Miatta Fahnbulleh (politician)

{{Short description|Liberian-born British economist (born 1979)|bot=PearBOT 5}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Miatta Fahnbulleh

| honorific_suffix = MP

| image = Miatta_Fahnbulleh_MP_portrait_cropped.jpg

| caption = Official portrait, 2024

| office = Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Consumers

| term_start = 9 July 2024

| primeminister = Keir Starmer

| predecessor = Amanda Solloway

| office1 = Member of Parliament
for Peckham

| majority1 = 15,228 (39.3%)

| term_start1 = 4 July 2024

| term_end1 =

| predecessor1 = Constituency reestablished

| birth_name = Miatta Nema Fahnbulleh

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1979|9|29|df=y}}

| birth_place = Liberia

| death_date =

| death_place =

| nationality = {{hlist|Liberian|British}}

| profession = Developmental economist

| workplaces =

| alma_mater = Lincoln College, Oxford (BA)
London School of Economics (MA, PhD)

| influences =

| influenced =

| contributions =

| party = Labour Co-op

| website = {{URL|https://miattafahnbulleh.org/}}

| relations = Gamal Fahnbulleh (brother)

Miatta Fahnbulleh (aunt)

| spouse = Graham

| children = 3

}}

Miatta Nema Fahnbulleh (born 29 September 1979){{Cite web|url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/J6-QlP0vEV_3fglCNk3W0bnvIg8/appointments|title=Miatta FAHNBULLEH personal appointments - Find and update company information - GOV.UK|website=find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk}} is a British politician and economist. A member of Labour Co-op, she was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Peckham in the 2024 general election. Fahnbulleh is currently serving as a junior minister in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, having been appointed by Keir Starmer in July 2024. She is considered to belong to the soft left of the Labour Party.

Early life and education

Fahnbulleh was born in Liberia to a Liberian father and a Sierra Leonean mother and has a brother, Gamal.{{Cite web|url=https://news.sky.com/story/what-does-it-mean-to-be-black-and-british-12109216|title=What does it mean to be black and British?|last=Fahnbulleh|first=Gamal|date=22 October 2020|work=Sky News Daily|access-date=16 January 2025}} At the onset of the First Liberian Civil War in 1986 the family fled to England, where they applied for asylum.{{cite news |last=Foster |first=Dawn |author-link=Dawn Foster |date=31 October 2017 |title=Miatta Fahnbulleh: 'People's tolerance for an unfair economic model has hit a buffer' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/oct/31/miatta-fahnbulleh-tolerance-unfair-economic-model-buffer |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=2 February 2018}}

Fahnbulleh attended Beechwood Sacred Heart School, an independent school in Tunbridge Wells. After studying at Lincoln College, Oxford, she graduated in 2000 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy, politics and economics and obtained a PhD degree in Economic Development in 2005 from the London School of Economics.{{cite web|url= https://www.linkedin.com/in/miatta-fahnbulleh-713b0010a|title= Miatta Fahnbulleh|access-date=February 2, 2018}}{{cite web|url= http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.427937|title= The Elusive Quest for Industrialisation in Africa: A Comparative Study of Ghana and Kenya, c1950-2000|access-date= February 1, 2018}} Fahnbulleh wrote her thesis on the adoption of and success of industrial policy in Ghana and Kenya.

Early career

Fahnbulleh was the Head of Cities in the policy unit at the Cabinet Office from 2011 to 2013; the director of policy and research at the IPPR from December 2016 to November 2017; and the Chief Executive of the New Economics Foundation between November 2017 and December 2023.{{Cite press release |title=New Economics Foundation appoints Dr Danny Sriskandarajah as new Chief Exec |url=https://neweconomics.org/2023/06/new-economics-foundation-appoints-dr-danny-sriskandarajah-as-new-chief-exec |access-date=14 August 2023 |website=New Economics Foundation}}{{cite news |last1=Jeraj |first1=Samir |date=16 February 2022 |title=Miatta Fahnbulleh: Skill up to save the planet |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/spotlight/skills/2022/02/miatta-fahnbulleh-skill-up-to-save-the-planet |work=New Statesman}} She was also a Policy Fellow at the think tank Labour Together.{{Cite news |title=Who we are |work=Labour Together |url= https://www.labourtogether.uk/who-we-are |access-date=2024-07-11 |language=en-GB}}

