David Lammy

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Born in Archway, Lammy attended The King's School, Peterborough. He studied law at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London and was called to the bar in 1994. He later studied for a Master of Laws degree at Harvard University, becoming the first black Briton to study at Harvard Law School. In 2000, Lammy briefly served in the London Assembly before being elected to Parliament in the 2000 Tottenham by-election. Tony Blair appointed him Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health in 2002 and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs in 2003. He was promoted to Minister of State for Culture in 2005. In 2007, Gordon Brown appointed him Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills before Lammy served as Minister of State for Higher Education from 2008 to 2010.

Following Labour's defeat in the 2010 general election, Lammy endorsed David Miliband in the 2010 Labour leadership election and subsequently declined to serve in Ed Miliband's Shadow Cabinet. He then spent the next decade on the backbenches, and was a candidate in the 2015 London Labour Party mayoral selection but ultimately finished fourth. Lammy endorsed Keir Starmer in the 2020 Labour leadership election and was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Justice and Shadow Lord Chancellor in Starmer's Shadow Cabinet. In the November 2021 Shadow Cabinet reshuffle, he was promoted to Shadow Foreign Secretary.

Following Labour's victory in the 2024 general election, Lammy returned to government and was appointed foreign secretary by Starmer in his new government. He has supported Ukraine in its war against Russia and Israel in its war in Gaza.

Early life and careerEdit

David Lindon Lammy<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> was born on 19 July 1972 in Whittington Hospital in Archway, north London to Guyanese parents David and Rosalind Lammy.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Times250722">Template:Cite news</ref> He and his four siblings were raised solely by his mother after his father left the family when Lammy was 12 years old. Lammy has spoken about the importance of fathers and the need to support them in seeking to be active in the lives of their children.<ref name="Lammy pp. 315–317">Template:Cite journal</ref> He chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Fatherhood, and has written on the issue.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Lammy grew up in Tottenham, and went to Downhills Primary School.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> At the age of 10, he was awarded an Inner London Education Authority choral scholarship to sing at Peterborough Cathedral and attend The King's School, Peterborough.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Lammy studied at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, graduating with a 2:1 in law.<ref name="Poole">Template:Cite news</ref> He was called to the bar of England and Wales in 1994 at Lincoln's Inn. He went on to study at Harvard University, where he became the first black Briton to attend Harvard Law School; he studied for a Master of Laws degree and graduated in 1997.<ref name="Poole" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

After Harvard, Lammy was employed as an attorney at Howard Rice (now part of Arnold & Porter) in California from 1997 to 1998, and with D. J. Freeman (now part of Troutman Pepper Locke) from 1998 to 2000.<ref name="Times250722" /> He is a visiting professor of practice at SOAS.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="SOAS University of London">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Parliamentary careerEdit

In May 2000, Lammy was elected for Labour on the London-wide list to the London Assembly.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Later in the same month, he was selected as the Labour candidate for the parliamentary constituency of Tottenham, following the recent death of the veteran member of parliament (MP), Bernie Grant.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Lammy was elected to the seat in a by-election held on 22 June 2000 with 53.5% of the vote and a majority of 5,646.<ref name="Demon">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Aged 27, he was the youngest MP in the house at the time.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Lammy was re-elected as MP for Tottenham at the 2001 general election with an increased vote share of 67.5% and an increased majority of 16,916.<ref name="electoralcalculus2001">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

MinisterEdit

File:David Lammy 2002.jpg

Official portrait, 2002

In 2002, he was appointed by Prime Minister Tony Blair as Parliamentary under-secretary of state in the Department of health.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2003, Lammy was appointed by Blair as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department for Constitutional Affairs<ref name="Parliamentary career">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and while a member of the Government, voted in favour of authorisation for Britain to invade Iraq in 2003.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

At the 2005 general election, Lammy was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 57.9% and a decreased majority of 13,034.<ref name="electoralcalculus2005">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> After the election, Blair appointed Lammy as Minister for Culture at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.<ref name="Parliamentary career" />

