Jennifer Chapman, Baroness Chapman of Darlington (born 25 September 1973) is a British politician and

life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. Life peers are appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister. With the exception of the D ...

who has served as Minister of State for International Development, Latin America and Caribbean since 2025. She previously served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Latin America and Caribbean from 2024 to 2025. A member of the Labour Party, she served as Member of Parliament (MP) for

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

from 2010 to 2019. Chapman was political secretary to the

Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...

Keir Starmer Sir Keir Rodney Starmer (born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and lawyer who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since 2024 and as Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He previously ...

, from 2020 to 2021. As Shadow Minister of State at the Cabinet Office from 2021 to 2023, she served as a member of the shadow cabinet. She was appointed

Chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

Teesside University Teesside University is a public university with its main campus in Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire in North East England. It was officially opened as ''Constantine Technical College'' in 1930, before becoming a polytechnic in 1969, and finally g ...

in 2023.

Early life and career

Chapman was born in September 1973 in Surrey but moved at a young age to

, where she attended Hummersknott School and Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College. She completed a BSc in psychology at

Brunel University Brunel University of London (BUL) is a public research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It is named after Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a Victorian engineer and pioneer of the Industrial Revolution. It became a university ...

in 1996, and later took an MA in archaeology at

Durham University Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament (UK), Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by r ...

in 2004. She had work placements attached to prison psychology departments whilst studying for her undergraduate degree. Chapman worked as constituency office manager for Darlington Labour MP

Alan Milburn Alan Milburn (born 27 January 1958) is a British politician who was Member of Parliament (MP) for Darlington from 1992 to 2010. A member of the Labour Party, he served for five years in the Cabinet, first as Chief Secretary to the Treasury f ...

. After a career break to have children, she returned to politics at

Darlington Borough Council The Borough of Darlington is a unitary authority area with borough status in County Durham, England. Since 1997 Darlington Borough Council has been a unitary authority; it is independent from Durham County Council. It is named after its largest ...

when she was elected as borough councillor for the Cockerton West ward in 2007.

House of Commons

In November 2009, Chapman was shortlisted as one of four candidates to succeed Milburn as Labour's parliamentary candidate for

on an open shortlist, i.e. not an

all-women shortlist All-women shortlists (AWS) is an affirmative action practice intended to increase the proportion of female Members of Parliament (MPs) in the United Kingdom, allowing only women to stand in particular constituencies for a particular political p ...

. She was selected to stand for parliament by the local constituency party the following month. She was elected Darlington MP in the 2010 general election with a majority of 3,388. As a result of her election victory, she decided to stand down as a councillor. Chapman made her

maiden speech A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament. Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...

in Parliament on 7 June 2010, during which she asked for

social network services A social networking service (SNS), or social networking site, is a type of online social media platform which people use to build social networks or social relationships with other people who share similar personal or career content, interests ...

to be regulated to stop paedophiles. She also backed the

Building Schools for the Future Building Schools for the Future (BSF) was the name given to the British government's investment programme in secondary school buildings in England in the 2000s. Around half of the work was procured under the private finance initiative. The deli ...

programme. During her time as an MP, she served as a vice-chair of

Progress Progress is movement towards a perceived refined, improved, or otherwise desired state. It is central to the philosophy of progressivism, which interprets progress as the set of advancements in technology, science, and social organization effic ...

and campaigned to remain in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

in the 2016 EU membership referendum. In 2011, Chapman was appointed as Shadow Minister for Prisons. She had previously written policy recommendations on the subject of incarceration, including a recommendation that prison officers should receive training to help them rehabilitate inmates. She became Shadow Minister for Childcare and Early Years in January 2016, but resigned in June of the same year among dozens of Labour frontbench colleagues. She supported

Owen Smith Owen Smith (born 2 May 1970) is a British lobbyist and former Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician. Smith was Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Pontypridd (UK Parliament constituency), Pontypridd from 2 ...

in the failed attempt to replace

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 the subsequent leadership election. She later rejoined the Opposition frontbench as Shadow Minister for Exiting the European Union. Chapman was one of the many Labour MPs to be defeated at the 2019 general election, losing her seat to

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Peter Gibson following 27 years of Labour holding the constituency. After losing her seat, she became chair of

's successful campaign in the 2020 Labour Party leadership election and later accepted the role of political secretary to Starmer in his role as Leader of the Labour Party.

House of Lords

In August 2020, ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

'' reported that Chapman was "likely" to be nominated for a peerage by Starmer, and it was announced in December 2020 that she would join the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

as part of the

2020 Political Honours As part of the British honours system, Special Honours are issued at the Monarch's pleasure at any given time. The Special Honours refer to the awards made within royal prerogative, operational honours, political honours and other honours awarded ...

. In February 2021, Chapman was made Baroness Chapman of Darlington, ''of

in the County of Durham'', and made her maiden speech on 22 March 2021. Chapman was removed as Starmer's political director in June 2021, after what ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' referred to as "months of friction" with Labour MPs, and was re-appointed to the frontbench as

Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office The Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office is a position on the Official Opposition frontbench attending the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (United Kingdom) , British Shadow Cabinet, appointed by the Leader of the Opposition. The post involv ...

, shadowing

Lord Frost David George Hamilton Frost, Baron Frost (born 21 February 1965) is a former British diplomat, civil servant and politician who served as a Minister of State at the Cabinet Office between March and December 2021. Frost was Chief Negotiator ...

at Task Force Europe and the

Cabinet Office The Cabinet Office is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for supporting the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister and Cabinet ...

. In February 2022, Chapman won a libel case against ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'' chief political commentator Tim Shipman, resulting in Chapman receiving substantial damages and legal costs. In May 2021, Shipman had posted two tweets on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

, one attributed to an unnamed Labour Party source, that the court determined meant he had falsely suggested Chapman had a "secret adulterous relationship" with Labour leader

. Shipman had deleted one of his tweets soon after, but it had already been extensively republished. In August 2023, Chapman was announced as the new Chancellor of

. She was made Minister of State for International Development, Latin America and Caribbean on 28 February 2025, and appointed to the Privy Council in May that year.

Personal life

She married fellow Labour MP Nick Smith in July 2014.

References

External links

Old website
(archived) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chapman, Jenny 1973 births Living people 21st-century British women politicians 21st-century English politicians 21st-century English women Alumni of Brunel University London Alumni of Durham University Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Labour Party (UK) life peers Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II Life peers created by Elizabeth II People associated with Teesside University People educated at Hummersknott Academy People from Darlington Spouses of British politicians UK MPs 2010–2015 UK MPs 2015–2017 UK MPs 2017–2019 UK MPs who were granted peerages Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom