1. Dame Angela Eagle DBE was born on 17 February 1961 and is a British Labour Party politician serving as the Member of Parliament for Wallasey since 1992.
32 Facts About Angela Eagle
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Angela Eagle served as the Minister of State for Pensions and Ageing Society from June 2009 until May 2010.
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Angela Eagle was elected to the Shadow Cabinet in October 2010 and was appointed by Ed Miliband to be Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury.
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Angela Eagle was appointed as both Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills in September 2015 in Jeremy Corbyn's first Shadow Cabinet.
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Angela Eagle resigned from the Shadow Cabinet in June 2016.
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Angela Eagle announced a leadership challenge to Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn on 11 July 2016, but eight days later she withdrew leaving Owen Smith to challenge Corbyn for the leadership.
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Angela Eagle was born on 17 February 1961 in Bridlington, the daughter of Shirley, a factory worker, and Andre Eagle, a print worker.
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Angela Eagle was educated at St Peter's C of E Primary School and Formby High School.
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In 1976, Angela Eagle was joint winner of the British Girls' Under-18 chess championship.
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Angela Eagle studied philosophy, politics and economics at St John's College, Oxford, graduating from the university with a second-class Bachelor of Arts degree in 1983.
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In 1984, after graduating from Oxford, Angela Eagle worked in the economic directorate of the Confederation of British Industry, before joining the Confederation of Health Service Employees trade union where she held a number of positions.
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Angela Eagle was elected secretary for the Constituency Labour Party in Peckham for two years from 1989.
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Angela Eagle became a member of the Employment Select committee in 1994.
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Angela Eagle voted in favour of the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, and repeatedly against investigating it in 2003,2006, and 2007.
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In June 2012, Angela Eagle criticised Take That singer Gary Barlow in the House of Commons following newspaper allegations of tax avoidance made against him.
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In November 2024, Angela Eagle voted in favour of the Terminally Ill Adults Bill, which proposes to legalise assisted suicide.
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Angela Eagle was promoted by Tony Blair in 1996 to the position of an Opposition Whip.
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Angela Eagle returned to the government under Gordon Brown on 29 June 2007 as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, the most junior minister at HM Treasury.
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Angela Eagle was promoted to Minister of State at the Department for Work and Pensions in the June 2009 reshuffle.
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Angela Eagle was nominated by 32 Constituency Labour Parties and trade unions UNISON, CWU, TSSA, and UCATT and received joint support from Unite for her and fellow candidate Tom Watson.
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Angela Eagle resigned from these positions on 27 June 2016 in the mass resignation of the Shadow Cabinet in the wake of the vote for Leave in the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum.
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Angela Eagle had campaigned for the Remain side in the referendum.
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On Tuesday 19 July 2016, Angela Eagle announced she was withdrawing from the leadership election and would back the other candidate opposing Corbyn, Owen Smith, who had received about 20 more nominations from MPs and MEPs than she had.
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Angela Eagle herself claimed to have received hundreds of abusive and homophobic messages at this time.
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Angela Eagle was joined in the House of Commons at the 1997 general election by her twin sister, Maria Angela Eagle.
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Angela Eagle is a lesbian, coming out in a newspaper interview in September 1997.
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Angela Eagle is the second openly lesbian MP, after Maureen Colquhoun in the 1970s.
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In September 2008, Angela Eagle entered into a civil partnership with Maria Exall who is involved in the Labour Party through the National Committee.
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Angela Eagle is an avid fan of new wave band The Pretenders, and got to know lead singer Chrissie Hynde by sneaking backstage at Pretenders gigs.
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Angela Eagle still attends their gigs regularly, and Hynde has noted that Eagle would probably know even the band's most obscure songs.
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Angela Eagle was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2021 New Year Honours for parliamentary and political service.
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Angela Eagle is an honorary associate of the National Secular Society.