Harriet Harman

{{short description|British politician and life peer (born 1950)}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix = The Right Honourable

| name = The Baroness Harman

| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|PC|KC}}

| image = Official portrait of Rt Hon Harriet Harman QC MP crop 2.jpg

| caption = Official portrait, 2020

| office = Leader of the Opposition

| monarch = Elizabeth II

| primeminister = David Cameron

| term_start = 8 May 2015

| term_label = Acting

| term_end = 12 September 2015

| predecessor = Ed Miliband

| successor = Jeremy Corbyn

| monarch1 = Elizabeth II

| primeminister1 = David Cameron

| term_start1 = 11 May 2010

| term_label1 = Acting

| term_end1 = 25 September 2010

| predecessor1 = David Cameron

| successor1 = Ed Miliband

| office2 = Deputy Leader of the Labour Party

| leader2 = {{ubl|Gordon Brown|Ed Miliband}}

| term_start2 = 24 June 2007

| term_end2 = 12 September 2015

| predecessor2 = John Prescott

| successor2 = Tom Watson

| office3 = Leader of the House of Commons
Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal

| primeminister3 = Gordon Brown

| term_start3 = 28 June 2007

| term_end3 = 11 May 2010

| predecessor3 = Jack Straw

| successor3 = George Young

| office8 = Secretary of State for Social Security

| primeminister8 = Tony Blair

| term_start8 = 3 May 1997

| term_end8 = 27 July 1998

| predecessor8 = Peter Lilley

| successor8 = Alistair Darling

{{collapsed infobox section begin|last=yes|Junior ministerial offices

|titlestyle = border:1px dashed lightgrey;}}{{Infobox officeholder |embed=yes

| office4 = Minister for Women and Equality{{efn|Women (1997–1998)}}

| primeminister4 = Gordon Brown

| term_start4 = 28 June 2007

| term_end4 = 11 May 2010

| predecessor4 = Ruth Kelly

| successor4 = Theresa May

| primeminister5 = Tony Blair

| term_start5 = 3 May 1997

| term_end5 = 27 July 1998

| predecessor5 = Office established

| successor5 = The Baroness Jay of Paddington

| office6 = Minister of State for Justice{{efn|Constitutional Affairs (2005–2007)}}

| primeminister6 = Tony Blair

| term_start6 = 10 May 2005

| term_end6 = 28 June 2007

| predecessor6 = Office established

| successor6 = Michael Wills

| office7 = Solicitor General for England and Wales

| primeminister7 = Tony Blair

| term_start7 = 11 June 2001

| term_end7 = 10 May 2005

| predecessor7 = Ross Cranston

| successor7 = Mike O'Brien

}}

{{collapsed infobox section begin

| last = yes

| Further offices held

| titlestyle = border:1px dashed lightgrey}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| embed = yes

| office = Shadow cabinet portfolios

| subterm = 2010-2015

| suboffice = Deputy Prime Minister

| subterm1 = 2011–2015

| suboffice1 = Culture, Media and Sport

| subterm2 = 2007–2015

| suboffice2 = Party Chair

| subterm3 = 2010–2011

| suboffice3 = International Development

| subterm4 = 1996–1997

| suboffice4 = Social Security

| subterm5 = 1995–1996

| suboffice5 = Health

| subterm6 = 1994–1995

| suboffice6 = Employment

| subterm7 = 1992–1994

| suboffice7 = Chief Secretary to the Treasury

| office8 = Committee chairmanships

| subterm8 = 2022–2024

| suboffice8 = Commons Privileges

| subterm9 = 2023–2024

| suboffice9 = Commons Standards

| subterm10 = 2015–2024{{efn|Out of office during these dates:
3 May 2017 – 1 November 2017
6 November 2019 – 4 March 2020
21 July 2022 – 23 June 2023}}

| suboffice10 = Joint Human Rights

}}

| office9 = Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal

| term_start9 = 19 August 2024
Life peerage

| term_end9 =

| parliament10 = United Kingdom

| constituency_MP10 = Camberwell and Peckham

| prior_term10 = Peckham (1982–1997)

| term_start10 = 28 October 1982

| term_end10 = 30 May 2024

| predecessor10 = Harry Lamborn

| successor10 = Miatta Fahnbulleh

| birth_name = Harriet Ruth Harman

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1950|07|30|df=y}}

| birth_place = Marylebone, London, England

| party = Labour

| residence = Herne Hill, London, England
Suffolk, England

| spouse = {{marriage|Jack Dromey|1982|7 January 2022|end=d}}

| children = 3

| parents = John B. Harman
Anna Spicer

| relatives = {{collapsible list|title={{nobold|See list}}

| {{longitem|Joseph Chamberlain (great-granduncle)}}

| {{longitem|Richard Chamberlain (great-granduncle)}}

| {{longitem|Beatrice Chamberlain (first cousin twice removed)}}

| {{longitem|Austen Chamberlain (first cousin twice removed)}}

| {{longitem|Neville Chamberlain (first cousin twice removed)}}

| {{longitem|Ida Chamberlain (first cousin twice removed)}}

| {{longitem|Hilda Chamberlain (first cousin twice removed)}}

}}

| alma_mater = Goodricke College, York

| signature = Harriet Harman signature.png

| website = {{Official URL|https://www.harrietharman.org/}}

}}

Harriet Ruth Harman, Baroness Harman, {{post-nominals|country=GBR|sep=,|PC|KC}} (born 30 July 1950), is a British politician and solicitor who served as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party and Chair of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2015 and Leader of the House of Commons and Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal from 2007 to 2010. She also briefly served as Leader of the Opposition in 2010 and 2015 after the resignations of Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband respectively. She was Member of Parliament (MP) for Camberwell and Peckham (formerly Peckham) from 1982 to 2024, during which time she held various Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet positions, and was appointed to the House of Lords as a life peer in 2024.

Born in London to a doctor and a barrister, Harman was privately educated at St Paul's Girls' School before going on to study politics at the University of York. After working for Brent Law Centre, she became a legal officer for the National Council for Civil Liberties (NCCL), a role in which she was found in contempt of court following action pursued by Michael Havers, a former Attorney General. She successfully took a case, Harman v United Kingdom, to the European Court of Human Rights, which found that Havers had breached her right to freedom of expression.

Harman was elected as MP for Peckham at a 1982 by-election. She was made a shadow social services minister in 1984 and a shadow health minister in 1987. Under John Smith, she was Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury and, under Tony Blair, as Shadow Employment Secretary, Shadow Health Secretary and Shadow Social Security Secretary respectively. Following the 1997 general election victory, she was appointed Secretary of State for Social Security and the first ever Minister for Women, until 1998 when she left the Cabinet. In 2001, she was appointed Solicitor General for England and Wales, until 2005 when she became Minister of State for Constitutional Affairs. She ran in the 2007 deputy leadership election and defeated five other candidates, ultimately defeating health secretary Alan Johnson, by a narrow margin. Gordon Brown, who was elected as party leader, appointed her Leader of the House of Commons, Lord Privy Seal, Minister for Women and Equality and Chairman of the Labour Party.

Upon defeat at the 2010 general election, Brown resigned as party leader and Harman, as Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, became the acting leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition until the election of Ed Miliband. She subsequently served as Shadow Deputy Prime Minister, combining the position with that of Shadow International Development Secretary from 2010 to 2011 and then Shadow Culture, Media and Sport Secretary from 2011 to 2015. In 2014, Harman expressed regret after it was revealed that the Paedophile Information Exchange had affiliated status within the NCCL while she had been legal officer. Following Labour's defeat at the 2015 general election, Miliband resigned as Leader of the Labour Party and Harman again became acting party leader and Leader of the Opposition. She also resigned as deputy leader, prompting a concurrent deputy leadership election. Harman stood down as an MP at the 2024 general election and was appointed to the House of Lords later that year.