In June 2007, new prime minister Gordon Brown demoted Lammy to the rank of Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills. In October 2008, he was promoted by Brown to Minister of State and appointed to the Privy Council. In June 2009, Brown appointed Lammy as Minister for Higher Education in the new Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, leading the Commons ministerial team as Lord Mandelson was Secretary of State.<ref name="Parliamentary career" />

Opposition backbencherEdit

At the 2010 general election, Lammy was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 59.3% and an increased majority of 16,931.<ref name=electoralcalculus2010>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> After Labour lost the election, Lammy returned to the backbenches, and a Labour Party leadership contest was announced. During the contest Lammy nominated Diane Abbott, saying that he felt it was important to have a diverse field of candidates, but subsequently declared his support for David Miliband. Following the election of Ed Miliband, Lammy pledged his full support but turned down a post in the Shadow cabinet, highlighting the need to speak on a wide range of issues that would arise in his constituency due to "large cuts in the public services".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2012, Lammy pledged his support to Ken Livingstone's bid to become the Labour London mayoral candidate in the 2012 London mayoral election, declaring him "London's Mayor in waiting".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Lammy became Livingstone's selection campaign chair. In 2014, Lammy announced that he was considering entering the race to become Mayor of London in the 2016 election.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Lammy was again re-elected at the 2015 general election with an increased vote share of 67.3% and an increased majority of 23,564.<ref name="electoralcalculus2015">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Following the party's defeat, Lammy was one of 36 Labour MPs to nominate Jeremy Corbyn, whom he is good friends with, as a candidate in the Labour leadership election of 2015.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Aitkenhead">Template:Cite news</ref>

London mayoral candidateEdit

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On 4 September 2014, Lammy announced his intention to seek the Labour nomination for the 2016 mayoral election.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In the London Labour Party's selection process, he secured 9.4% of first preference votes and was fourth overall, behind Sadiq Khan, Tessa Jowell and Diane Abbott.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In March 2016, he was fined £5,000 for instigating 35,629 automatic phone calls urging people to back his mayoral campaign without gaining permission to contact the party members concerned. Lammy apologised "unreservedly" for breach of the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It was the first time a politician had been fined for authorising nuisance calls.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Return to the frontbenchEdit

At the snap 2017 general election, Lammy was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 81.6% and an increased majority of 34,584.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> At the 2019 general election, Lammy was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 76% and a decreased majority of 30,175.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Lammy endorsed Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner in the 2020 Labour leadership and deputy leadership elections.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite tweet</ref> After Starmer was elected Labour leader in April 2020, Lammy was appointed to the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Justice.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In the November 2021 Shadow Cabinet reshuffle, Lammy was promoted to Shadow Foreign Secretary.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

On 7 February 2022, while Lammy and Starmer were leaving Parliament, they were ambushed by a group of people who shouted abuse at Starmer including the words "traitor" and "Jimmy Savile". This followed Boris Johnson falsely blaming Starmer for the non-prosecution of Savile when Starmer was Director of Public Prosecutions in the Crown Prosecution Service. Starmer was DPP in the years immediately prior to Savile's death but there is no evidence he was involved in the decision to not have him prosecuted.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Two people, a man and a woman, were arrested after a traffic cone was thrown at police officers. Johnson tweeted that it was "absolutely disgraceful" and thanked the police for acting swiftly.<ref name="two-arrested2">Template:Cite news</ref> Shayan Sardarizadeh for BBC Monitoring said that the protest was an attempt to recreate the Ottawa "freedom convoy" protests in the UK, and noted that the activists' references to Magna Carta indicated that the protesters were members of the sovereign citizen movement.<ref name="two-arrested2" /> Julian Smith, the former chief whip, and Simon Hoare were among Conservatives who called for Johnson to apologise. MP Kim Leadbeater and Brendan Cox, the sister and husband of murdered MP Jo Cox, warned against politicians lending credence to far-right conspiracy theories.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The following day, a Downing Street source said that Johnson still would not apologise for the slur against Starmer.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Following the incident when activists forced police to protect Lammy and Starmer extremists issued multiple death threats against Starmer and other Labour MPs. The Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) sent material to the Metropolitan Police. Imran Ahmed of the CCDH stated, "Every time a violent extremist makes a threat of violence and gets away with it, the norms of those groups worsen, and others are driven to newer depths of behaviour."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In August 2022, an inquiry found that he had inadvertently breached the MPs' code of conduct. He apologised in a letter to Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Kathryn Stone.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On 19 November 2023, Lammy visited Israel and had a meeting with Israeli president Isaac Herzog and Foreign Minister Eli Cohen.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> That month, Lammy said an Israeli strike on a refugee camp could be "legally justified".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In January 2024, as he was giving a speech, he was interrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In January 2023, Lammy visited Northern Ireland with Shadow Secretary Peter Kyle and Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Jenny Chapman, visiting Foyle Port to make a statement on the Northern Ireland Protocol.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

