Angela Eagle: Everything You Need To Know About The Labour MP

Who is Angela Eagle? Why should you care? Read on to find out more about the woman who could, potentially, pull the Labour party back together and why everyone's talking about her.

But first, let's recap. Since we learned that this country had voted to leave the European Union by 48 per cent to 51.9 per cent last Friday we’ve been left with a lot of unanswered questions. There’s a lot that we don’t know but what we do know is that our political system, at its very highest levels, is in complete crisis.

Both the Labour and Conservative parties are in crisis. Jeremy Corbyn has seen mass resignations from his cabinet and many of his former supporters have asked for him to resign as leader. The Conservatives are currently leaderless and those who lead the Vote Leave campaign, Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, seem to have had an almighty fallout.

It’s a bit clichéd to use Game of Thrones or Shakespeare analogies to describe politics. It’s overdone. 'Sometimes you have to go backwards before you can go forwards', 'a phoenix always rises from the ashes', 'the glass is half full', 'history will have the final say' etc. Does my writing remind you enough of Boris Johnson’s Telegraph columns? Shout out to Boris, who quoted Shakespeare’s *Julius Caesar *when he announced he wouldn’t be running for Conservative party leader earlier today despite having spearheaded the official campaign for Brexit.

The thing about clichés, however, is that the reason that they are overworked is because they’re truisms. Sometimes the bleeding obvious does need to be highlighted. There’s a line from Shakespeare’s Hamlet (Boris isn’t the only one familiar with the bard’s work) which sums up the post-Brexit situation we find ourselves in accurately in one sentence,

‘If the authorities knew about the problems and chose not to prevent them, then clearly something is rotten in the state of Denmark.’

I’m looking at you Boris Johnson (the man who couldn't clean up his own mess), you Michael Gove (hater of 'experts'), you Jeremy Corbyn (the man who can't be moved) and you, over there – oi you at the back – yes, you, Nigel Farage (the man who's done quite enough)…

With this in mind we ask who's going to get us out of this mess and whether it's time for the (Angela) Eagle to land?

Despite all the uncertainty, despite all the egos vying for power and in spite of the sinking feeling that the leadership drama we are watching unfold are just a smokescreen for the bigger problems which underpin our society and challenges which now lie ahead for it there are some positives to be taken.

It’s now looking very likely that we could see both a female Prime Minister in the shape of Theresa May and a female Leader of the Opposition, in the form of Angela Eagle at the same time. There’s a lot to be said about May and, certinaly, there are many who don't agree with her politics but, for now, let’s divert our attention to Labour’s Angela Eagle MP.

Who is Angela Eagle?

Well, friends, she’s been the MP for Wallasey on Merseyside since 1992 and she’s served in several high profile positions in that time. She was a minister in both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown’s governments, she was a leading member of Ed Miliband’s Shadow Cabinet and she’s been working closely with Jeremy Corbyn since he was elected as leader of the Labour Party last year. She's also the MP that David Cameron, idiotically, told to 'calm down dear'.

Angela Eagle has held her own in the House of Commons and given other members like George Osborne a serious run for their money,

She might not be particularly well known outside of the Westminster bubble and political nerdery of the media but she’s been beavering away with consistency in parliament for over twenty years.

Will Angela Eagle MP be the next leader of the Labour party?

Rumours abound in the psychodrama that is now our mainstream politics that she is due to announce her bid to be leader of the Labour party imminently. In her resignation letter to Jeremy Corbyn Angela wrote that she had tried to make his leadership work but felt that it was now impossible. She also said she was devestated by 'Brexit'.

Because of her experience and her many friends within the Labour party she is being billed as a safe pair of hands to see us through Brexit in the weeks, months and years which follow. Equally, because of her strength as a speaker and the ability she has shown at holding the Government to account she is considered to be a very good option for Leader of the Opposition, who’s job it is to challenge government and ask difficult questions.

Which positions has Angela Eagle held?

According to They Work For You here's a (long) list of everything the Eagle has been upto since she became an MP:

Shadow First Secretary of State, Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (14 Sep 2015 to 27 Jun 2016)

Member, Palace of Westminster (Joint Committee) (16 Jul 2015 to 16 Sep 2015)

Member, House of Commons Commission (13 Jul 2015 to 14 Sep 2015)

Member, Speaker's Committee for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (7 Dec 2011 to 30 Mar 2015)

Shadow Leader of the House of Commons (7 Oct 2011 to 14 Sep 2015)

Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury (8 Oct 2010 to 7 Oct 2011)

Shadow Minister (Treasury) (12 May 2010 to 8 Oct 2010)

The Minister of State, Department for Work and Pensions (9 Jun 2009 to 6 May 2010)

Member, Public Accounts Committee (19 Nov 2007 to 26 Oct 2009)

The Exchequer Secretary (29 Jun 2007 to 9 Jun 2009)

Member, Labour Party National Executive Committee (1 Aug 2005 to 6 May 2010)

Member, Treasury Committee (27 Jan 2003 to 6 Nov 2007)

Member, Treasury Sub-committee (27 Jan 2003 to 11 Jul 2005)

Member, Public Accounts Committee (16 Oct 2002 to 3 Mar 2003)

Parliamentary Secretary (Home office) (11 Jun 2001 to 28 May 2002)

Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Social Security) (28 Jul 1998 to 7 Jun 2001)

Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Transport and the Regions) (6 May 1997 to 29 Jul 1998)

Opposition Whip (Commons) (1 Jun 1996 to 1 May 1997)

Member, Public Accounts Committee (28 Nov 1995 to 11 Nov 1996)

Member, Employment Committee (25 Apr 1994 to 17 Oct 1996)

Member, Members' Interests Committee (27 Apr 1992 to 8 Nov 1995)

What are Angela Eagle’s politics?

She’s generally voted along with the Labour party’s line. It’s thought that this loyalty is what means she is seen as a likely candidate to reunite the Labour party from within, with itself as well as externally, with voters. She’s been a fierce critic of Conservative austerity and she criticised Gary Barlow over tax avoidance.

What’s Angela Eagle’s voting record?

Here’s a detailed run down of how Angela has voted on issues that matter according to They Work For You:

Where does Angela Eagle stand on tuition fees?

Did Angela Eagle vote for the Iraq war?

Eagle stance on Iraq is controversial. She did not vote against the war but she did vote against the Chilcot eqnuiry, which was published last week and found that the tony Blair 'sent troops in before peaceful options were exhausted.'

According to They Work For You...

Where does Angela Eagle stand on gay marriage and gay rights?

Angela Eagle is gay, she came out to the public in 1997. She and her partner had a civil partnership in 2008. According to They Work For You...

Is there anything else you should know about Angela Eagle?

She’s a twin. Her sister, Maria Eagle, is also an MP. Maria has been the MP for Garston and Halewood since 1997. They are the first ever twin sisters to sit in Parliament together.

You might also be interested in:

Brexit: All The Questions You Want Answered

Thousands Of People Protest Against Brexit Outside Parliament

The Legacy Of Brexit Has Made People Of Colour Feel Uncomfortable In Their Own Country

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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.