Jess Phillips

Jess Phillips
Official portrait, 2024
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls
Assumed office
9 July 2024
Prime MinisterKeir Starmer
Preceded byLaura Farris
Member of Parliament
for Birmingham Yardley
Assumed office
7 May 2015
Preceded byJohn Hemming
Majority693 (1.9%)
2020–2023Domestic Violence and Safeguarding
Personal details
Born
Jessica Rose Trainor

(1981-10-09) 9 October 1981 (age 43)
Birmingham, England
Political partyLabour
SpouseTom Phillips
Children2
Residence(s)Moseley, Birmingham, England
Alma mater
Signature
Websitejessphillips.net

Jessica Rose Phillips (née Trainor; born 9 October 1981) is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Yardley since 2015. A member of the Labour Party, she has served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls since July 2024.[1]

Phillips was appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to Lucy Powell, the Shadow Education Secretary, in 2015. A vocal critic of the former Leader of the Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn, Phillips resigned as a PPS in protest over Corbyn's leadership[2] and said she would "find it incredibly difficult" to continue as an MP if Corbyn were re-elected as Labour leader.[3] She supported Owen Smith in the failed attempt to replace Corbyn in the 2016 leadership election.[4] Phillips was a candidate for Labour leader in the 2020 leadership election, but withdrew early in the contest.[5] Since 2019, Phillips has received the second highest income on top of her MP's salary amongst Labour Party MPs.[6]

  1. ^ "Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Safeguarding and Violence Against Women and Girls) - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  2. ^ Brown, Graeme (27 June 2016). "Jess Phillips resigns from role as rebellion continues". Birmingham Mail. Archived from the original on 1 July 2016. Retrieved 10 July 2016.
  3. ^ Walker, Jonathan (20 July 2016). "Jess Phillips says she could resign as Labour MP if Jeremy Corbyn wins". Birmingham Mail. Archived from the original on 7 July 2018. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
  4. ^ "Full list of MPs and MEPs backing challenger Owen Smith". LabourList. 21 July 2016. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  5. ^ "Labour leadership: Jess Phillips quits race to succeed Jeremy Corbyn". BBC News. 21 January 2020. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
  6. ^ "Westminster Accounts: MPs earn 17.1m on top of their salaries since the last election with Tories taking 15.4m". Sky News. 8 January 2023. Retrieved 9 January 2023.