Early life and career

Harriet Ruth Harman was born at 108 Harley Street in London, and privately educated at St Paul's Girls' School.{{cite news |last=Adams |first=Stephen |title=Harriet Harman: I dropped my cut-glass accent to fit in with Labour |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/7094652/Harriet-Harman-I-dropped-my-cut-glass-accent-to-fit-in-with-Labour.html |url-status=live |url-access=subscription |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=28 January 2010 |access-date=9 September 2022 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/7094652/Harriet-Harman-I-dropped-my-cut-glass-accent-to-fit-in-with-Labour.html |archive-date=12 January 2022}}{{cbignore}} She is a daughter of John Bishop Harman, a Harley Street doctor,{{cite web |title=108 Harley Street |url=http://www.harleystreetguide.com/about/by-numbers/108-harley-street/}} and his wife Anna {{nee|Spicer}}, a barrister, who gave up practising when she had children and who was the Liberal Party candidate for Hertford in the 1964 general election.{{cite web |last=Kimber |first=Richard |title=UK General Election results 1964 |url=http://politicsresources.net/area/uk/ge64/i11.htm |website=Political Science Resources |access-date=11 April 2016}} They both had non-conformist backgrounds – Harman's paternal grandfather Nathaniel Bishop Harman, an ophthalmic surgeon, was a prominent UnitarianObituary, The Times, 8 December 1945 and the Spicer family were well-known Congregationalists. Her paternal aunt was Elizabeth Pakenham, Countess of Longford (née Harman), the wife of former Labour minister Frank Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford, and her cousins include the writers Lady Antonia Fraser, Lady Rachel Billington and Thomas Pakenham, Earl of Longford.{{cite web |url=http://www.burkespeerage.com/ |title=BurkesPeerage |access-date=13 August 2011 |archive-date=15 July 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070715215802/http://www.burkespeerage.com/ |url-status=live}} Her great-grandfather was Arthur Chamberlain, an industrialist.{{cite web | url=https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Arthur_Chamberlain#:~:text=Grace%27s%20Guide%20is%20the%20leading,who%20designed%20and%20built%20them | title=Arthur Chamberlain - Graces Guide }} Harman is a great-great-niece of the Liberal statesman Joseph Chamberlain, and is a cousin once removed of former prime minister Neville Chamberlain and former Foreign Secretary Austen Chamberlain. She is also related to Liberal politician Richard Chamberlain, MP.{{cite web |title=Keeping it in the Family |url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/207917124/Keeping-it-in-the-Family |publisher=Scribd.com |access-date=25 February 2014}} Through her uncle Lord Pakenham she is related by marriage to former prime minister David Cameron, whom she faced as Leader of the Opposition. Her cousin Rachel Billington is also godmother to former prime minister Boris Johnson.

Harman gained a 2:1 BA in Politics from the University of York. During her time at York, she was a member of Goodricke College and was involved with student politics. After York, Harman went on to qualify as a solicitor and worked for Brent Law Centre in London. Between 1978 and 1982, she was employed as a legal officer for the National Council for Civil Liberties. In this capacity, and just before becoming MP for Peckham in a by-election in 1982, she represented a prisoner who was kept in solitary confinement against the Home Office. However, she was found in contempt of court for sharing documents she had read aloud in the courtroom with a journalist. The contempt of court action was pursued by Michael Havers, a former Attorney General for England and Wales. Harman was thus the subject of numerous parliamentary questions and debates before she became an MP, including at a PMQ in February 1982.{{cite web|url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1982/feb/11/engagements#S6CV0017P0_19820211_HOC_177 |title=Engagements (Hansard, 11 February 1982) |publisher=Api.parliament.uk |date=1982-02-11 |accessdate=2021-06-18}} Harman subsequently took the case to the European Court of Human Rights, successfully arguing Havers had breached her right to freedom of expression. The case is considered a significant case in British public law.{{cite news |last=Verkaik |first=Robert |date=30 December 2002 |title=Harriet Harman: The QC who has learnt to keep her own counsel may yet earn a return to Cabinet |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/harriet-harman-the-qc-who-has-learnt-to-keep-her-own-counsel-may-yet-earn-a-return-to-cabinet-137668.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220509/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/harriet-harman-the-qc-who-has-learnt-to-keep-her-own-counsel-may-yet-earn-a-return-to-cabinet-137668.html |archive-date=9 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |newspaper=The Independent |access-date=26 March 2018}}

Harman was later involved in a European Court of Human Rights case against MI5. During a 1984 television interview by Cathy Massiter, it was revealed personal files were held by MI5 on Harman and on the (by then former) General Secretary of the NCCL, Patricia Hewitt.Annie Machon, Spies, Lies and Whistleblowers: MI5, MI6 and the Shayler Affair, Book Guild, May 2005, {{ISBN|1-85776-952-X}} (hbk); The Guardian, 21 February 1985; 20/20 Vision (Channel 4, 1985) They successfully argued that there had been an infringement of their rights because MI5 was not a legally constituted and democratically accountable organisation, this being the minimum standard in democracy. The success of the case led to enactment of the Security Service Act 1989.

Opposition Member of Parliament

Harry Lamborn, the Labour MP for Peckham, died on 21 August 1982. In the subsequent by-election held on 28 October 1982, Harman was elected to succeed Lamborn with 11,349 votes (50.34%), a majority of 3,931 over Social Democratic candidate Dick Taverne, a former Labour MP for Lincoln. The Conservative Party candidate was John Redwood, who came third, and went on to be elected MP for Wokingham in 1987.

In 1984, Harman became a Shadow Social Services minister and served as a Shadow Health minister in 1987. Following the 1992 general election she entered the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury (1992–1994) and later served as Shadow Employment Secretary (1994–1995), Shadow Health Secretary (1995–1996) and Shadow Social Security Secretary (1996–1997).{{cite news |title=Social Security Secretary; Minister for Women – Harriet Harman |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/politics97/background/frontbench/socsec.shtml |work=BBC Political Research Unit |publisher=BBC |year=1997 |access-date=30 September 2008}}

