p. 259. ISBN 978-1-5261-5255-8 – via www.manchesterhive.com. ...inviting anti-trans voices such as Graham Linehan or Kathleen Stock on to programmes or to write articles...
  47. ^ Wakefield, Lily (30 September 2021). "Labour MP Rosie Duffield condemned for spreading 'harmful falsehoods' about trans kids". PinkNews. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  48. ^ Young, Gregor (21 October 2021). "LGB Alliance conference: Joanna Cherry joins Rosie Duffield for 'free speech' panel". The National.
  49. ^ Clarence-Smith, Louisa (22 October 2022). "Unit aims to stop gender ideology 'compromising' women's rights". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 22 October 2022. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
  50. ^ Duffield, Rosie (20 January 2023). "The Labour Party has a woman problem". UnHerd.
  51. ^ Penna, Dominic (20 January 2023). "Being in the Labour Party is like an abusive relationship, says Rosie Duffield". The Telegraph.
  52. ^ Grylls, George (27 July 2021). "Labour MP Rosie Duffield investigated by party for liking anti-trans tweet". The Times.
  53. ^ "Labour activists demand Rosie Duffield have party whip withdrawn amid bitter transphobia row". PinkNews. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  54. ^ "Labour urged to remove whip from Rosie Duffield over 'transphobic views'". PinkNews. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  55. ^ "Labour groups urge party to withdraw whip from Rosie Duffield MP". Labourlist. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
  56. ^ "University of Kent students call for Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield to have Labour whip withdrawn". Kent Online. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
  57. ^ McPolin, Sean (26 November 2023). "Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield investigated by Labour party for liking tweet by Father Ted writer Graham Linehan they claim is anti-Semitic". Kent Online. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
  58. ^ Wheeler, Caroline (26 November 2023). "Labour MP Rosie Duffield 'targeted in antisemitism row due to her trans views'". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 26 November 2023. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  59. ^ Pallant, James (4 January 2024). "Rosie Duffield, Labour MP for Canterbury, set to stand again at General Election as allegations over liking tweet dismissed". Kent Online. Retrieved 4 January 2024.
  60. ^ Mureddu-Reid & James (4 January 2024). "Allegations of antisemitism against MP dropped". bbc.com. BBC. Retrieved 5 January 2024.
  61. ^ "33 student Labour clubs slam party in row over Duffield and trans rights". Labour List. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  62. ^ Heffer, Greg (19 September 2021). "Labour MP Rosie Duffield to skip party's conference 'due to threats' amid calls for end to 'factionalism' and 'intolerance'". Sky News. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  63. ^ Wheeler, Caroline (19 September 2021). "Speaker's anger as extremists terrorise Labour MP Rosie Duffield". The Times.
  64. ^ "Labour conference: Rosie Duffield appears at non-official fringe event in Brighton despite saying she was warned to stay away on security advice". Sky News. 28 September 2021.
  65. ^ "Rosie Duffield: MP considers leaving Labour over 'obsessive harassment'". BBC News. 31 January 2022.
  66. ^ Burnell & PA Media (4 June 2024). "Internet troll threatened to kill JK Rowling and MP". bbc.co.uk. BBC. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  67. ^ "Manchester man sentenced for threatening messages on social media about an author and an MP". CPS. 4 June 2024. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  68. ^ Sylvester, Rachel (18 October 2019). "Rosie Duffield: the story behind my Commons speech about domestic abuse". The Times. Retrieved 29 September 2024.(subscription required)
  69. ^ "Domestic Abuse Bill". hansard.parliament.uk. 2 October 2019. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  70. ^ Oppenheim, Maya (2 October 2019). "Tearful MPs break into round of applause after powerful address on domestic abuse". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2 October 2019. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  71. ^ McGrath, Hannah (5 September 2017). "'I just wanted to dent his majority a little bit, I hadn't a clue it was winnable'". The Times. Retrieved 29 September 2024.
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Canterbury
2017–present 		Incumbent
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