At the 2024 general election, Lammy was again re-elected with a decreased vote share of 57.5% and a decreased majority of 15,434.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Foreign SecretaryEdit

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File:David Lammy with Keir Starmer.jpg

Lammy appointed as foreign secretary by Keir Starmer, 5 July 2024

Lammy was appointed foreign secretary by Starmer in his ministry on 5 July 2024.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He took his first international trip as foreign secretary<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="EU security pact">Template:Cite news</ref> meeting his counterparts in Poland (Radosław Sikorski),<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Germany (Annalena Baerbock)<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Sweden (Tobias Billström).<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> These meetings involved matters including the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Gaza war.<ref name="reset ties">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web

}}</ref> Lammy stated that the UK government wanted to "reset" its relations with the European Union,<ref name="EU security pact" /><ref name="reset ties" /> with their plans including a new joint security pact covering defence, energy policies, the climate crisis, pandemic prevention and illegal immigration.<ref name="EU security pact" />

File:Foreign Secretary David Lammy visits Israel (53855577622).jpg

Lammy with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, 14 July 2024

On 13 July 2024 Lammy condemned the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in Pennsylvania.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Lammy had previously been critical of Donald Trump, calling him "a tyrant" and "a woman-hating, neo-Nazi-sympathising sociopath" in 2018. Following Trump's victory in the 2024 United States presidential election, Lammy dismissed past criticism of Trump as "old news".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

File:Foreign Secretary David Lammy and Defence Secretary John Healey meet the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar, HE Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani in Doha (53893047631).jpg

Lammy with Qatar's prime minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani in Doha, Qatar, 31 July 2024

On 14 July 2024, Lammy visited Israel and met with the families of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He called for a ceasefire in Gaza that would be conditional on the release of all hostages.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> After receiving assurances of its neutrality, Lammy announced the resumption of British funding to the UNRWA, stating that the humanitarian situation in Gaza was "desperate" and "no other agency" could deliver aid on the scale needed.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Lammy promised to review the UK's relationship with China.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In August 2024, he refused to label China's persecution of the Uyghur ethnic minority as "genocide".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On 14 August 2024, he met Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud in London to discuss the growing UK–Saudi partnership. Lammy wrote on X: "We'll work together on shared defence, economic & security interests, including pressing for de-escalation in the region and a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Lammy visited the Norwegian Joint Headquarters in Bodø together with his Norwegian counterpart, Espen Barth Eide, to discuss deepening defence and security ties with the country and tackling threats from Russia.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

On 19 September 2024, Lammy sparked a diplomatic row with Armenia because of a reference to Nagorno Kharabakh conflict in his blog post.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> His remarks were described as "callous", as he referred to what has been described as ethnic cleansing of the indigenous Christian population of the region as "liberation",<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and "ignorant" because of parallels he drew between Azerbaijan (a dictatorship in allied relations with Russia) and Ukraine, which is fighting against Russia.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

File:Foreign Secretary David Lammy visits Indonesia (54080643735).jpg

Lammy with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto in Jakarta, Indonesia, 20 October 2024

