Rachel Blake

{{Infobox officeholder

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

| image = Rachel Blake Portait - 2024.jpg

| caption = Official portrait, 2024

| office = Member of Parliament
for Cities of London and Westminster

| predecessor = Nickie Aiken

| term_start = 4 July 2024

| majority = 2,708 (6.9%)

| office1 = Member of Tower Hamlets London Borough Council for Bow East

| term_start1 = 22 May 2014

| term_end1 = 26 July 2024

| party = Labour Co-op

| website = {{URL|https://www.rachelblake.org.uk/}}

| birth_name = Rachel Nancy Blake

| birth_place = Manchester, England

| residence = London, England

}}

Rachel Nancy Blake is a British politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Cities of London and Westminster since 2024. A member of the Labour and Co-operative Party, she previously represented Bow East on the Tower Hamlets London Borough Council from 2014 to 2024 and was deputy mayor of Tower Hamlets from 2018 to 2022.

Career

Blake attended Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, graduating with a BA degree in 2001,{{cite news|title=Congregations of the Regent House on 28, 29, and 30 June 2001|url=https://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/reporter/2000-01/weekly/5852/37.html|publisher=Cambridge University Reporter|access-date=23 July 2024}} before studying for a master's degree in Social Policy at the London School of Economics. She joined the Labour Party in 2003. Early in her career, she was a policy advisor at HM Treasury under then-Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown{{cite web |date=21 March 2024 |title=Starmer's new Labour MPS will define Britain for a decade - here's who they are |url=https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/starmer-intake-mps-future-labour-2967420 |website=inews.co.uk}} and was a member of Kate Barker's team on a Review of Land Use Planning which was published in December 2006.{{citation |url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7c35b6ed915d76e2ebbd10/0118404857.pdf |title=Barker Review of Land Use Planning |edition=Final Report - Recommendations |chapter=Foreword |publisher=HMSO |year=2006}} From 2009 to 2013, she was a manager at East London Housing Partnership.{{cite web |url=http://www.lbbd.gov.uk/elhp/contact.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711022802/http://www.lbbd.gov.uk/elhp/contact.html |title=Contact Us |publisher=East London Housing Partnership |access-date=13 April 2024 |archive-date=11 July 2011}}

In May 2014, Blake was elected as a Labour Party councillor for the Bow East ward on Tower Hamlets London Borough Council,{{cite book |author=Piggott, Gareth |date=September 2014 |title=London Borough Council Elections 22 May 2014 |url=https://airdrive-secure.s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/london/dataset/borough-council-election-results-2014/2018-11-15T12%3A00%3A00/London-Borough-Council-Elections-2014.pdf?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIAJJDIMAIVZJDICKHA%2F20240413%2Feu-west-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20240413T211932Z&X-Amz-Expires=300&X-Amz-Signature=22e05bdac40404282cc8dfecdc5b06b1e945d68a9f488232e05b911c0ac7064f&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host |location=London |publisher=Greater London Authority |page=171 |issn=1479-7879}} before her appointment to Tower Hamlets' Cabinet in July 2015.{{Cite web|url=https://democracy.towerhamlets.gov.uk/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=2854|title=Councillor details - Councillor Rachel Blake|date=March 29, 2024|website=democracy.towerhamlets.gov.uk}} Blake resigned in July 2024 after her election as the MP for the Cities of London and Westminster constituency.

{{cite report

| author = Stephen Halsey

| author-link =

| date = 26 July 2024

| title = Notice of Vacancy, London Borough of Tower Hamlets, Bow East Ward

| url = https://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/Documents/Democracy/Elections/2024/Notice-of-casual-vacancy-Bow-East.pdf

| publisher = Tower Hamlets Council

}}

Representing the Local Government Association at a hearing of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee in June 2021, she claimed that national regulations often held back and undermined local ambition and innovation on climate change. She called for more ambitious building standards on energy efficiency, but noted that competitions for funding meant councils often wasted resources on bidding.{{cite magazine |last=Ford |first=Martin |date=24 June 2021 |title='Climate change efforts need national support' |page=2 |magazine=The Municipal Journal |url=https://www.themj.co.uk/Call-for-government-to-match-local-ambitions-on-climate-change/220783 |location=London |publisher=Hemming Group Ltd }} At a Local Government Association community wellbeing ward in December 2021 she attacked poor organisation of the COVID-19 vaccine booster programme.{{cite web |url=https://www.lgcplus.com/politics/coronavirus/covid-booster-drive-criticised-amid-call-for-vaccine-hubs-within-councils-14-12-2021/ |title=Covid booster drive criticised amid call for vaccine hubs within councils |last=Hill |first=Jessica |date=14 December 2021 |website=Local Government Chronicle}}

Rachel Blake is vice-chair of the Labour Housing Group.{{cite web | url=https://labourhousing.org/category/about/executive/ | title=Executive – Labour Housing Group | date=17 May 2019 }} She was previously the secretary of the London Labour Housing Group{{Cite web|url=https://labourhousing.org/about/executive/rachel-blake/|title=Rachel Blake|first=Sheila|last=Spencer|date=April 9, 2020}} and a member of the London Legacy Development Corporation Board. She has campaigned for tougher regulations of short-term rentals in London,{{Cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/homesandproperty/renting/short-term-rentals-holiday-lets-london-b1140134.html|title=New restrictions on short-term letting could just be 'more hot air'|first=India|last=Block|date=February 20, 2024|website=Evening Standard}} housing improvements and other built environment issues.{{cite web |date=17 April 2024 |title=Gove intervenes over Barbican demolition plans |url=https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/breaking-gove-intervenes-over-barbican-demolition-plans |website=www.architectsjournal.co.uk}}{{Cite web|url=http://fitzrovianews.com/2023/10/16/candidate-for-two-cities-says-labour-will-insulate-homes-and-help-families-cut-energy-bills/|title=Candidate for 'two cities' says Labour will insulate homes and help families cut energy bills|first=Linus|last=Rees|date=October 16, 2023|website=Fitzrovia News}}{{Cite journal|url=https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/five-takeaways-from-aj-retrofit-live-net-zero-is-here-to-stay|title=Five takeaways from AJ Retrofit Live: 'Net zero is here to stay'|journal = Architects' Journal|first=Gino|last=Spocchia|date=September 28, 2023}}

In November 2024, Blake 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

Blake was born in Manchester and grew up in London,{{Cite web|url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2024-07-22/debates/67C8D6FC-BDA4-47FF-BECC-537443D53120/EconomyWelfareAndPublicServices|title=Economy, Welfare and Public Services|first=|last=|date=July 22, 2024|website=Hansard}} where she currently lives. Her partner, Marc Francis,{{Cite web|url=https://democracy.towerhamlets.gov.uk/mgDeclarationSubmission.aspx?UID=595&HID=2268&FID=0&HPID=0|title=Register of interests|first=|last=|date=August 20, 2024|website=democracy.towerhamlets.gov.uk}} is a fellow Tower Hamlets borough councillor. She has two sons. She is a member of Unison and the GMB Union.