Labour in Government

=Under Tony Blair=

Following Labour's victory in the 1997 general election, she became Secretary of State for Social Security and the first ever Minister for Women.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6918188.stm |title=Harman made equalities secretary |work=BBC News | date=26 July 2007 |access-date=5 January 2010}} She was given the task of reforming the Welfare State. During this time, her more notable policies included introducing a minimum income guarantee and winter fuel payments for the elderly. It was later ruled that the fuel payments policy breached European sex discrimination laws in that men had to wait five years longer to receive them than women.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/567208.stm |title=Winter fuel payments 'sexist' |work=BBC News |date=16 December 1999 |access-date=12 April 2010}} The policy was amended so both sexes qualified at age 60. She also headed up New Labour's controversial cut to single parent benefit despite the majority of those affected being women.{{cite news |last=Brown |first=Colin |author-link=Colin Brown (political journalist) |date=21 November 1997 |title=Labour revolt threatened over cut in lone-parent benefit |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/politics-labour-revolt-threatened-over-cut-in-lone-parent-benefit-1295262.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220509/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/politics-labour-revolt-threatened-over-cut-in-lone-parent-benefit-1295262.html |archive-date=9 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |newspaper=The Independent |access-date=25 March 2018}}{{cite web |url=http://www.socialistaction.net/1998/02/01/lone-parent-benefit-the-end-of-blairs-honeymoon-2/ |title=Lone parent benefit – The end of Blair's honeymoon |date=1 February 1998 |publisher=Socialist Action |access-date=25 March 2018}}{{cite news |last=Macintyre |first=Donald |date=2 December 1997 |title=Lone parents' benefit cut: What makes Harriet Harman tick? |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/lone-parents-benefit-cut-what-makes-harriet-harman-tick-1286412.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220509/https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/lone-parents-benefit-cut-what-makes-harriet-harman-tick-1286412.html |archive-date=9 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |newspaper=The Independent |access-date=25 March 2018}} There was public outcry at this perceived attacked on the living standards of some of the poorest women and children. According to The Independent, a group of women protesters shouted "Labour scum"{{Cite news |last=Brown |first=Colin |date=21 November 1997 |title=Blair backs Harman over cut in lone-parent benefit |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/blair-backs-harman-over-cut-in-lone-parent-benefit-1295256.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220509/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/blair-backs-harman-over-cut-in-lone-parent-benefit-1295256.html |archive-date=9 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |newspaper=The Independent |access-date=25 March 2018}} as the measure was approved in Parliament – albeit with a rebellion of 47 Labour MPs and the abstention of many others.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/38656.stm |date=11 December 1997 |title=Blair suffers in benefits revolt |work=BBC News |access-date=25 March 2018}} Harman was sacked from the position in 1998. According to many in the media, this was the result of a series of public rows with junior minister Frank Field, though others also cited her decision to cut benefits to lone parents as a factor.[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article5780320.ece Profile: Harriet Harman]{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} The Times, 22 February 2009 Harman voted with the party on all but a few instances during its period in government.

Harman made a return to the front bench following the 2001 general election, with her appointment to the office of Solicitor General, thus becoming the first female Solicitor General. In accordance with convention, she was appointed as Queen's Counsel, although she had previously had no rights of audience in the higher courts, did not obtain them and never presented a case during her time as Solicitor General, or at all.

Following the 2005 general election, she became a Minister of State in the Department for Constitutional Affairs with responsibilities including constitutional reform, legal aid and court processes and she represented Lord Falconer in the House of Commons on the frontbench.

On 16 March 2006, Harman relinquished her ministerial responsibilities for electoral administration and reform of the House of Lords. She stated that this was to avoid any potential conflict of interest after her husband Jack Dromey, the Treasurer of the Labour Party, announced that he would be investigating a number of loans made to the Labour Party that had not been disclosed to party officers. She retained her other responsibilities.{{cite news | title=Harman gives up Lords reform role | date=16 March 2006 | work =BBC News| url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4812666.stm | access-date = 25 June 2007 }}

==Deputy Leadership election==

Harman announced her intention to stand for Deputy Leadership of the Labour Party when John Prescott stood down.{{cite news | title=Harman intends Labour deputy bid | date=15 September 2006 | work =BBC News| url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/5350360.stm | access-date = 25 June 2007 }} She commissioned an opinion poll which found that she would be the most electorally popular potential deputy leader, a point she used in her campaign.[https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2006/nov/27/labourleadership.labour "Harman would be most popular deputy PM, says poll"], The Guardian (Press Association), 27 November 2006{{cite news |last=Wheeler |first=Brian |title=Interview: Harriet Harman |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6423761.stm |date=8 March 2007 |access-date=25 June 2007}}

While she supported the Iraq War, during the Deputy Leadership campaign, she said that she would not have done so had she known about the lack of concrete evidence of weapons of mass destruction.{{cite news | title= Voting Record – Harriet Harman MP, Camberwell & Peckham | work =The Public Whip | url =http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/mp.php?id=uk.org.publicwhip/member/1472#divisions | access-date = 24 June 2007}}{{cite news |title=Full Voting Record – Harriet Harman MP, Camberwell & Peckham |work=The Public Whip |url=http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/mp.php?mpn=Harriet_Harman&mpc=Camberwell+%26amp%3B+Peckham&display=allvotes#divisions |access-date=24 June 2007}}

Harman did not have the support of any major unions, and helped to fund her campaign by taking out a personal loan of £10,000{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article2957667.ece |title=Harriet Harman may pay price for leaving her leader in lurch |first1=Francis |last1=Elliott|first2= Philip |last2=Webster |first3=Greg |last3=Hurst |work=The Times |date=28 November 2007 |access-date=26 December 2007 | location=London}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} and a £40,000 extension to her mortgage.{{cite news |last=Hope |first=Christopher |date=3 December 2007 |title=Harriet Harman faces second finances inquiry |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/12/01/nfunds201.xml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080203075400/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/12/01/nfunds201.xml |url-status=dead |archive-date=3 February 2008 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=24 December 2007}} Harman failed to report some donations and loans on time, and was subject to an Electoral Commission inquiry for breaches of electoral law. The commission said that her "failure to report on time is a serious matter" though the case was not handed over to the police.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7351154.stm |title=Harman reminded of donation rules|date=16 April 2008 |work=BBC News|access-date=24 April 2008}}

On 24 June 2007, in a close contest Harman was elected Deputy Leader.{{cite news | first1=Mark |last1=Sellman |first2=Sam |last2=Coates |title=Harriet Harman elected deputy leader of Labour Party |date=24 June 2007 |newspaper=The Times |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article1979600.ece |access-date=25 June 2007 |location=London}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} Alan Johnson had led in all but the first of the previous rounds, but when second-preference votes had been redistributed after the fourth round, Harman as elected with 50.43% of the vote to Johnson's 49.56%{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article1979600.ece|title=Harriet Harman elected deputy leader of Labour Party|work=The Times |location=London |date=24 June 2007 |access-date=4 May 2010 |first1=Mark |last1=Sellman |first2=Sam |last2=Coates}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

==Campaign donations==

In November 2007, it emerged that property developer David Abrahams' secretary Janet Kidd had donated £5,000 to Harman's successful deputy leadership bid. After an investigation by The Mail on Sunday newspaper into other donations made by people associated with Abrahams, and Prime Minister Gordon Brown's assertion that all such monies would be returned, Harman issued a statement saying she accepted the donation on 4 July "in good faith," had registered the monies with the Electoral Commission and the Register of Members' Interests, and that she "was not aware of any funding arrangements... between David Abrahams and Janet Kidd".{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7115016.stm |title=Harman took cash 'in good faith' |work=BBC News |date=27 November 2007 |access-date=24 December 2007}}

=Under Gordon Brown=

Harman was known as a long-term supporter of Gordon Brown and is regarded as a personal friend.{{cite news |last=Ashley |first=Jackie |author-link=Jackie Ashley |title=Why pick fights with friends? Brown must ditch his pride |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/mar/09/gordon-brown-harman-darling |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |date=9 March 2009 |access-date=18 December 2009}} On 28 June 2007, after she became Deputy Leader of the Labour Party and Brown was appointed prime minister, Harman joined Brown's Cabinet as Leader of the House of Commons, Lord Privy Seal and Minister for Women and Equality, and was also Chairman of the Labour Party. Unlike the previous Deputy Leader, John Prescott, Harman was not made Deputy Prime Minister.

When Harman, as Leader of the House of Commons, stood in for Gordon Brown during Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday 2 April 2008 (due to the Prime Minister attending a NATO summit in Romania), she became the first female Labour Minister to take Prime Minister's Questions. She subsequently repeated this during Brown's absences.

