At a glanceMs Diane Abbott is a Independent MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, and has represented the seat for 39 years, 1 month. They have cast 311 votes in Commons divisions (54% attendance), tabled 330 written questions and registered 5 financial interests.
Attendance is votes cast as a share of the 575 Commons divisions since the 2024 election; Ms Diane Abbott did not vote in 264.
Biography
Current roles
- Independent Party since 17 Jul 2025
- Hackney North and Stoke Newington Representation · Elected 1 time since 4 Jul 2024
Voting record
Register of financial interests
From the official Register; shown as registered.
Employment and earnings1
- Writing an autobiography - Viking- Penguin via Blake Friedmann Literary, TV & Film Agency Ltd (registered 20 Nov 2024)
Employment and earnings - Ad hoc payments2
- Payment received on 12 March 2025 - £18,450.00 (registered 8 Aug 2025)
- Payment received on 24 September 2024 - £22,500.00 (registered 20 Nov 2024)
Visits outside the UK1
- International visit to Ghana between 23 May 2025 and 01 June 2025 (registered 3 Jul 2025)
Miscellaneous1
- Since December 2015, a trustee of the Diane Abbott Foundation, which works to excel and improve education. This is an unpaid role. (registered 26 Oct 2016)
Written questions
Terrorism: Sentencing
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the use of terrorist connection provisions under section 69 of the Sentencing Act 2020 in cases where no terrorism offence has been (a) charged a
Answer · 26 Jun 2026
I refer the Rt Hon. Member to the answers I gave on 18 June 2026 to Questions 9355, 9356 and 9357.
Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Public Appointments
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many appointments to board-level roles in public bodies sponsored by her Department were made between 1 January 2020 and 29 April 2026; and how many of those appointees were Black a) men and
Answer · 26 Jun 2026
The Cabinet Office and the Commissioner for Public Appointments publish annual data reports detailing public appointments made by government departments. These reports include data on various diversity metrics, including ethnic background. To protect the ...
Independent Football Regulator: Public Appointments
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department holds information on the gender and ethnicity of applicants and shortlisted candidates for appointments to the board of the Independent Football Regulator.
Answer · 26 Jun 2026
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport monitors applicant diversity data through the Public Appointments Digital Service. This information is provided in confidence and is collected and processed in accordance with the Department's privacy notice. As...
Independent Football Regulator: Public Appointments
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many people have been appointed to the board of the Independent Football Regulator; and how many of those appointees are a) Black men and b) Black women.
Answer · 26 Jun 2026
Since the Independent Football Regulator was established in 2025, the Secretary of State has appointed seven non-executive members to its Board, and recused herself from the appointment of the Chair. Details of the Board's membership are published on the ...
Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Public Appointments
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department holds data on the gender and ethnicity of a) applicants, b) shortlisted candidates and c) successful candidates for public appointments; and if she will publish the number
Answer · 26 Jun 2026
The Cabinet Office and the Commissioner for Public Appointments publish annual data reports detailing public appointments made by government departments. These reports include data on various diversity metrics, including ethnic background. To protect the ...
Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Public Appointments
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many non-executive appointments were made to public bodies sponsored by her Department between 1 January 2020 and 29 April 2026; and how many of those appointees were a) Black men and b) Blac
Answer · 26 Jun 2026
The Cabinet Office and the Commissioner for Public Appointments publish annual data reports detailing public appointments made by government departments. These reports include data on various diversity metrics, including ethnic background. To protect the ...
Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Public Appointments
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many public appointments her Department made in the periods a) 1 January 2020 to 3 July 2024 and b) 4 July 2024 to 29 April 2026; and how many appointees in each period were i) Black men and
Answer · 26 Jun 2026
The Cabinet Office and the Commissioner for Public Appointments publish annual data reports detailing public appointments made by government departments. These reports include data on various diversity metrics, including ethnic background. To protect the ...
Department for Culture, Media and Sport: Public Appointments
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many public appointments her Department made between 1 January 2020 and 29 April 2026; and how many of those appointees were a) Black men and b) Black women, broken down by ethnic group.
Answer · 26 Jun 2026
The Cabinet Office and the Commissioner for Public Appointments publish annual data reports detailing public appointments made by government departments. These reports include data on various diversity metrics, including ethnic background. To protect the ...
Early day motions
| 13 May 2026 | The Iran conflict, the US naval blockade and price inflation | 21 sig. |
| 10 Mar 2025 | Overseas aid budget | 31 sig. |
| 23 Jan 2023 | Disappearance of migrant children from asylum hotels | 61 sig. |
| 11 May 2022 | Abortion rights in the United States | 43 sig. |
| 11 May 2022 | Energy price rises and the price cap | 32 sig. |
| 22 Oct 2021 | Covid-19 plan B measures | 13 sig. |
Speeches in the chamber
13 Jul 2026 Immigration and Asylum Bill
I listened with great care to the Home Secretary’s speech, and one of the things she said—she said it more than once, in different phraseology—was that her legislation is designed to remove the burden of asylum seekers from the shoulders o…
13 Jul 2026 Immigration and Asylum Bill
The Home Secretary referred earlier to immigrants coming here to live off the taxpayer. I put it to her that not only do a disproportionate number of immigrants find themselves in work, whether legal or illegal work, but the children of i…
13 Jul 2026 Immigration and Asylum Bill
Will the Home Secretary give way?