Following the UK's decision to relinquish control of the Chagos Islands, Lammy asserted that this didn't signal a shift in the government's position on other overseas territories. He furthermore stated that the status of the Falkland Islands and Gibraltar were "non-negotiable".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In November 2024, following the issuance by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on an arrest warrant against Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged war crimes in Gaza, Lammy clarified that he considered there to be no discretion for him but to implement the warrant. His position contrasted with France's view that Netanyahu benefited from immunity from the ICC.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On 9 March 2025, Lammy condemned the massacres of Syrian minorities committed by pro-government fighters during clashes in western Syria, saying that the Syrian transitional government "must ensure the protection of all Syrians and set out a clear path to transitional justice."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On 17 March 2025, in response to questions asked of him in the House of Commons, Lammy twice stated that Israel's 16-day blockade of humanitarian supplies into Gaza was a "breach" of international law. This was the first time that a member of the UK Government had stated that Israel was in breach of international law.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> However, Keir Starmer's office publicly rejected Lammy's statement that Israel had broken international law by blocking Gaza. Starmer's office stated that it was up to the Foreign Office to decide whether Lammy should apologise for his criticism of Israel.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On 18 March 2025, Lammy told Bloomberg it was a "matter for the court" to decide if Israel had breached international law.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Political viewsEdit

CrimeEdit

Lammy has talked about black and minority ethnic people, in particular younger people, with regards to their relation with crime and how they are treated by the criminal justice system.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

On 11 August 2011, in an address to Parliament, Lammy attributed part of the cause for England's riots of a few days earlier to destructive "cultures" that had emerged under the prevailing policies.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He also stated that legislation restricting the degree of violence that parents are allowed to use when disciplining their children was partly to blame for current youth culture, that had contributed to the riots.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In September 2017 Lammy stated that the criminal justice system deals with "disproportionate numbers" of young people from black and ethnic minority communities: despite saying that although decisions to charge were "broadly proportionate", he asserted that black and ethnic minority people still face and perceive bias.<ref>"Bias against ethnic minorities 'needs to be tackled' in justice system", BBC, 8 September 2017.</ref> Lammy said that young black people are nine times more likely to be incarcerated than "comparable" white people, and proposed a number of measures including a system of "deferred prosecution" for young first time offenders to reduce incarcerations.<ref>Bowcott, Owen, and Vikram Dodd (8 September 2017), "Exposed: 'racial bias' in British criminal justice system", The Guardian.</ref> Lammy has claimed that black and ethnic minority people offend "at the same rates" as comparable white people "when taking age and socioeconomic status into account"; however, they were more likely to be stopped and searched, if charged, more likely to be convicted, more likely to be sent to prison and less likely to get support in prison.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

In 2018, Lammy blamed the then-Prime Minister Theresa May, Home Secretary Amber Rudd, and London Mayor Sadiq Khan for failing to take responsibility over fatal stabbings in London.<ref name="Aitkenhead" /> He also criticised inequality, high youth unemployment among black males, and local authorities cutting youth services and outreach programmes.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Issues of race, prejudice and equalityEdit

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Lammy at the Keskidee Centre in Islington, 2011

Lammy has commented on Britain's history of slavery.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He has also criticised the University of Oxford for admitting relatively few black students and students from disadvantaged backgrounds.<ref>Adams, Richard, and Helena Bengtsson (19 October 2017), "Oxford accused of 'social apartheid' as colleges admit no black students", The Guardian.</ref> He believes the Windrush scandal concerns injustice to a generation who are British, have made their homes and worked in Britain and deserve to be treated better.<ref>Lammy, David (30 April 2018), "Don't let Rudd's departure distract from a toxic policy that needs to die", The Guardian.</ref>

On 5 February 2013, Lammy gave a speech in the House of Commons on why he would be voting in favour of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill, critically comparing the relegation of British same-sex couples to civil partnerships to the "separate but equal" legal doctrine that justified Jim Crow laws in the 20th-century United States.<ref name="AdvocateSSM">Template:Cite news</ref>