Harman attacked the Conservative Party at the Labour Party Conference 2007, referring to them as the "nasty party" and suggesting that there would be little competition at the next election.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7016326.stm|title=Tories still nasty, says Harman|work=BBC News| date=27 September 2007 | access-date=5 January 2010}}

On 1 April 2008 the Daily Mail reported that Harman had decided to wear a kevlar-reinforced stab vest while touring her Peckham constituency under police guard. On 2 April The Guardian relayed information from the Metropolitan Police that "the type of Met Vest she wore over her jacket protected her from knife attacks and bullets, and, for her at least, was optional".{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2008/apr/02/harrietharman |title=Armour furore leaves Harman wounded |first=Helen |last=Pidd |newspaper=The Guardian |date=2 April 2008 |access-date=2 April 2008 |location=London}} Harman compared the decision to wearing a hard hat while touring a building site, which led the BBC's John Humphrys to respond, during an interview for BBC Radio 4, "You wear a hard hat on a building site because... there is the danger that something might drop on your head. You don't need to wear a bullet-proof vest on the streets of London, do you!" Harman told the BBC that the neighbourhood police team she was with put on their stab vests and gave her one to wear as well.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/7324123.stm |title=Harman defends wearing stab vest |work=BBC News|date=1 April 2008 |access-date=1 April 2008 }}

In April 2008, Harman's blog was hacked and changed to state that she had joined the Conservative Party. Harman later admitted when questioned by Sky News that the incident was a result of her using "Harriet" and "Harman" as her username and password.{{cite web|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/04/25/harriet_harman_website_hacked/|date=25 April 2008|work=The Register|title=Harman hack horror has blog backing Boris}} The hacker was Conservative Kemi Badenoch, who was elected as MP for Saffron Walden in 2017. Badenoch confessed to the hacking in an April 2018 interview with Core Politics and later offered Harman an apology, which she accepted.{{cite news|last=Levesley|first=David|date=8 April 2018|title=Kemi Badenoch admits she hacked a Labour MP's website to 'say nice things about the Tories'|work=i News|url=https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/kemi-badenoch-admits-she-hacked-a-labour-mps-website-to-say-nice-things-about-the-tories/|url-status=live|access-date=8 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408194157/https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/kemi-badenoch-admits-she-hacked-a-labour-mps-website-to-say-nice-things-about-the-tories/|archive-date=8 April 2018|df=dmy-all}}{{cite news|date=8 April 2018|title=Tory rising star apologises after admitting she 'hacked into Labour MP's website'|work=The Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/04/08/tory-rising-star-apologises-admitting-shehacked-labour-mps-website/|url-status=live|access-date=8 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408112546/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/04/08/tory-rising-star-apologises-admitting-shehacked-labour-mps-website/|archive-date=8 April 2018|df=dmy-all}}{{cite news|last=Heffer|first=Greg|date=8 April 2018|title=Tory vice-chair Kemi Badenoch admits hacking Labour MP's website|publisher=Sky News|url=https://news.sky.com/story/tory-vice-chair-kemi-badenoch-admits-hacking-labour-mps-website-11323056|url-status=live|access-date=8 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408184323/https://news.sky.com/story/tory-vice-chair-kemi-badenoch-admits-hacking-labour-mps-website-11323056|archive-date=8 April 2018|df=dmy-all}}{{cite news|last=Khomami|first=Nadia|date=9 April 2018|title=Harriet Harman accepts Tory rising star's hacking apology|newspaper=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/apr/09/harriet-harman-accepts-tory-rising-star-kemi-badenoch-hacking-apology|url-status=live|access-date=9 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180409104710/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/apr/09/harriet-harman-accepts-tory-rising-star-kemi-badenoch-hacking-apology|archive-date=9 April 2018|df=dmy-all}}

=Use of statistics=

During the late-2000s recession, and following a government report which suggested that women were twice as likely to lose their jobs as men and feared losing their jobs more than men, Harman stated: "We will not allow women to become the victims of this recession".{{cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/women-losing-jobs-twice-as-fast-as-men-3gjlms0knk6 |title=Women losing jobs twice as fast as men |work=The Times |date=25 January 2009 |access-date=22 September 2023 |url-access=subscription}} However, some statistics contradicted her position, including the Office for National Statistics report on the issue which stated "the economic downturn in 2008 has impacted less on women in employment than men". According to the ONS, men were losing their jobs at twice the rate of women. The Government Equalities Office insisted the ONS figures did not render pointless its efforts to help women.{{cite news |last=Beckford |first=Martin |date=7 March 2009 |title=Office for National Statistics contradicts Government again with female employment figures |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/recession/4949315/Office-for-National-Statistics-contradicts-Government-again-with-female-employment-figures.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090310173450/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/recession/4949315/Office-for-National-Statistics-contradicts-Government-again-with-female-employment-figures.html |url-status=live |archive-date=10 March 2009 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=12 April 2010 |url-access=subscription}}{{cite web|url=http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=2145 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629140847/http://www.statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=2145 |archive-date=29 June 2011 |publisher=Office for National Statistics |title=Women in the Labour Market |date=6 March 2009 |access-date=18 October 2011}}

In June 2009, Sir Michael Scholar, head of the UK Statistics Authority, wrote to Harman to warn her that different headline figures used by the ONS and Government Equalities Office with regards to pay differentiation between men and women might undermine public trust in official statistics. The GEO's headline figure was 23%, which was based on median hourly earnings of all employees, not the 12.8%, based on median hourly earnings of full-time employees only, used by the ONS. Scholar wrote: "It is the Statistics Authority's view that use of the 23% on its own, without qualification, risks giving a misleading quantification of the gender pay gap".{{cite letter |recipient=Hariet Harman |url=https://osr.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/letter-from-sir-michael-scholar-to-harriet-harman-qc-mp-11062009-and-ma-note-42009_tcm97-26239.pdf |date=11 June 2009 |subject=Government Equalities Office Press Release: 27 April 2009 |access-date=12 April 2010 |archive-date=22 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230922004946/https://osr.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/letter-from-sir-michael-scholar-to-harriet-harman-qc-mp-11062009-and-ma-note-42009_tcm97-26239.pdf |url-status=live |author=Sir Michael Scholar}}{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8096761.stm | work=BBC News | title=Harman pay gap data 'misleading' | date=12 June 2009}}

=Expenses=

In January 2009, Harman proposed a rule change to exempt MPs' expenses from the Freedom of Information Act. Her parliamentary order aimed to remove "most expenditure information held by either House of Parliament from the scope of the Freedom of Information Act". It meant that, under the law, journalists and members of the public would no longer be entitled to learn details of their MP's expenses. Labour MPs were to be pressured to vote for this measure by use of a three line whip. Her proposal was withdrawn when the Conservative Party said they would vote against, and in light of an online campaign by mySociety.{{cite news |url=http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=42836 |title=FoI campaigners condemn MPs' bid to hide expenses |work=Press Gazette |date=15 January 2009 |access-date=12 April 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090518081436/http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=42836 |archive-date=18 May 2009 |df=dmy-all }} The failure of the motion led to the disclosure of expenses of British members of parliament.

