Jess Phillips Appointed as Minister in Home Office Amidst Labour Reshuffle and Middle East Policy Tensions

Following a resignation from the frontbench due to issues related to the Middle East, Jess Phillips, the MP for Birmingham Yardley, has been appointed to a position within the Home Office, where she will work under Home Secretary Yvette Cooper. Her previous responsibilities included a shadow role focused on domestic violence and safeguarding, from which she resigned last year.

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Tuesday, July 9, 2024, 7:

Jess Phillips has joined the Labour government's ministerial team with a focus on addressing domestic violence and violence against women and girls.

The Labour Member of Parliament is well-known for actively advocating on this issue, and annually reads aloud in parliament the names of all the women in the UK who have been killed by men, as a part of International Women’s Day commemorations.

Ms. Phillips served as the shadow minister for domestic violence and safeguarding from 2020 to 2023 under the leadership of Sir Keir Starmer, but she stepped down in November due to disagreements with the party's policies on the Middle East conflict.

She joined 55 other Labour MPs, among them eight members of the shadow cabinet, in supporting an SNP proposal that demanded an instant ceasefire in the Middle East.

Ms. Phillips had to resign because she went against the Labour party's directive.

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She has been featured on the Sky News podcast Electoral Dysfunction, where she joined political editor Beth Rigby and ex-leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Baroness Ruth Davidson.

Her new position will involve responsibilities akin to those she handled previously.

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Ms. Phillips barely secured her seat in Parliament in the recent general election, seeing her majority drastically reduced from 10,659 to just 693.

In the Birmingham Yardley constituency, Jody McIntyre finished as the runner-up, representing George Galloway's Workers Party of Britain.

After her victory, Ms. Phillips faced jeers from the crowd as she delivered her victory speech.

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In Birmingham and the Midlands, numerous Labour MPs saw significant reductions in their majorities, with some even losing their seats, often to opponents who focused their campaigns on the issues surrounding Gaza.

In the adjacent area of Perry Barr in Birmingham, independent candidate Ayoub Khan defeated Labour incumbent Khalid Mahmood.

Explore further: Academic qualifications of the latest cabinet members. Who makes up Sir Keir Starmer’s team?

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In a surprising electoral outcome, independent candidate Shockat Adam defeated Labour's Jonathan Ashworth in Leicester South, overcoming a previously held majority of 22,675 votes.

Mr. Ashworth has recently taken on the role of leader at the Labour Together thinktank.

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