In January 2016, Lammy was commissioned by then-Prime Minister David Cameron to report on the effects of racial discrimination and disadvantage on the procedures of the police, courts, prisons and the probation service. Lammy published his report in September 2017, concluding that prosecutions against some BAME suspects should be delayed or dropped outright to mitigate racial bias.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In the same month, Lammy said one million Indians sacrificed their lives during the Second World War for the "European Project"; the statement was criticised by The Spectator.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

He has spoken out against antisemitism within the Labour Party, and attended an Enough is Enough rally. At the rally, Lammy stated that antisemitism has "come back because extremism has come back" and is damaging support for Labour among Britain's Jewish community.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In January 2019, Lammy described Rod Liddle having a column in a weekly newspaper as a "national disgrace" and accused Liddle of having "white middle class privilege" for expressing the view that absent fathers played a role in violent crime involving black youths.<ref>Template:Cite tweet</ref> Writing in an article for The Spectator, Liddle disputed Lammy's claim that he was raised in a family reliant on tax credits, which were not introduced in the United Kingdom until Lammy was aged 31.<ref name="Liddle Mastermind">Template:Cite news</ref> Lammy made the same argument – that absent fathers are a 'key cause of knife crime' – in 2012.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Lammy recorded a Channel 4 documentary for Remembrance Sunday called The Unremembered: Britain's Forgotten War Heroes, which was broadcast on 10 November 2019. In it he reveals how Africans who died in their own continent serving Britain during WWI were denied the honour of an individual grave, despite the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's reputation for equality.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The documentary was produced by Professor David Olusoga's production company; Olusoga described the failure to commemorate black and Asian soldiers as one of the "biggest scandals" he had ever come across.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The documentary inspired an investigation by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.<ref name="BBC: PM 'deeply troubled' over racism">Template:Cite news</ref> The subsequent report found that "pervasive racism" underpinned the failure to properly commemorate service personnel. The report stated that up to 54,000 casualties of "certain ethnic groups" did not receive the same remembrance treatment as white soldiers who had died and another 350,000 military personnel recruited from east Africa and Egypt were not commemorated by name or even at all.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In April 2021, Prime Minister Boris Johnson offered an "unreserved apology" over the findings of the review.<ref name="BBC: PM 'deeply troubled' over racism" /> Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace apologised in the House of Commons, promising to make amends and take action.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Lammy, who was critical to bringing the matter to light, called this a "watershed moment".<ref name="BBC: PM 'deeply troubled' over racism" />

Home Office securityEdit

In October 2022, Lammy called for a full investigation into an alleged security breach by Suella Braverman. Lammy said: "The home secretary is the most serious job you could have in our state. This is a person who makes judgements about terrorism and counter-terrorism, who makes judgements about very, very serious offenders, whether they should be allowed out of prison, and for that reason, it's someone who, I'm afraid, judgement is critically important. I'm afraid this is a lapse of judgement that, quite rightly, she was sacked for. The question is, why was she brought back?"<ref>Labour puts pressure on Rishi Sunak to 'come clean over Suella Braverman reappointment' Sky News. 30 October 2022</ref>

Foreign policyEdit

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Lammy with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on 10 July 2024

File:Foreign Secretary David Lammy visits China (54076082396).jpg

Lammy with Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi in Beijing, 18 October 2024

Lammy is an advocate of British membership of the European Union. On 23 June 2018, he appeared at the People's Vote march in London to mark the second anniversary of the referendum to leave the European Union. The People's Vote was a campaign group calling for a public vote on the final Brexit deal between the UK and the European Union.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On 30 December 2020, he voted for the Brexit deal negotiated by Boris Johnson's Government.