In December 2010, it emerged that Harman was amongst 40 MPs who had secretly repaid wrongly claimed expenses between 2008 and 2010. In November 2010, Harman's parliamentary private secretary Ian Lavery had blocked a motion designed to allow the repayments to be made public.{{cite news |last=Beckford |first=Martin |date=9 December 2010 |title=MPs' expenses: 17 MPs were re-elected after secret deals on expenses |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/8192570/MPs-expenses-17-MPs-were-re-elected-after-secret-deals-on-expenses.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/8192570/MPs-expenses-17-MPs-were-re-elected-after-secret-deals-on-expenses.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=26 March 2018}}{{cbignore}}

= Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 =

File:Harriet Harman.jpg

Harman allegedly blocked a series of votes to liberalise Britain's abortion laws via the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill (now Act).{{cite web |url=https://labourlist.org/2009/03/harriet-harman-shouldnt-be-blogging-on-international-womens-day-shes-suppressed-womens-rights-for-12-years/ |title=Harriet Harman shouldn't be blogging on International Women's Day – she's suppressed women's rights for 12 years |last=Galbraith |first=Rebecca |date=9 March 2009 |publisher=LabourList |access-date=16 March 2018}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2008/oct/21/health-health1|title=Harman to block Commons votes on liberalising abortion laws|last=Watt|first=Nicholas|date=20 October 2008|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=16 March 2018}} The pro-choice amendments proposed by Diane Abbott MP,{{Cite news |last=Abbott |first=Diane |date=23 July 2008 |title=A right to choose? Not in Northern Ireland |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/jul/23/northernireland.law |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=16 March 2018}} Katy Clark MP and John McDonnell MP{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7520856.stm|title=MPs pushing abortion rights in NI|date=23 July 2008|access-date=16 March 2018}} included NC30 Amendment of the Abortion Act 1967: Application to Northern Ireland.{{cite web|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmbills/120/amend/pbc1202210m.3272-3278.html|title=House of Commons Amendments|author=((Table Office, House of Commons)) |website=publications.parliament.uk|access-date=16 March 2018}} It was reported that the Labour Government at the time asked MPs not to table these pro-choice amendments (and at least until Third Reading) and then allegedly used parliamentary mechanisms in order to prevent a vote accordingly.

=Equality Bill=

As part of a proposed Equality Bill, Harman announced a consultation on changing the existing discrimination laws, including options for reverse discrimination in employment. Under the proposals, employers would be legally allowed to discriminate in favour of a job candidate on the basis of their race or gender where the candidates were otherwise equally qualified. Employers would not be required to use these powers, but would be able to do so without the threat of legal action for discriminatory practices. The white paper also proposed measures to end age discrimination, promote transparency in organisations and introduce a new equality duty on the public sector.{{Cite book |first=Harriet |last=Harman |title=Framework for a Fairer Future – The Equalities Bill |year=2008 |page=40 |place=London |publisher=HMSO |url=http://www.equalities.gov.uk/publications/FRAMEWORK%20FAIRER%20FUTURE.pdf |access-date=17 July 2008 |archive-date=13 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081213140951/http://www.equalities.gov.uk/publications/FRAMEWORK%20FAIRER%20FUTURE.pdf |url-status=dead }}

It was argued by critics that these changes could face a challenge under Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, race, colour, language, religion and on several other criteria.{{cite web|url=http://conventions.coe.int/treaty/en/Treaties/Html/005.htm |title=Council of Europe – ETS no. 005 – Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms |publisher=Conventions.coe.int |access-date=12 April 2010}} Michael Millar, writing in The Spectator, was of the opinion that "the Equality Bill before parliament today gives employers the right to choose an ethnic minority candidate or female candidate over a white male, specifically because they are an ethnic minority or female."{{cite news |url=http://www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/798356/harriet-harman-unleashes-positive-discrimination.thtml |title=Harriet Harman unleashes positive discrimination |newspaper=The Spectator |first=Michael|last= Millar|date=26 June 2008 |access-date=12 April 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605062434/http://www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/798356/harriet-harman-unleashes-positive-discrimination.thtml |archive-date=5 June 2011 |df=dmy-all }}

Harman also commissioned a report on allowing political parties to draw up all-black shortlists{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article3341874.ece|title=Harriet Harman in plan to give parties all-black shortlists|work=The Times |location=London |first=Marie |last=Woolf |date=10 February 2008 |access-date=4 May 2010}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} designed to increase the number of black MPs in Westminster. A further report proposed extended the arrangement allowing all-women shortlists beyond 2015{{cite web|url=http://hansardsociety.org.uk/blogs/publications/archive/2007/10/01/Women-at-the-Top-2005.aspx|title=Women at the Top 2005: Changing Numbers, Changing Politics? (November 2005)|publisher=Hansard Society|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090912044929/http://hansardsociety.org.uk/blogs/publications/archive/2007/10/01/Women-at-the-Top-2005.aspx|archive-date=12 September 2009|df=dmy-all}} which will fail to have any impact in the 2010 general election.{{cite web |url=http://www.oldsuffragette.mcpherson.org.uk/General%20Election%202010.html |title=McPherson S (2010) General Election 2010: Women, Fascism and Democracy |publisher=Oldsuffragette.mcpherson.org.uk |access-date=29 April 2010 }}{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} These proposals are supported by members of the three major parties, though no others allow discrimination in their shortlists.{{cite web|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200708/cmhansrd/cm080626/debtext/80626-0004.htm#08062679000001|title=House of Commons Hansard Debates for 26 June 2008 (pt 0004)|publisher=UK Parliament}} Inside the Labour Party, Harman has said she does "not agree with all-male leaderships" because men "cannot be left to run things on their own"; and that, consequently, one of Labour's top two posts should always be held by a woman.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8180195.stm|title=Labour 'men-only leadership' over |work=BBC News|date=2 August 2009|access-date=2 August 2009}} She had also stated that the collapse of Lehman Brothers might have been averted had it been 'Lehman Sisters'. These comments caused accusations of sexism and "insidious bigotry".{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/8281812/Are-men-victims-of-obnoxious-feminism.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/8281812/Are-men-victims-of-obnoxious-feminism.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Are men victims of obnoxious feminism? |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date= 26 January 2011|access-date=25 February 2014 |first1=Dominic |last1=Raab |first2=Fay |last2=Weldon}}{{cbignore}}

Return to Opposition

{{see also|First Shadow Cabinet of Harriet Harman|Second Shadow Cabinet of Harriet Harman}}

Following the resignation of Gordon Brown as prime minister and Leader of the Labour Party on 11 May 2010, Harman automatically became the temporary leader of the party as well as the Leader of the Opposition, entitling her to the salary and government car that come with the role. Although she was informally described in the media as 'Acting' Leader, she was fully Leader by the terms of the party's constitution, albeit on a temporary basis, as was the case with Margaret Beckett in 1994.{{Cite book|url=https://www.scribd.com/document/30821289/Labour-Party-Rule-Book-2008#|title=Labour Party Rule Book 2008|publisher=The Labour Party|quote=When the party is in opposition and the party leader, for whatever reason, becomes permanently unavailable, the deputy leader shall automatically become party leader on a pro-tem basis.|access-date=22 September 2023 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230922013308/https://www.scribd.com/document/30821289/Labour-Party-Rule-Book-2008 |archive-date=22 September 2023 |first=Chris |last=Lennie |location= Victoria Street London |page=25 |chapter= Chapter 4 Elections of national officers of the party and national committees |format=pdf }}

Following Brown's resignation, she quickly announced that she would remain Deputy Leader rather than standing for election as Leader. Her only public explanation was the assertion that: "You can't run for leader at the same time as being deputy leader".{{cite news|last=Prince |first=Rosa |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/labour/7713246/Harriet-Harman-is-acting-leader-of-the-Labour-Party.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100515125137/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/labour/7713246/Harriet-Harman-is-acting-leader-of-the-Labour-Party.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=15 May 2010 |title=Harriet Harman is acting leader of the Labour Party |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=12 May 2010|access-date=5 June 2010}}

She nominated Diane Abbott, MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, to prevent the election from being all male. But she nonetheless asserted her intention to remain neutral throughout the contest and said, "This is a very crucial period and we have got five fantastic candidates. All of them would make excellent leaders of the party."{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/politics/10303473.stm |title=Abbott will give male rivals a good run, says Harman |date=13 June 2010 |publisher=BBC |access-date=13 June 2010}}

