Mary Foy (politician)

Mary Kelly Foy (née McStea; born 27 February 1968)[1] is a British Labour Party politician. She was first elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the City of Durham in the 2019 general election.[2][3]

For other people named Mary Foy, see Mary Foy (disambiguation).

Mary Kelly Foy
MP
Member of Parliament
for City of Durham
Assumed office
12 December 2019
Preceded byRoberta Blackman-Woods
Majority5,025 (10.3%)
Personal details
Born
Mary Kelly McStea

(1968-02-27) 27 February 1968
Jarrow, County Durham, England
Political partyLabour
Other political
affiliations		Socialist Campaign Group (2019–present)
Websitewww.maryfoy.org.uk

Early life and education

Foy was born in Jarrow, Tyne and Wear and grew up on a council estate. She is the second of five children and her grandparents were Irish immigrants.[4] Her father is a former shipyard worker who lost his job in the 1980s under Margaret Thatcher's premiership. Foy has a degree in Social sciences, which she gained as a mature student.[5]

Career

Foy is a member of both UNISON and Unite the Union. She was a Community Development Worker for Durham City CVS from 2006 to 2013, and a parliamentary assistant to former Jarrow MP Stephen Hepburn. She was elected to represent Lamesley ward (named after the area of the same name on Gateshead Council in 2006, and was a cabinet member for health and wellbeing between 2009 and 2019.[6] She was local party chair for Blaydon before moving to the City of Durham, and a regional representative of Labour's National Policy Forum.[2] A socialist and on the left of the party, Foy's bid was backed by several unions. She is a member of Labour's Socialist Campaign Group.

On 15 October 2020, Foy resigned as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Andy McDonald to vote against the proposed Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Bill, disagreeing with the Labour whip to abstain.[7]

Personal life

Foy has three children: Maria, Kieran and Siobhán. Maria, had cerebral palsy and died in 2015.[5]

References
  1. Brunskill, Ian (19 March 2020). The Times guide to the House of Commons 2019 : the definitive record of Britain's historic 2019 General Election. p. 181. ISBN 978-0-00-839258-1. OCLC 1129682574.
  2. "Who is Mary Foy? Durham City's new Labour MP". Chronicle Live. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  3. "Durham, City of parliamentary constituency". BBC.com. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  4. "Mary Foy selected as Labour's candidate for City of Durham". Labour List. 26 October 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  5. Bond, Daniel (16 December 2019). "Class of 2019: Meet the new MPs". Politics Home: The House. Retrieved 24 December 2019.
  6. Pristley, Catherine (16 December 2019). "Labour confirms Mary Foy will stand as next Durham City MP". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  7. Foy, Mary [@maryfoy] (15 October 2020). "Today I voted against the Covert Human Intelligence Sources Bill and resigned as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Andy McDonald MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Employment Rights. Please read my statement below" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
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