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Rachael Helen Maskell (born 5 July 1972) is a British
Labour and Co-operative Labour and Co-operative Party (often abbreviated to Labour Co-op; ) is a description used by candidates in United Kingdom elections who stand on behalf of both the Labour Party and the Co-operative Party. Candidates contest elections under an e ...
politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for York Central since
2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
. She was Shadow Environment Secretary from 2016 to 2017 and Shadow Employment Secretary in 2020.


Early life and career

Rachael Maskell was born in
Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...
, and was brought up in Highcliffe-on-Sea. She was influenced to take an interest in politics by her uncle Terence Morris, a close associate of
Louis Blom-Cooper Sir Louis Jacques Blom-Cooper (27 March 1926 – 19 September 2018) was an English author and lawyer specialising in public and administrative law. Early life Born in London, his parents were the grocer Alfred Blom-Cooper and Ellen Flesseman. ...
, who was a professor of criminology and criminal justice at the
London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...
. Morris had campaigned for the abolition of the
death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...
, in addition to serving as an advisor to the Wilson government and as an academic. Maskell graduated from the
University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...
with a degree in
physiotherapy Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is a healthcare profession, as well as the care provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through patient education, physical intervention, disease preventio ...
in 1994. She worked as a care-worker and physiotherapist in the
National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...
for 20 years in
Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...
and the
London Borough of Barnet The London Borough of Barnet () is a suburban London boroughs, London borough in north London, England. Forming part of Outer London, the borough was formed in 1965 from parts of the ceremonial counties of Middlesex and Hertfordshire. It is the ...
. Maskell has also been a trade-union official. In
2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...
, Maskell stood as a Labour candidate for the Blackheath ward in
Lewisham Lewisham ( ) is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in ...
, south east London, but was unsuccessful.


Parliamentary career


1st term (2015–2017)

At the 2015 general election, Maskell was elected to Parliament as MP for York Central with 42.4% of the vote and a majority of 6,716. Maskell used 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 ...
to advocate for a new mental health hospital in York to replace the ageing Bootham Park. Speaking of the vision of " helate member for
Ebbw Vale Ebbw Vale (; ) is a town at the head of the valley formed by the Ebbw Fawr tributary of the Ebbw River in Wales. It is the largest town and the administrative centre of Blaenau Gwent county borough. The Ebbw Vale and Brynmawr conurbation has a ...
"
Aneurin Bevan Aneurin "Nye" Bevan Privy Council (United Kingdom), PC (; 15 November 1897 – 6 July 1960) was a Welsh Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician, noted for spearheading the creation of the British National Health Service during his t ...
, she said that "the growing social and financial inequalities manifest themselves in health inequality, and access to vital services is delayed and even denied as a direct result of the £3 billion structural reorganisation that the previous Government introduced." On Wednesday 8 July 2015, Maskell was one of four Labour MPs elected to the
Health Select Committee The Health and Social Care Select Committee (abbreviated to HSC, HSCC and HSCSC) is a Departmental Select Committee of the British House of Commons, the lower house of the United Kingdom Parliament. Its remit is to examine the policy, administ ...
. On 20 July 2015 Maskell voted against the Welfare Bill in the House of Commons. She made a statement saying "I have a duty to protect our vulnerable people. I could not stand by and let the most vicious Tory attacks on some of the poorest in our city go unchallenged." In September 2015, during the European refugee crisis, Maskell called on the UK to open its doors to refugees. Speaking as 20,000 refugees arrived in Munich in one weekend, and as the German Government received 800,000 refugees in 2015, Maskell said that the UK Government must do more. She questioned
David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...
in the House of Commons asking "what criteria has the Prime Minister used to arrive at a figure of just six refugees per constituency per year?" In a statement on the crisis, she urged local authorities to help in every way they could and to use every space they had to offer to aid people fleeing war in Syria and Northern Iraq, she said "we are in the midst of a humanitarian crisis that is getting worse, I am incensed that Turkey is hosting over one and a half million refugees and our government says we will open our borders to no more than six men, women and children a year in each constituency." Maskell spoke in the Trade-Union Bill 2nd Reading debate on 14 September 2015. She referred the house to her Register of Interests as a member of
Unite the Union Unite the Union, commonly known as Unite, is a trade union in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland, formed on 1 May 2007 by the merger of Amicus (trade union), Amicus and the Transport and General Workers' Union. A general union ...
and declared "I am a proud trade-unionist" – she subsequently voted against the Bill. Following a period working part of the Shadow Defence Team under Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
Maria Eagle Maria Eagle (born 17 February 1961) is a British Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Liverpool Garston, previously Garston and Halewood, since 1997 Unit ...
, Maskell was appointed Shadow Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Secretary as part of the Labour Party's post-
Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...
reshuffle. Maskell resigned from her position ahead of the vote on the second reading in the House of Commons European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill 2017 triggering Article 50, which carried a three-line whip imposed on Labour MPs.