Following Ed Miliband's election as leader, she returned to her role as Deputy Leader, shadowing Nick Clegg as Deputy Prime Minister and with the title of Deputy Leader of the Opposition.{{cite web |url=http://www2.labour.org.uk/shadow-cabinet |title=The Shadow Cabinet |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/62BCU5xVj?url=http://www2.labour.org.uk/shadow-cabinet |archive-date=4 October 2011 |publisher=Labour.org.uk |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}{{cite web |url=http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/harriet-harman/25677 |title=The Rt Hon Harriet Harman |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/62BD3Mt7i?url=http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/harriet-harman/25677 |archive-date=4 October 2011 |publisher=House of Commons Information Office |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }} When Miliband assigned portfolios on 8 October 2010, he appointed her Shadow Secretary of State for International Development.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/oct/08/shadow-cabinet-labour-ed-miliband |title=Shadow cabinet appointments – as it happened |date=8 October 2010 |newspaper=The Guardian |first=Andrew |last=Sparrow}} In 2010, Harman referred to Danny Alexander as a "ginger rodent" in a speech to the Labour Party conference. This was greeted with cheers and laughter from the conference, but the Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National Party described them as gingerism and "anti-Scottish". Harman apologised for the offence caused. In 2011, Harman was moved to become Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. In 2014, she accused Nick Clegg of turning into a Tory during Prime Minister's Questions.{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10495065/Sketch-Harriet-Harmans-big-brake.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/10495065/Sketch-Harriet-Harmans-big-brake.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Harriet Harman's big brake|date=14 January 2014 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |first=Michael |last=Deacon}}{{cbignore}}

=Paedophilia support allegations and age of consent scandal =

In March 2014, an article from the Daily Mail exposed that a 1979 letter from paedophile group supporter contained Ms Harman's initials.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/feb/25/harriet-harman-apology-daily-mail-paedophile-smears|title = Harriet Harman demands apology for Daily Mail's paedophile 'smears'|website = TheGuardian.com|date = 25 February 2014}} Harman denied allegations that she had supported the Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE) when the advocacy group was affiliated with Liberty, while she was the pressure group's Legal Officer from 1978 to 1982. Both the Daily Mail and The Daily Telegraph also claimed that Jack Dromey MP (her partner) and former Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt had offered support to apologists for the sexual abuse of children while they were working for NCCL. The Guardian also states that in an NCCL briefing note dated 1978, Harman urged amendments to a 1978 Child Protection Bill declaring that "images of children should only be considered pornographic if it could be proven the subject suffered", which Harman says was an argument intended to protect from "unintended consequences" such as parents being prosecuted for taking pictures of their children on the beach or in the bath.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/feb/26/lobbying-paedophile-campaign-revealed-hewitt|title=Lobbying by paedophile campaign revealed|last1=Booth|first1=Robert|date=26 February 2014|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=31 March 2017|last2=Pidd|first2=Helen}}

Most of the controversy comes after the NCCL passed motion 39 in support of PIE's rights.

Motion 39 stated:

{{blockquote|This AGM reaffirms the right of free discussion and freedom to hold meetings for all organisations and individuals doing so within the law. Accordingly, whilst reaffirming the NCCL policy on the age of consent and the rights of children; particularly the need to protect those of prepubertal age, this AGM condemns the physical and other attacks on those who have discussed or attempted to discuss paedophilia, and reaffirms the NCCL's condemnation of harassment and unlawful attacks on such persons.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/mar/02/how-paedophiles-infiltrated-the-left-harriet-harman-patricia-hewitt|title = How paedophiles infiltrated the left and hijacked the fight for civil rights|website = TheGuardian.com|date = 2 March 2014}}}}

In a television interview, Harman said she had "nothing to apologise for," stating: "I very much regret that this vile organisation, PIE, ever existed and that it ever had anything to do with NCCL, but it did not affect my work at NCCL."{{cite news|first=Norman |last=Smith |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-26333558 |title=Harriet Harman expresses 'regret' after Daily Mail claims |work=BBC News |date=26 February 2014 |access-date=25 February 2014}} Harman stated that while she did support the equalisation of the age of consent for gay men she had never campaigned for the age of consent to go below the age of 16 and accused the Daily Mail of trying to make her "guilty by way of association".{{cite news|first=Rowena |last=Mason|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/feb/24/harriet-harman-daily-mail-paedophile-campaign-allegations |title=Harriet Harman rejects allegations of 1970s link to paedophile campaign |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=25 February 2014}} Ed Miliband backed Harman and stated that she had "huge decency and integrity".

=2015 general election=

File:Official portrait of Ms Harriet Harman crop 2.jpgIn the 2015 general election, Harman lead the Woman to Woman campaign involved a pink battle bus visiting constituencies.{{Cite news |date=2015-02-10 |title=Labour defends use of pink minibus in women's campaign |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-31376622 |access-date=2022-12-17}} Following the poor election result and Ed Miliband's resignation, Harman again became acting leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition after announcing she would stand down from the role once a leadership election had taken place.{{cite web|url=http://www.itv.com/news/update/2015-05-08/harriet-harman-stepping-down-as-labour-deputy-leader/|title=Harriet Harman stepping down as Labour deputy leader|work=ITV News}} While interim leader, she made the decision for Labour to abstain, rather than oppose, the Welfare Reform and Work Bill 2015, leading to 48 Labour MPs defying the whip.{{cite web|last1=Wintour|first1=Patrick|title=Welfare bill: Labour in disarray as 48 MPs defy whips to vote no|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/jul/21/labour-disarray-welfare-48-mps-defy-whips|website=The Guardian|date=21 July 2015|access-date=17 August 2015}} Harman also made the decision that Labour would vote for having a European Union membership referendum, reversing Labour's pre-election opposition to an EU referendum.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-politics-32863506/labour-will-back-eu-referendum-harriet-harman |title=Labour will back EU referendum – Harriet Harman |work=BBC News |date=24 May 2015 |access-date=27 March 2019}}{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/06/david-camerons-deal-with-harriet-harman-could-win-the-eu-referen/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/06/david-camerons-deal-with-harriet-harman-could-win-the-eu-referen/ |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=David Cameron's deal with Harriet Harman could win the EU referendum – and destroy his leadership |last=Kirkup |first=James |newspaper=Daily Telegraph |date=6 June 2016 |access-date=27 March 2019}}{{cbignore}} After standing down, she became Chair of the Joint Committee on Human Rights in October 2015.{{cite web|url=https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/10260/harriet_harman/camberwell_and_peckham|title=Harriet Harman MP, Camberwell and Peckham|website=TheyWorkForYou|access-date=28 December 2019|quote="Chair, Human Rights (Joint Committee) (29 Oct 2015 to 3 May 2017)"
"Chair, Human Rights (Joint Committee) (1 Nov 2017 to 6 Nov 2019)"}}{{cite web|url=https://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/joint-select/human-rights-committee/news-parliament-2015/committee-and-chair-appointed-15-16/|title=Committee and Chair appointed – News from Parliament|website=UK Parliament|date=2 November 2015|access-date=28 December 2019}}

As the holder of the record as longest-ever continuously serving female MP in the House of Commons, Harman was dubbed the "Mother of the House" by Prime Minister Theresa May on 13 June 2017.{{cite web|date=13 June 2017|title=Election of Speaker|url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2017-06-13/debates/EC97CC8B-CEAB-4D1D-8AEE-12D83E9E0253/ElectionOfSpeaker|work=Hansard|publisher=Commons|location=UK}}

On 10 September 2019, Harman announced that she would stand to be the next Speaker of the House of Commons following the announcement by the current Speaker John Bercow of his intention to resign on 31 October 2019.{{cite news |title=Labour's Harriet Harman to run for Commons Speaker |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-49646257 |access-date=10 September 2019 |work=BBC News |date=10 September 2019}} She withdrew from the vote after the second ballot, having the lowest votes of all of the surviving candidates.

