Diane was born in London in 1953. She attended the grammar school Harrow County and then went on to Newnham College Cambridge where she obtained a Masters degree in history.
In 1987 Diane made history by becoming the first black woman ever elected to the British Parliament as the member for Hackney North and Stoke Newington. Since then she has built a distinguished career as a parliamentarian, broadcaster and commentator, holding her seat for the last twenty-eight years.
In June 2010, she made the ballot for the Labour leadership contest and took part in the summer long campaign to elect the next Labour leader. Although her campaign did not yield the leadership position, she was nonetheless propelled to the front benches as shadow Public Health Minister, a position that she held for three years.
Diane is currently a front-runner in the race to be selected as the Labour Party’s candidate for Mayor of London in 2016.
One to One Questions
1) What is your current position?
Member of Parliament for Hackney North and Stoke Newington
2) What are your proudest achievements?
Working with the Labour Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone and with a Labour Government and seeing millions of pounds poured into schools, public transport and hospitals in Hackney.
3) What inspires you?
I am inspired by our younger generation and the desire to leave a better world for them.
4) What has been the biggest obstacle in your career?
The largest and most prevalent obstacle I have faced throughout my career has been prejudice.
5) Who has been the biggest influence on your career to date?
Tony Benn
6) What is the best aspect about your current role?
Being able to help people and having the ability to speak up on issues that I care most about.
7) And the worst?
The pressure that my role places on my immediate family.
8) What are your long-term goals?
To leave Hackney North and Stoke Newington a better place than when I was elected in 1987.
9) If you were Prime Minister, what one aspect would you change?
I would urgently undertake a mass programme of house building.
10) If you were marooned on a desert island, which historical figure would you like to spend your time with and why?
Martin Luther King because he is such a deeply spiritual and philosophical figure, I feel that I could learn a lot from him.