13 Jul 2026 Death of Ann Widdecombe
The Home Secretary will be aware of how important it is to make sure that Members of this House get the protection and defence that they need. At one point, I got as much abuse and as many threats of violence as all the other women MPs put…
30 Jun 2026 National Maternity and Neonatal Investigation
The Secretary of State will know that many women are never more vulnerable than in childbirth. It is about not just the vulnerability, but the horror of what women and their babies are exposed to in childbirth. We see inquiry after inquiry…
20 Apr 2026 Security Vetting
The Prime Minister has gone on at considerable length about process and procedure, but ordinary people do not really care about process and procedure; they want transparency, and they want to know that they can have confidence in the words…
23 Mar 2026 Middle East
The Iranian regime is a threat to us all, not least to its own population. I implore Ministers to remember the importance of a debate in Parliament, just as we had on Iraq, if we move further in our involvement with Trump’s war.
2 Mar 2026 Middle East
The Prime Minister will be aware that very many of our constituents remember the Iraq war, and they will have noted the similarities with this war: both in the middle east and both illegal. Of course, the current Iranian regime is horrible…
23 Feb 2026 Schools White Paper: Every Child Achieving and Thriving
The Secretary of State will be aware how traumatic it is for a child to grow up with special educational needs and to support such a child. She will also be aware that disproportionate numbers of those children come from marginalised commu…
5 Jan 2026 Venezuela
My question is: what would the Foreign Secretary say to British voters—ordinary British voters; not left-wing British voters in particular—who do not understand why a British Prime Minister is not willing to stand up for an international r…
5 Jan 2026 Venezuela
Blithe. I know that the Opposition are blithe about what Trump is doing, but let me say this: there will be countries that will look at Trump’s attitude and carelessness towards issues of sovereignty and think, “What happens if we have…
5 Jan 2026 Venezuela
Nobody in this Chamber wants to defend the regime of Maduro, but what some of us want to do is to stand up for the importance of a rules-based international order. I might add that because my parents were born overseas, I take the question…
2 Dec 2025 Criminal Court Reform
The entire House is concerned about victims, including the victims of attacks on women and girls. However, the entire House is also concerned about the men and women who will undoubtedly suffer miscarriages of justice if the right to trial…
28 Oct 2025 Topical Questions
The Foreign Secretary will be aware that Hurricane Melissa is of huge concern internationally, to those who have friends and family on holiday in Jamaica and to those of us of Jamaican heritage here in Britain. Will she give an assurance t…
23 Oct 2025 Black History Month
The entire House is concerned about the educational outcomes of working-class children in general, but does the Minister accept that if we only ever talk about white working-class children, black parents and black communities may believe t…
23 Oct 2025 Black History Month
I agree with the hon. Member that some of this negativity around race and asylum has always been there. Does she agree that the rise of Reform has emboldened people who always thought like that to speak publicly in that way? Does she also…
23 Oct 2025 Black History Month
A young lady who came to work for me years ago said that she had never seen the word nigger so often in her life, and she did not expect that.
23 Oct 2025 Black History Month
I do agree. We have to be very careful about talking about progress when, as my colleague says, a lot of the debate on race is pursued by using code, but the issue still remains the colour of our skin. The hue and cry about immigration tod…
23 Oct 2025 Black History Month
In this Black History Month, I am sorry to have to say that any objective assessment of the current state of racial justice in this country would not be a wholly positive one. Representation is the great success story. We have to acknowle…
2 Jul 2025 Prevention and Suppression of Terrorism
The Minister will be aware that many of us in this Chamber think that Palestine Action is in a different category from the other two organisations that he is seeking to proscribe. Is he aware that several UN special rapporteurs, including …
Source: contributions on parliament.uk.
Full parliamentary career
Opposition posts
- Shadow Home Secretary · Home Office 6 Oct 2016 – 5 Apr 2020
- Shadow Secretary of State for Health · Department of Health 27 Jun 2016 – 6 Oct 2016
- Shadow Secretary of State for International Development · Department for International Development 14 Sep 2015 – 27 Jun 2016
- Shadow Minister (Public Health) · Department of Health 8 Oct 2010 – 7 Oct 2013
Other posts
- Member, Labour Party National Executive Committee 1 Jan 1994 – 1 Jan 1997
Committee memberships
- Home Affairs Committee 11 May 2020 – 30 May 2024
- Justice Committee 5 Jan 2022 – 29 Nov 2022
- Foreign Affairs Committee 16 Jul 1997 – 11 May 2001
- Treasury Committee 15 Nov 1995 – 21 Mar 1997
Previous seats
- Hackney North and Stoke Newington · Elected 4 times 6 May 2010 – 30 May 2024
- Hackney North and Stoke Newington · Elected 3 times 1 May 1997 – 6 May 2010
- Hackney North and Stoke Newington · Elected 2 times 11 Jun 1987 – 1 May 1997
Party affiliation
- Labour 28 May 2024 – 17 Jul 2025
- Independent 23 Apr 2023 – 28 May 2024
- Labour 11 Jun 1987 – 23 Apr 2023
Expenses
Contact & offices
020 7219 4426
Parliamentary office
House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about Ms Diane Abbott, answered from official Parliament data.
Who is Ms Diane Abbott?
Ms Diane Abbott is a Member of Parliament representing Hackney North and Stoke Newington in the House of Commons. See Ms Diane Abbott's official Parliament profile.
Which party does Ms Diane Abbott represent?
Ms Diane Abbott sits as Independent. See Ms Diane Abbott's official Parliament profile.
Which constituency does Ms Diane Abbott represent?
Ms Diane Abbott is the Member of Parliament for Hackney North and Stoke Newington. See Ms Diane Abbott's official Parliament profile.
How long has Ms Diane Abbott been an MP?
Ms Diane Abbott has served in the House of Commons for 39 years, 1 month. See Ms Diane Abbott's official Parliament profile.
What registered interests are listed for Ms Diane Abbott?
Ms Diane Abbott has 5 entries in the Register of Members' Financial Interests. See Ms Diane Abbott's official Parliament profile.
Source: this MP's official Parliament profile. Last updated 26 Jul 2026.