Jennette Arnold, OBE is a Labour Co-op politician who served as chair of the

London Assembly The London Assembly is a 25-member elected body, part of the Greater London Authority, that scrutinises the activities of the Mayor of London and has the power, with a two-thirds supermajority, to amend the Mayor's annual budget and to reject t ...

for five terms. From 2004 to 2021, Arnold represented the North East constituency, comprising the

London Boroughs The London boroughs are the current 32 local authority districts that together with the City of London make up the administrative area of Greater London, England; each is governed by a London borough council. The present London boroughs wer ...

of Hackney,

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

and

Waltham Forest The London Borough of Waltham Forest () is an outer London borough formed in 1965 from the merger of the municipal boroughs of Leyton, Walthamstow and Chingford. The borough's administrative headquarters are at Waltham Forest Town Hall, wh ...

Background

Born in

Montserrat Montserrat ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, wit ...

, Arnold trained as a

nurse Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

. She then worked as an Industrial Relations Officer and as Regional Director of Services and Special Adviser (Equalities) to the General Secretary of the

Royal College of Nursing The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is a registered trade union and professional body in the United Kingdom for those in the profession of nursing. It was founded in 1916 as the College of Nursing, receiving its royal charter in 1928. Queen Eliz ...

. She then worked as an associate for organisational development consultancy, Beacon Associates. Arnold was elected to

Islington Council Islington London Borough Council, also known as Islington Council, is the local authority for the London Borough of Islington in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London. The council has been under Labour majo ...

in 1998, eventually serving a term as deputy mayor. On the creation of the

Greater London Authority The Greater London Authority (GLA), colloquially known by the Metonymy, metonym City Hall, is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved Regions of England, regional governance body of Greater London, England. It consists of two political ...

in 2000, she was included on Labour's Londonwide list for the

, but missed out on a spot. Following the resignation of David Lammy prompted by his election as a Member of Parliament, Arnold as next in line on Labour's list became a Londonwide member of the Assembly in July 2000. She was subsequently selected as Labour's candidate for the North East constituency and elected in the 2004 Assembly election. Arnold served as Chair of the London Assembly for five terms. She was the London Assembly Labour Group's lead spokesperson on education and Chair of the London Assembly's Education Panel. Arnold previously chaired the Cultural Strategy Group for London, playing a role in bringing the 2012 Olympic and

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disability, disabilities. There are Winter Paralympic Games, Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 ...

to London. She has also sat on the Assembly's Economic and Social Development Committee and served as a member of the

Metropolitan Police Authority The Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) (2000–2012) was the local police authority responsible for scrutinising and supporting the work of the Metropolitan Police Service, the police force for Greater London (excluding the City of London Police ...

. During her time in the Assembly, Arnold campaigned on issues including the provision of education for young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and the improvement of services on the Gospel Oak to Barking line. She also campaigned extensively on the eradication of

Female Genital Mutilation Female genital mutilation (FGM) (also known as female genital cutting, female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) and female circumcision) is the cutting or removal of some or all of the vulva for non-medical reasons. Prevalence of female ge ...

(FGM), often citing witnessing a victim of FGM during her time as a student nurse as what prompted her to take action. In 2007 Arnold was listed by ''

New Nation ''New Nation'' was a weekly newspaper published in the United Kingdom, UK for the Black British community. The newspaper was launched in November 1996 by Richard Adeshiyan, the founding Editor who gave the title its name. the newspaper was Bri ...

'' newspaper as one of Britain's 50 most influential black women. A member of the UK delegation on the European Committee of the Regions, Arnold is currently: a council member of the

Royal Court Theatre The Royal Court Theatre, at different times known as the Court Theatre, the New Chelsea Theatre, and the Belgravia Theatre, is a West End theatre#London's non-commercial theatres, non-commercial theatre in Sloane Square, London, England, opene ...

; a governor of the

Museum of London London Museum (known from 1976 to 2024 as the Museum of London) is a museum in London, covering the history of the city from prehistoric to modern times, with a particular focus on social history. The Museum of London was formed in 1976 by ama ...

; a governor of

Sadler's Wells Theatre Sadler's Wells Theatre is a London performing arts venue, located in Rosebery Avenue, Islington. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site. Sadler's Wells grew out of a late 17th-century pleasure garden and was opened as a theatre buil ...

Foundation, a patron of the Victoria Climbie Foundation, and a former Chair of the Stephen Lawrence Charitable Trust. During the 2015 Labour Party leadership election Arnold endorsed

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North (UK Parliament constituency), Islington North since 1983. Now an Independent ...

. In January 2019 Arnold announced in a statement to the Assembly that she would not be standing in the

2020 London Assembly election The 2021 London Assembly election was held on 6 May 2021 to elect the members of the London Assembly, alongside the 2021 London mayoral election. The mayoral and Assembly elections were originally to be held on 7 May 2020, but on 13 March 2020 ...

. In May 2020, she stepped down as chair and was replaced by

Navin Shah Navin Fakirchand Shah (born September 1946) is a former British Labour Party politician who served as chair of the London Assembly between May 2020 and May 2021, and a Member of the London Assembly for Brent and Harrow from 2008 to 2021. B ...

. However, with the deferral of the election by one year due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, she continued as an AM until the

2021 London Assembly election The 2021 London Assembly election was held on 6 May 2021 to elect the members of the London Assembly, alongside the 2021 London mayoral election. The mayoral and Assembly elections were originally to be held on 7 May 2020, but on 13 March 202 ...

References

External links

Personal website Jennettearnold.com

Biography from the London Assembly
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arnold, Jennette Year of birth missing (living people) Living people British nurses Labour Co-operative Members of the London Assembly Politics of the London Borough of Hackney Montserratian emigrants to the United Kingdom Councillors in the London Borough of Islington British socialist feminists Black British women politicians Officers of the Order of the British Empire Women councillors in England London AMs 2000–2004 London AMs 2004–2008 London AMs 2008–2012 London AMs 2012–2016 London AMs 2016–2021