In 2017, Lammy said the Rohingya people in Myanmar "are facing genocide".<ref name="The National-genocide"/> In December 2021, he described the persecution of Uyghurs in China as "genocide".<ref name="The National-genocide"/>

In April 2019, Lammy was criticised for saying his comparison of the European Research Group (which consists of Conservative MPs) to Nazis and proponents of the South African apartheid was "not strong enough".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In late 2023, following an IDF bombing of the Jabalia refugee camp, Lammy commented that the strike was wrong "when it comes to the ethics," but also that "if there is a military objective it can be legally justifiable". The comments were criticised by the Muslim Association of Britain as shameful and morally depraved.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Lammy is a supporter of Israel. In September 2024, he described himself as a "liberal, progressive Zionist".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He opposes a full arms embargo on Israel.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On October 8th, 2023, he signed a letter, alongside over 300 other MPs, condemning Hamas' attack the previous day as 'unprovoked'.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In October 2024, Lammy stated that describing Israel's actions in Gaza as a genocide "undermines the seriousness of that term", leading MP Chris Law to state the comment revealed Lammy's "blatant contempt for the fundamental rights and the very lives of Palestinians."<ref name="The National-genocide">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Lammy would go on to condemn Israel's 'seige' of Gaza, describing it as 'abhorrent' and 'extremist' in May 2025.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> However, he is yet to refer to Israel's actions as a genocide.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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Lammy with Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud in Riyadh, 12 January 2025

Lammy has stressed wanting to maintain a strong relationship with the United States. On a trip to Washington D.C. in May 2024, Lammy spoke at the Hudson Institute where he described himself as a "good Christian" and "small-c conservative" who had common cause with the U.S. Republican Party.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Lammy wrote in a Substack post in September 2024 that "Azerbaijan has been able to liberate territory it lost in the early 1990s" in reference to the 2023 Azerbaijani offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh, which resulted in the exodus of the Armenian population.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The Foreign Office clarified that his comment did not mark a change in the UK government's stance on Nagorno-Karabakh, but Armenia asked for further clarification.<ref name="ftArmAz">Template:Cite news</ref> Lammy description of the event was widely criticized.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Conservative MP Alicia Kearns said Lammy's comments are “totally inappropriate and throws into question the foreign secretary's judgment”.<ref name="ftArmAz"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} and {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> US congressman Brad Sherman said the remarks were “a stain on UK foreign policy” and accused Lammy of having “endorsed ethnic cleansing”.<ref name="ftArmAz"/><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Laurence Broers, a scholar of the Caucasus, called Lammy's remarks "poorly informed" as Azerbaijan, in addition to recovering territory, "enacted a sustained campaign aimed at cleansing the territory of its ethnic Armenian population—and succeeded."<ref name="mirrorspectator">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Elin Suleymanov, Azerbaijan's ambassador to the UK, said Lammy's remarks are "absolutely true".<ref name="ftArmAz"/>

Other viewsEdit

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Lammy speaking at an anti-Brexit rally in Parliament Square on 25 March 2017

In Lammy's book, Out of the Ashes, Lammy stated in reference to the 2011 England riots that, "If parents were allowed to hit their children, the riots wouldn't have happened" and has said the ban on smacking children should be overturned.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Lammy described the Grenfell Tower fire as "corporate manslaughter" and called for arrests to be made;<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> his friend Khadija Saye died in the fire.<ref name="HP_Saye">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He also criticised the authorities for failing to say how many people had died.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Reacting to the first official estimate of deaths, he said on 2 July 2017 "We know that 80 people have lost their lives but the view amongst the victims – I spoke to them yesterday – is that many more lost their lives." The official death toll for the fire is 72. He has written about what he believes to be the shortcomings of the housing market.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Lammy supports shared parental leave, which he maintains would "normalise" fathers being an equal parent with the mother, and would mean they become more involved in the raising of children, arguing that the barriers to "fathers playing a deeper role in family life" are not just legislative, but also cultural. He points out Scandinavian countries such as Sweden as examples of where governments have successfully made this happen, which he states has also helped increase gender equality.<ref name="Lammy pp. 315–317" /><ref name="Lammy 2017">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Lammy has called former Conservative Party Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher a "visionary leader for the UK" and that, "You can take issue with Mrs Thatcher's prescription, but she had a big manifesto for change and set about a course that lasted for over two decades".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Comic ReliefEdit

