1. Deborah Angela Elspeth Marie Abrahams is a British Labour Party politician who has served as Member of Parliament for Oldham East and Saddleworth since 2011.
24 Facts About Debbie Abrahams
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Debbie Abrahams was a member of the Shadow Cabinet of Jeremy Corbyn from 2015 to 2018.
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Debbie Abrahams was educated at Kent College, a private girls' school in Tunbridge Wells, and received three O-levels.
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Debbie Abrahams studied at the Bolton Institute of Technology and received a Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry and physiology from University of Salford.
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Debbie Abrahams was awarded a Master of Education degree from the University of Liverpool.
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Debbie Abrahams was head of healthy cities for Knowsley and served on the board of Bury and Rochdale Health Authority.
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In 2002, Debbie Abrahams was appointed chair of Rochdale Primary Care Trust.
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Debbie Abrahams was Director of the International Health Impact Assessment Consortium at the University of Liverpool between 2006 and 2010.
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Debbie Abrahams resigned from the Chair of Rochdale Primary Care Trust in 2007, over the use of private health companies in the National Health Service, which she said was "destroying the NHS".
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Debbie Abrahams then joined the Labour Party, declaring that she wanted "to challenge health policy at a local and national level to ensure that it reflects [the] core values" of the NHS.
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Debbie Abrahams was appointed by Simon Danczuk, then Labour candidate for Rochdale, as his advisor on health, and she stood for Rochdale Borough Council in Milnrow and Newhey ward in the 2008 local elections.
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Debbie Abrahams criticised the local council in Rochdale for failing to address health inequalities in the town.
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In December 2010, Debbie Abrahams was placed on a shortlist of three to be the Labour Party candidate for the 2011 Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election.
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Debbie Abrahams was appointed parliamentary private secretary to Andy Burnham and elected Chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party's Health Committee.
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Debbie Abrahams sought to reassure Clinical commissioning groups that the Labour Party's proposed health reforms would not amount to a top-down 'big bang' shake up of the NHS.
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Debbie Abrahams was elected as a member of the Work and Pensions Select Committee in July 2015.
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In September 2015, Debbie Abrahams was appointed Shadow Minister for Disabled People by Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in recognition on her work with disabled people in the past.
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Debbie Abrahams was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in June 2016, following Owen Smith's resignation from the Shadow Cabinet in the wake of the EU Referendum result.
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In February 2021, Debbie Abrahams was one of three MPs who successfully took legal action against the Department of Health and Social Care over contracts awarded during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Debbie Abrahams is a member of Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East.
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Debbie Abrahams is the current Chair of the APPG on Palestine.
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In March 2018, Debbie Abrahams was suspended from her position as Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary whilst she was investigated by the Labour Party over a "workplace issue", reported by several media outlets to be related to claims that she bullied staff; she has vehemently denied the claims, adding that she is the victim of a "bullying culture of the worst kind".
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In January 2013, Debbie Abrahams was awarded the Grassroot Diplomat Initiative Award in the Business Driver category, for her campaign to improve late payments affecting small businesses.
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Debbie Abrahams married John Debbie Abrahams, a former captain of Lancashire County cricket team, in the late 1980s.