Diane Abbott
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€25.99
More than three decades after her election to Parliament, Diane Abbott is still racking up firsts. The first black woman elected to Parliament, she also recently became the first black person to represent their party at PMQs.
Abbott came to fame in the 1980s as part of a new generation of Labour activists, quickly dubbed the 'loony left' by right-wing tabloids. Decades later she is still a divisive figure. Inside the Brexit echo chamber she is treated with unparalleled contempt. Yet for her supporters she is a trailblazer, someone who has remained true to her principles and her community after thirty years in 'the belly of the beast'.
Based on interviews with her colleagues, her political opponents and friends from school and university, as well as extensive archival research, Diane Abbott: The Authorised Biography traces Abbott's path from London, via Cambridge University, through the media and radical politics into Parliament, and then to the top of Jeremy Corbyn's shadow Cabinet.
Robin Bunce is Director of Studies for History and Politics at Homerton College, University of Cambridge. His biography of activist and journalist Darcus Howe, published by Bloomsbury in 2014, contained the first published history of the British Black Power movement. Bunce has also written on issues of politics and popular culture for the New Statesman, The Guardian, The Independent and the Huffington Post.
Samara Linton is a qualified medical doctor, but her love for storytelling led her to freelance as a journalist and editor. After co-editing The Colour of Madness, an anthology exploring BAME mental health in the UK, Samara decided to explore new media through which to share unheard stories. Samara currently works at BBC Three as a Production Trainee.