In December 2021, Harman announced she would be stepping down as an MP at the 2024 general election.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/dec/07/harriet-harman-to-step-down-after-nearly-40-years-in-parliament |title=Harriet Harman to step down after 40 years in parliament |work= The Guardian |date=7 December 2021 |access-date=7 December 2021}}

=View on S&M=

Harman supported an amendment to the Domestic Abuse Bill 2019 to implement the verdict of R v Brown. R v Brown revisited the conviction of the earlier Operation Spanner, in which five men were convicted of engaging in homosexual sadomasochistic practices with consensual partners. Operation Spanner occurred in the 1980s and had been since criticised for its attitudes towards homosexuality. R v Brown re-affirmed that adults cannot consent to actual bodily harm. The changes would prevent use of the rough sex murder defence, believing people should be prosecuted for murder even if they did not intend to kill their partners.{{cite news |title=Domestic Abuse laws 'will tackle injustice' |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-49003726 |access-date=15 April 2020 |work=BBC News |date=16 July 2019}}{{cite news |last1=Lowbridge |first1=Caroline |title=Why campaigners want 'rough sex' murder defence ban |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-51151182 |access-date=15 April 2020 |work=BBC News |date=22 January 2020}}

Harman wrote to the Attorney General to complain about an unduly lenient sentence of a man whose partner died while engaging in erotic strangulation. The sentence had been reduced from seven years to four years eight months in light of the man's guilty plea and self-referral to the police.{{cite news |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/sex-strangle-death-appeal-sentence-sam-pybus-darlington-b957983.html |title=Sentence of man who killed lover during sex could be extended by Court of Appeal |work=Evening Standard |first=Tristan |last=Kirk |date=29 September 2021 |access-date=10 January 2022}}

=Investigation into Boris Johnson=

Harman chaired the Privileges Committee of the House of Commons over the investigation into Boris Johnson's breach of lockdown rules during the COVID-19 pandemic, concerning four specific assertions made by the then Prime Minister Boris Johnson at Prime Minister's Questions about "the legality of activities in 10 Downing Street and the Cabinet Office under Covid regulations", events commonly referred to as Partygate. The investigation is concerned with whether Johnson misled the Commons when he made these statements.

The Committee published their final report on 15 June.{{Cite web |date=15 June 2023 |title=Boris Johnson report latest: Covid bereaved seek ex-PM apology after Partygate report |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-politics-65876914 |website=BBC News}} Johnson resigned over the investigation after having been sent a draft copy of the committee's report. The Committee had voted on the final report text and unanimously supported it. They concluded that Johnson had deliberately misled the House, a contempt of Parliament. They said that, had he still been an MP, they would have recommended a 90 day suspension. If that had happened, it would have been the second longest suspension since 1949.{{Cite web |last=Magazine |first=Perspective |date=15 June 2023 |title=What happens now the Privileges Committee's report on Johnson has been released? |url=https://perspectivemag.co.uk/what-happens-now-the-privileges-committees-report-on-johnson-has-been-released/}}{{Cite web |last=Balls |first=Katy |date=15 June 2023 |title=Boris Johnson's fall from grace has given Rishi Sunak an opportunity |url=https://inews.co.uk/opinion/columnists/boris-johnson-fall-rishi-sunak-opportunity-2414008 |website=inews.co.uk}}{{Cite news |last=Sparrow |first=Andrew |date=15 June 2023 |title=Boris Johnson would face 90-day suspension if he were still MP, says privileges committee – as it happened |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2023/jun/15/boris-johnson-partygate-privileges-committee-report-conservatives-uk-politics-live |newspaper=The Guardian |via=www.theguardian.com}}

The Committee concluded that Johnson's actions were "more serious" because they were committed when he was prime minister. They noted that there was no precedent for a PM being found to have deliberately misled Parliament.{{Cite web |first1=Josh |last1=Salisbury |first2=Bill |last2=McLoughlin |first3=Claudia |last3=Marquis |date=15 June 2023 |title=Tory civil war tensions as MPs given vote on Boris Partygate report |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/london-politics-latest-live-partygate-boris-johnson-report-privileges-committee-b1087960.html |website=Evening Standard}} The report stated that Johnson tried to "rewrite the meaning" of COVID rules "to fit his own evidence" for example that "a leaving gathering or a gathering to boost morale was a lawful reason to hold a gathering."{{cite news |last1=Castle |first1=Stephen |date=15 June 2023 |title=Boris Johnson Misled Parliament Over Covid Lockdown Parties, Report Says |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/15/world/europe/boris-johnson-report-covid-lockdown-parties-uk.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230615110139/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/15/world/europe/boris-johnson-report-covid-lockdown-parties-uk.html |archive-date=15 June 2023 |access-date=16 June 2023 |work=The New York Times}} They concluded he was guilty of further contempts of Parliament and that he breached confidentiality requirements by criticising the Committee's provisional findings when he resigned. They said he was complicit in a "campaign of abuse" against those investigating him.

The Commons debated the report on 19 June 2023. Labour forced a vote and the Commons voted 354 to 7 in support, with a large number of abstentions. This was an absolute majority of the Commons. 118 Conservative MPs, including 15 ministers, voted for the report and 225 abstained. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had earlier said he had other commitments, and did not attend the debate and refused to say how he would have voted.

Peerage

After standing down as an MP, Harman was nominated for a life peerage in the 2024 Dissolution Honours.{{London Gazette |date=7 August 2024 |issue=64480 |page=15222 |supp=y}}{{Cite web |title=Dissolution Peerages 2024 |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/dissolution-peerages-2024 |access-date=2024-07-04 |website=GOV.UK |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Whannel |first=Kate |date=4 July 2024 |title=Theresa May and 'bionic' MP awarded peerages |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c84975xgdwlo |work=BBC News |language=en |access-date=4 July 2024}} She was created Baroness Harman, of Peckham in the London Borough of Southwark, on 19 August 2024.{{London Gazette |date=23 August 2024 |issue=64496 |page=16342}} In 2025, Harman proposed an amendment to Labour's House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill that would mandate the government to introduce proposals to remove the right for 26 Church of England bishops to sit in the Lords ex officio as Lords Spiritual. This amendment is in line with Labour's manifesto commitment to proceed with wider reforms of the upper chamber.{{cite web|url=https://humanists.uk/2025/01/21/harriet-harman-introduces-amendment-to-remove-bishops-from-the-lords/|title=Harriet Harman introduces amendment to remove bishops from the Lords|date=21 January 2025|accessdate=21 January 2025|work=Humanists UK}}

In 2025, she was appointed by David Lammy as UK Special Envoy for Women and Girls.{{cite web |last1=Lloyd |first1=Nina |title=Harman appointed UK special envoy for women and girls |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/harriet-harman-keir-starmer-government-anneliese-dodds-foreign-office-b2711300.html |website=Independent |access-date=9 March 2025}}

In popular culture

Harman was portrayed by Deborah Findlay in the 2015 Channel 4 television film Coalition.{{cite news|url=https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2015/03/government-comes-close-rachel-cooke-glued-channel-4s-coalition|title=As this government comes to a close, Rachel Cooke is glued to Channel 4's Coalition|last=Cooke|first=Rachel|date=25 March 2015|website=The New Statesman|language=en|access-date=19 April 2020}}