2nd term (2017–2019)

Maskell was re-elected as MP for York Central at the snap 2017 general election with an increased vote share of 65.2% and an increased majority of 18,575. She returned to the Labour front bench on 3 July 2017 as Shadow Rail Minister. On 5 March 2019, Maskell joined a dozen other Labour MPs on
Westminster Bridge Westminster Bridge is a road-and-foot-traffic bridge crossing over the River Thames in London, linking Westminster on the west side and Lambeth on the east side. The bridge is painted predominantly green, the same colour as the leather seats ...
, next to the
Houses of Parliament The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative ch ...
, in a protest against
Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...
under the banner 'Love Socialism Hate Brexit'. She was one of five Labour MPs to vote against the extension of abortion rights to Northern Ireland. During votes on the same bill, she also abstained on extending same-sex marriage to Northern Ireland.


3rd term (2019–2024)

At the 2019 general election, Maskell was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 55.2% and a decreased majority of 13,545. Maskell endorsed Clive Lewis in the 2020 Labour Party leadership election. In January 2020, Maskell was returned to the Shadow Cabinet as
Shadow Secretary of State for Employment Rights A shadow is a dark area on a surface where light from a light source is blocked by an object. In contrast, shade occupies the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross-section of a shadow is a two-dimensional ...
, replacing Laura Pidcock, who lost her seat in the 2019 general election. On 14 December 2021, Maskell resigned from her frontbench role in order to defy the party whip by voting against mandatory
COVID-19 vaccinations A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19, COVID19). Knowledge about the structure ...
for
NHS The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern ...
staff. She also voted in line with the party whip by voting in favour of
COVID-19 vaccine passports A vaccine passport or proof of vaccination is an immunity passport employed as a credential in countries and jurisdictions as part of efforts to control the COVID-19 pandemic via vaccination. A vaccine passport is typically issued by a govern ...
and an expansion of mask mandates. On 22 June 2022, Maskell was the only Labour MP to vote against extension of abortion services in Northern Ireland. In 2023 Maskell suggested that English local councils should introduce maximum speed limits of 10mph in residential areas.


4th term (2024–)

At the 2024 general election, Maskell was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 56.6% and an increased majority of 19,154. Maskell, in her capacity as Chair of the Dying Well APPG, became the leading voice against Kim Leadbeater's proposed assisted dying bill. She opposes her party's decision to introduce VAT on
private school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...
fees, believing that the policy will affect children with special needs. On 5 November 2024, Maskell tabled an
Early day motion In the Westminster parliamentary system, an early day motion (EDM) is a motion, expressed as a single sentence, tabled by a member of Parliament, which the Government (in charge of parliamentary business) has not yet scheduled for debate. Hi ...
calling for the introduction of a 'Gaza Family Visa Scheme' based on the Ukraine Family Scheme, which would allow those affected by the
Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...
to seek refuge in the UK.


Personal life

Maskell is a keen cyclist and rode the trip to the 2015 Labour Party Conference in
Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...
from Parliament in aid of the British Heart Foundation. She is an evangelical Christian.


References


External links

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Maskell, Rachael 1972 births Living people Politicians from Winchester 21st-century British women politicians Alumni of the University of East Anglia Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Labour Co-operative MPs for English constituencies Politics of York UK MPs 2015–2017 UK MPs 2017–2019 UK MPs 2019–2024 UK MPs 2024–present British physiotherapists Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East Socialist Campaign Group English Christians