Labor shadow minister Liz Kendall announces that she will retire from politics and become a mother at the age of 50
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Labor shadow minister Liz Kendall announces that she will step down from politics at the age of 50 with the help of a surrogate mother and become a mother
- The Leicester West MP announced that she and her partner are expecting a child in the New Year
- She is the first MP to have a child with the help of a surrogate mother
- Revealed that she had previously suffered two miscarriages while trying to get pregnant
Labor shadow minister and former challenger Liz Kendall has announced that she will be a mother at the age of 50.
The Leicester West MP announced that she and her partner are expecting a child in the New Year with the help of a surrogate mother.
She said she plans to temporarily step down as shadow minister for social welfare “to make the most of this precious time with the newest member of our family.”
She is believed to be the first MP to have a child this way, despite Labor colleague Baroness Oona King having a child through a surrogate mother in 2013.
Revealing to the viewer that she had suffered two miscarriages and had to be operated naturally on attempts, Ms. Kendall added, “We went through a lot to get here, but it’s really happening now and we’ve got it to people this week told.”
The Leicester West MP announced that she and her partner are expecting a child in the New Year with the help of a surrogate mother.
Ms. Kendall was first elected in 2010 and belongs to the moderate wing of the party. Pictured in 2016 during a visit to the German Armed Forces as part of the APPG
Ms. Kendall was previously in a relationship with Inbetweeners and Taskmaster star Greg Davies, but it ended in 2015.
Cambridge educated Blairite who dreamed of becoming a dancer
Liz Kendall was born in Abbots Langley near Watford.
Her mother was a primary school teacher and her work-support father left school at 16 and worked his way up the ranks of the Bank of England.
She was the Head Girl at Watford Grammar and won a place at Cambridge despite first being convinced that her mother was preventing her from pursuing her dream of becoming a professional dancer.
She was the captain of the women’s football team at Queens’ College, Cambridge, while also earning a first-class degree.
Her first job in Westminster was as an assistant to Ore Blairite Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt.
She ran for leadership in 215, but was by far the last time Jeremy Corbyn ended when the party lurched catastrophically to the left after Ed Miliband lost and resigned the election to David Cameron.
She spoke out in favor of tighter immigration restrictions and said her party should support an EU referendum – which took place the following year anyway.
She also said the party should get into business and stop advocating high taxes “just to make a point”.
Last night she tweeted, “Overwhelmed with all the news today.
“I’m sorry I can’t answer everyone, but this was a really nice day and I will remember it for a long time. Thank you x. ‘
Ms. Kendall was first elected in 2010 and belongs to the moderate wing of the party.
She replaced Ed Miliband as Labor leader on a Blairite platform in 2015, but finished last in a competition won by Jeremy Corbyn.
She then refused to work for the hard left leader, but was given a shadow role by his successor, Sir Keir Starmer.
When she delivered her family news in her local Leicester Mercury newspaper, she said, “I’m going to take time off work to make the most of this precious time with the newest member of our family.
“But I want to assure my constituents that my office will remain open 24/7 and my entire team will continue to provide the best of help and support to local residents.”
She received congratulations from across the political spectrum, with former Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson saying, “This is good news, Liz. Congratulations. You will make such a brilliant mother. ‘
Ms. Kendall was previously in a relationship with Inbetweeners and Taskmaster star Greg Davies, but it ended in 2015.
While running for Labor leadership, she opened up her private life and said, “When you get older you want to settle down, of course, but life changes and it doesn’t work.
“Who knows what’s going to happen? That’s all i’m saying I am a person who loves and wants to be loved. ‘
Last month she described the effects of menopause in a debate on free hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in parliament.
“To be honest, I’m not exactly sure when the symptoms first started. But they’ve been building steadily over the past year – that really terrifying feeling of fear and panic that I had never experienced before; feeling completely exhausted, sore and aching, asking myself in the evening if I would be able to go to bed up the stairs, let alone do the exercises that have always been such an important part of my life; the itching, hair loss, and feeling downright downcast; and most of all, what I can only call the catastrophically poor sleep, night after night.
“Finally I showed up in the morning bathed in sweat and thought:” How am I supposed to get through the day? “
“Like so many other women, I had absolutely no idea what was going on.”
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