Personal life

Harman married Jack Dromey in 1982 in Brent, after meeting him on the picket line of the Grunwick dispute in 1977; she was legal advisor to the Grunwick Strike Committee. They had three children: Harry (born February 1983), Joseph (born November 1984) and Amy (born January 1987). Harry and Amy have Harman's surname. Labour colleague Patricia Hewitt is godmother to one of her children. She sent Harry to the grant-maintained Roman Catholic London Oratory School and Joseph to the state selective St Olave's Grammar School, Orpington.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/why-my-son-will-go-to-grammar-school-by-harriet-harman-1324835.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220509/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/why-my-son-will-go-to-grammar-school-by-harriet-harman-1324835.html |archive-date=9 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Why my son will go to Grammar School|work=The Independent|access-date=2 July 2009 | location=London | first=Donald |last=MacIntyre |date=20 January 1996}}

Harman has owned a number of houses and properties, including her home in Herne Hill, south London and a house in Suffolk.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7443284.stm|title=Father's rooftop protest goes on|work=BBC News|date=9 June 2008|access-date=12 April 2010}}{{cite news |last=Sapsted |first=David |date=21 September 2007 |title=Harriet Harman avoids court over speeding |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/19/nharman119.xml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071204013720/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/19/nharman119.xml |url-status=dead |archive-date=4 December 2007 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=2 December 2007}}

Harman is a committed feminist, having said, "I am in the Labour Party because I am a feminist. I am in the Labour Party because I believe in equality."{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article2843875.ece |title=Harriet the plotter and the not terribly secret chamber of her old feminist friends |work=The Times |date=10 November 2007 |access-date=27 February 2010 |location=London |first1=Helen |last1=Rumbelow}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}{{cite news |last=Lewis |first=Helen |author-link=Helen Lewis (journalist) |date= 6 March 2017 |title=Harriet Harman: the irresistible force |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/feminism/2017/03/harriet-harman-irresistible-force-0 |newspaper=New Statesman |access-date=26 March 2018}} In 2017, her book A Woman's Work was published. It is her personal examination of women's progressive politics over the last thirty years.{{cite book|author=Harriet Harman|title=A Woman's Work|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u3pMvgAACAAJ|date=2 February 2017|publisher=Penguin Books, Limited|isbn=978-0-241-27494-1}}{{cite book|title=A Woman's Work|url=https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/296722/a-woman-s-work/|publisher=Penguin Books|access-date=30 January 2017}}

In late 1988, Harman was absent from the Commons for some time and on 26 December it was reported that she was suffering pneumonia brought on by psittacosis.The Times, 27 December 1988, ITN News Summary, 26 December 1988

In 2012, Harman was awarded the Freedom of the Borough of Southwark.{{cite web|url=http://www.southwark.gov.uk/news/article/760/sir_michael_caine_receives_freedom_of_the_borough_of_southwark|title=Sir Michael Caine receives Freedom of the Borough of Southwark|access-date=21 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304190602/http://www.southwark.gov.uk/news/article/760/sir_michael_caine_receives_freedom_of_the_borough_of_southwark|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/southwarkcouncil/sets/72157629724277788/|title=The Freedom of the Borough of Southwark|work=Flickr – Photo Sharing!|date=12 May 2012}}

=Motoring convictions=

In 2003, Harman was fined £400 and banned from driving for seven days after being convicted of driving at {{convert|99|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on}} on a motorway, {{convert|29|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on}} above the speed limit.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2748411.stm|title=Harman banned for speeding|work=BBC News| date=11 February 2003 | access-date=5 January 2010}}

In 2007, Harman was issued with a £60 fixed penalty notice and given three penalty points on her licence for driving at {{convert|50|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on}} in a temporary {{convert|40|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on}} zone. Harman paid the fine several months late and avoided appearing at Ipswich magistrates court.{{cite news |last=Sapsted |first=David |date=21 September 2007 |title=Harriet Harman avoids court over speeding |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/19/nharman119.xml |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=2 December 2007}} Harman was again caught breaking the speed limit the following April, this time in a 30 mph zone, receiving a further 3 points on her driving licence.{{cite news|last=Laing |first=Aislinn |date=9 January 2010 |title=Harriet Harman fined over careless driving while on mobile phone |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/labour/6952065/Harriet-Harman-fined-over-careless-driving-while-on-mobile-phone.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100112124646/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/labour/6952065/Harriet-Harman-fined-over-careless-driving-while-on-mobile-phone.html |archive-date=2010-01-12 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=12 April 2010}}

In January 2010 Harman pleaded guilty to driving without due care and attention in relation to an incident on 3 July 2009 where she struck another vehicle whilst driving using a mobile phone, she admitted the offence in court.[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6980682.ece Harriet Harman pleads guilty to careless driving]{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} The Times, 8 January 2010{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8369371.stm |title=Harriet Harman faces driving with mobile prosecution |date=19 November 2009 |work=BBC News |access-date=21 November 2009}} Harman was fined £350, ordered to pay £70 costs, a £15 victim surcharge and had three points added to her licence.{{cite news |title=Harman questioned over car crash |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8289159.stm |work=BBC News |date=3 October 2009 |access-date=7 October 2009}} Road safety organisation Brake criticised the leniency of the punishment and decision to drop the charge of driving whilst using a mobile phone.{{cite news|last=Greenwood |first=Chris |url=http://news.scotsman.com/politics/39Letting-Harriet-Harman-off-for.5968669.jp |title=Letting Harriet Harman off for driving with a mobile sends wrong message|newspaper=The Scotsman|date=9 January 2010 |access-date=12 April 2010 |location=Edinburgh}} The judge defended the decision stating: "Ms Harman's guilty plea to driving without due care and attention included her admitting that she had been using a mobile phone at the time".[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article6981399.ece Harriet Harman escapes driving ban after using mobile while driving]{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} The Times, 9 January 2010

Notes

References

Publications

Sex Discrimination in Schools: How to Fight it by Harriet Harman, 1978, Civil Liberties Trust {{ISBN|0-901108-73-1}}
Justice Deserted: Subversion of the Jury by Harriet Harman and J. A. G. Griffith, 1979, Civil Liberties Trust {{ISBN|0-901108-79-0}}
Violence Against Social Workers: The Implications for Practice by Dan Norris, foreword by Harriet Harman, Jessica Kingsley Publishers {{ISBN|1-85302-041-9}}
The Family Way: A New Approach to Policy Making by Harriet Harman et al., 1990, Institute for Public Policy Research {{ISBN|1-872452-15-9}}
The Century Gap: 20th Century Man/21st Century Woman by Harriet Harman, 1993, Vermilion {{ISBN|0-09-177819-0}}
[https://digital.library.lse.ac.uk/Documents/Detail/winning-for-women-2000/120700 Winning for Women] by Harriet Harman and Deborah Mattinson, 2000, Fabian Society {{ISBN|0-7163-0596-8}}
Women with Attitude by Susan Vinnicombe, John Bank, foreword by Harriet Harman, 2002, Routledge {{ISBN|0-415-28742-1}}
A Woman's Work by Harriet Harman, 2017, Allen Lane {{ISBN|978-0-241-27494-1}}

External links

[http://www.harrietharman.org/ Harriet Harman] Official constituency website
[http://www.southwarklabour.co.uk/ Southwark Labour] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923173444/http://www.southwarklabour.co.uk/ |date=23 September 2015 }}
{{UK MP links | parliament = ms-harriet-harman/150 | hansard = ms-harriet-harman | hansardcurr = 847 | guardian = 2223/harriet-harman | publicwhip = Harriet_Harman | theywork = harriet_harman | record = Harriet-Harman/Camberwell-and-Peckham/232 | bbc = 25677.stm | journalisted = harriet-harman }}

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