In 2017, writing in The Guardian, Lammy argued that Comic Relief perpetuated problematic stereotypes of Africa, and that they had a responsibility to use its powerful position to move the debate on in a more constructive way by establishing an image of African people as equals.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> His comments came after a video featuring Ed Sheeran meeting and rescuing a child in Liberia was criticised as "poverty porn" and was given the "Rusty Radiator" award for the "most offensive and stereotypical fundraising video of the year".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2018, in response to Lammy's comments and the backlash to Sheeran's video, Comic Relief announced they would take steps towards change by halting their use of celebrities for appeals.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In February 2019, Lammy criticised Stacey Dooley for photographs she posted on social media of her trip to Uganda for Comic Relief, and said that "the world does not need any more white saviours", and that she was "perpetuating 'tired and unhelpful stereotypes' about Africa".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He also stated however, that he does not question her "good motives".<ref name="Simons 2019">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The donations received for the Red Nose Day broadcast in March 2019 fell by £8 million and the money raised that year was the lowest since 2007, which some have blamed on Lammy's remarks. Critics of his view included Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and Conservative Party MP Chris Philp.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Lammy responded to criticism with a statement in which he referred to the decline in donations being due to contributing factors of austerity, declining viewing figures, trends in the charity sector and format fatigue and that he hoped his comments "would inspire the charity to refresh its image and think harder about the effects its output has on our perceptions of Africa".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Following this, in October 2020, Comic Relief announced it would stop sending celebrities to Africa for its fundraising films.<ref name="Waterson 2020">Template:Cite news</ref> They stated that they would no longer send celebrities to Africa nor portray Africa with images of starving people or critically ill children,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> instead, they would be using local filmmakers to provide a more "authentic" perspective and give agency back to African people.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Personal lifeEdit

Lammy married the artist Nicola Green, daughter of Sir Malcolm Green, in 2005;<ref name="Times250722" /> the couple have two sons and a daughter.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Lammy is an Anglican and is part of the liberal Anglo-Catholic tradition in the Church of England.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="Thornton 2020">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> His wife, of Ashkenazi Jewish, Russian Orthodox and Anglican heritage, explored atheism and then other religions before returning to her Anglican faith; the couple married under CofE aegis, with Archbishop Desmond Tutu sending a prayer to be read at the wedding.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

He is a Tottenham Hotspur F.C. fan.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

He holds dual citizenship in the United Kingdom and Guyana.<ref name="Guyanese Roots" /><ref name="Thornton 2020" /><ref name="Don't tell me I'm not">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> His great-grandmother was Indian, from Calcutta, who moved to Guyana as a labourer as part of the Indian indenture system.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Lammy features as one of the 100 Great Black Britons on both the 2003 and 2020 lists.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He has regularly been included in the Powerlist as one of the most influential people in the UK of African/African-Caribbean descent, including the most recent editions published in 2020 and 2021.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In 2009 Lammy took part in the BBC television quiz show Celebrity Mastermind, scoring a low 13 points. Among his incorrect answers were saying that Henry VIII was succeeded by Henry VII; that the surname of Marie and Pierre, Nobel prizewinners for research into radiation, was Antoinette, not Curie; and that Versailles was a French state prison.<ref name="Independent Mastermind">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Liddle Mastermind"/>

In November 2011, he published a book, Out of the Ashes: Britain After the Riots, about the 2011 England riots.<ref name="newstatesman">Template:Cite news</ref> In 2020, he published his second book, Tribes, which explored social division and the need for belonging.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Lammy was a stand-in presenter on LBC and hosted a weekly Sunday show, from 10 am to 1 pm, between 2022 and April 2024.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

During the 2019–2024 parliament, Lammy received the highest income on top of his MP's salary among Labour Party MPs.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

HonoursEdit

He was sworn in as a member of the Privy Council in 2008. This gave him the honorific prefix "The Right Honourable" for life.
He has been elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts; this gave him the Post Nominal Letters "FRSA" for as long as he remains a Fellow.

ReferencesEdit

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External linksEdit

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David Lammy MP – Westminster Parliamentary Research
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