Jennie Formby

Former General Secretary of the Labour Party

Jennie Formby

Formby in 2016

General Secretary of the Labour Party
In office
3 April 2018 – 26 May 2020
Leader| Jeremy Corbyn
Keir Starmer
Preceded by| Iain McNicol
Succeeded by| David Evans
Personal details
Born|

Jennifer Sandle

(1960-04-12) 12 April 1960 (age 64)
London, England
Political party| Independent
Other political
affiliations| Labour (until 2024)
Spouse|

Freddie Formby

(m. 2000)​

Children| 3
Education| Bath High School for Girls
St Helen and St Katharine

Jennifer Formby (née Sandle; born 12 April 1960) is a British trade unionist and political figure who served as General Secretary of the Labour Party from 2018 to 2020. She was previously political director and south-east England regional secretary for Unite the Union.

## Early life

[edit]

Born Jennifer Sandle in London, her father served in the Royal Navy in Korea, Suez and Lebanon. She grew up with an older brother and sister in Malta, Bath and Salisbury. She went to Bath High School for Girls then St Helen and St Katharine boarding school in Abingdon, paid for by the Royal Navy from the age of 14. Formby left school with 10 O levels and 3 A levels, but chose not to go to university.[1][2]

## Trade unionism

[edit]

Formby became a trade unionist when she began her working life in Salisbury at the bookmakers William Hill in the late 1970s, and became a branch secretary in Unite's predecessor, the Transport and General Workers' Union.[3][4] She later worked for BOC in Southampton, where she became a union shop steward.[1][3]

Formby became a Transport and General Workers' Union regional officer in 1988.[3] She represented a Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust nurse in a ground-breaking employment tribunal case in 2004, where the black nurse suffered racial discrimination by being banned from caring for a white baby.[1][5] Formby became the union's national officer for the food, drink and tobacco sector in 2004.[6] In 2013, she was appointed Unite's political director.[7] In March 2016, Formby moved to the post of regional secretary in south-east England.[8]

## Politics

[edit]

Since late 2011, Formby had been a member of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Labour Party.[9]

In February 2018, Formby announced she was a candidate to become General Secretary of the Labour Party, shortly after the incumbent, Iain McNicol, resigned.[10] Her main rival, Jon Lansman, the chair of Momentum, dropped out of contention on 11 March, making Formby the frontrunner.[11]

On 20 March 2018, she was appointed to the role, effective from April 2018.[12][13]

She resigned on 4 May 2020, a month following the election of Keir Starmer as new Labour leader, saying "now we have a new leadership team it is the right time to step down".[14] She was succeeded by David Evans.

In June 2024, Formby publicly stated that she will be voting for the Green Party in the 2024 UK general election.[15]

## Personal life

[edit]

Formby and Len McCluskey had a child in 1991.[16] She married Freddie Formby in 2000 and the couple had two children together and adopted a third.[2][17]

In March 2019, Formby announced that she was to undergo treatment for breast cancer.[18]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c Waugh, Paul (20 March 2018). "Corbyn Ally Jennie Formby Appointed As Labour's New General Secretary". HuffPost. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
2. ^ a b Watson, Iain (20 March 2018). "Jennie Formby: Labour's new general secretary". BBC News. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
3. ^ a b c "Jennie Formby named as Labour's new general secretary". BBC News. 20 March 2018. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
4. ^ Formby, Jenniwe (8 March 2018). "We must do better for women". Labour List. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
5. ^ "Nurse wins £20,000 in race case". The Guardian. Press Association. 18 May 2004. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
6. ^ "Jennie Formby". LinkedIn. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
7. ^ Watts, Joseph (4 March 2016). "Len McCluskey's ex-lover Jennie Formby 'in talks on Labour safe seat'". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
8. ^ McSmith, Andy (10 March 2016). "Jennie Formby: Unite political director to take up new job within union after being involved in series of controversies". The Independent. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
9. ^ Akehurst, Luke (1 November 2011). "NEC report – November 2011". Progress. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
10. ^ Waugh, Paul (27 February 2018). "Unite's Jennie Formby Declares Candidacy For Labour General Secretary". HuffPost. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
11. ^ Heffer, Greg (11 March 2018). "Momentum chair Jon Lansman withdraws bid to become Labour general secretary". Sky News. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
12. ^ Schofield, Kevin (20 March 2018). "Jennie Formby appointed Labour general secretary in huge boost for Jeremy Corbyn". PoliticsHome. Retrieved 27 March 2018.
13. ^ Waugh, Paul (28 March 2018). "Jeremy Corbyn Plans In-House Lawyer in Anti-Semitism Crackdown On 70 Unresolved Claims Of Abuse". HuffPost. Retrieved 28 March 2018.
14. ^ "Jennie Formby resigns as Labour party general secretary". The Guardian. 4 May 2020. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
15. ^ Jackson, Lucy (17 June 2024). "Former top Labour figure to vote Greens amid concern over party". The National. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
16. ^ Grew, Tony (21 July 2013). "Love child link of union's top brass". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 28 February 2018. (subscription required)
17. ^ Waugh, Paul (20 March 2018). Corbyn Ally Jennie Formby Appointed As Labour's New General Secretary. HuffPost. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
18. ^ Labour party's general secretary diagnosed with breast cancer. The Guardian. Retrieved 26 March 2019.

Party political offices

Preceded by

Iain McNicol

|  General Secretary of the Labour Party
2018-2020  | Succeeded by

David Evans
*[m.]: married