On 22 May 2022, Fahnbulleh was a recipient of the MotheRED grant, which provides funding for mothers to stand as parliamentary candidates for the Labour Party.{{cite news |last1=Creasy |first1=Stella |title=The first 18 mothers who will receive a MotheRED grant to stand for selection |url=https://labourlist.org/2022/05/the-first-18-mothers-who-will-receive-a-mothered-grant-to-stand-for-selection/ |access-date=22 May 2022 |work=LabourList |date=22 May 2022}} In September 2022, Fahnbulleh announced that she was standing to be the prospective parliamentary candidate in Camberwell and Peckham at the next general election.{{Cite web |last=Neame |first=Katie |title=Camberwell and Peckham's next Labour candidate – runners and riders |url=https://labourlist.org/2022/09/camberwell-and-peckhams-next-labour-candidate-runners-and-riders/ |access-date=2022-09-25 |website=LabourList |date=23 September 2022 |language=en-GB}} On 19 November 2022, she was selected by local Labour Party members as the candidate to succeed Harriet Harman, who stood down after 40 years as an MP.{{Cite web |date=19 November 2022 |title=Miatta Fahnbulleh is set to be Labour candidate for Camberwell and Peckham |first=Herbie|last=Russell |url=https://southwarknews.co.uk/area/southwark/miatta-fahnbulleh-is-the-next-mp-for-camberwell-and-peckham/ |access-date=11 January 2024 |website=Southwark News}}{{Cite tweet |author=Miatta Fahnbulleh |user=Miatsf |number=1594001349313957888 |title=I'm absolutely elated to have been selected as Labour's parliamentary candidate for Camberwell & Peckham! Thank you to local party members, & all those who supported me because they want this community to have a national voice fighting for the big ideas that change our lives.}}{{cite web |date=7 December 2021 |title=Harriet Harman to step down after 40 years in parliament |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2021/dec/07/harriet-harman-to-step-down-after-nearly-40-years-in-parliament|first=Jessica |last=Elgot |access-date=7 December 2021 |work=The Guardian}}

While still a Parliamentary candidate, in June 2024 the New Statesman named Fahnbulleh 47th in The Left Power List 2024, the magazine's "guide to the 50 most influential people in progressive politics", describing her as "a natural candidate to join the front bench".{{Cite news |date=2024-06-04 |title=The Left Power List 2024 |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2024/06/new-statesman-left-power-list-2024 |access-date=2024-09-16 |work=New Statesman |language=en-GB}}

Fahnbulleh has been a regular panellist on the BBC television programme Question Time.{{Cite web |last=Griffiths |first=Robbie |date=2024-07-06 |title=Meet the Starmtroopers – the bright young MPs set to shine in Labour's new era |url=https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/meet-starmtroopers-bright-young-mps-shine-labour-era-3154568 |access-date=2024-07-07 |website=inews.co.uk |language=en}}

Parliamentary career

In the 2024 general election, she was elected in Peckham with a reduced majority.{{Cite news |title=Peckham – General election results 2024 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/election/2024/uk/constituencies/E14001421 |access-date=2024-07-07 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}} On 9 July 2024, Fahnbulleh was appointed as a junior minister (Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State) in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3g9x7m8vy7o|title=Starmer gives government jobs to brand new MPs|date=9 July 2024|via=bbc.co.uk}}{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/people/miatta-fahnbulleh|title=Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Miatta Fahnbulleh MP|via=gov.uk}}

Political views

Fahnbulleh is a member of the Labour and Co-operative parties.{{Cite news |last=Firth |first=Robert |date=26 June 2024 |title=The South London area getting its first new MP in 40 years but they don't know who they can trust |url=https://www.mylondon.news/news/south-london-news/south-london-area-getting-first-29418142 |access-date=9 July 2024 |work=MyLondon}} Ideologically, she is considered to belong to the soft left of the Labour Party. She has campaigned for urgent action on the climate crisis.{{Cite news |last=Savage |first=Michael |date=7 July 2024 |title=Big brains and glittering careers: five fresh Labour MPs to watch |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/article/2024/jul/07/five-new-labour-mps-westminster-economist-soldier |access-date=9 July 2024 |work=The Observer}} A left-wing economist, she has described herself as a heterodox economist and has advocated for change to the economic system.{{Cite news |last=Church |first=Sophie |date=6 June 2024 |title=Miatta Fahnbulleh: 'I'm going to be trying to push us to go further' |url=https://www.politicshome.com/thehouse/article/miatta-fahnbulleh-im-going-to-be-trying-to-push-us-to-go-further-88872 |access-date=9 July 2024 |work=PoliticsHome: The House}}{{Cite news |last=Russell |first=Herbie |date=2 June 2024 |title=Miatta Fanhbulleh: Who is Peckham's new Labour candidate and what does she stand for? |url=https://southwarknews.co.uk/area/peckham/miatta-fanhbulleh-who-is-peckhams-new-labour-candidate-and-what-does-she-stand-for/ |access-date=9 July 2024 |work=Southwark News}}

In November 2024, Fahnbulleh voted in favour of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, which proposes to legalise assisted suicide.{{cite web |title=Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill: Second Reading |url=https://votes.parliament.uk/votes/commons/division/1877 |website=Votes in Parliament |date=29 November 2024}}

Personal life

Fahnbulleh is married to Graham and has three children.{{ cite news |last=Eaton |first=George |title=New Economics Foundation head Miatta Fahnbulleh on how to replace the UK's broken economic model |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2018/04/new-economics-foundation-head-miatta-fahnbulleh-how-replace-uks-broken-economic | date= 7 April 2018 |work=New Statesman |access-date=27 February 2024 }}{{Cite news |last=Partington |first=Richard |date=7 May 2024 |title='Labour will surpass your expectations': the leftwing thinktank boss standing on Starmer's agenda |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/article/2024/may/07/labour-will-surpass-your-expectations-the-leftwing-thinktank-boss-standing-on-starmers-agenda |access-date=9 July 2024 |work=The Guardian}} Her aunt is the singer Miatta Fahnbulleh, with whom she shares a name.