Labour promotes cellist to Shadow Cabinet
NewsThe last pre-election reshuffle of UK Labour’s frontline team includes a busy cellist as Shadow Secretary for Culture.
Thangam Elizabeth Rachel Debbonaire was elected Member of Parliament for Bristol West in 2015 and promptly formed a House of Commons string quartet, which showed a good grasp of priorities. In her first year as an MP she took time out to deal with cancer but by 2016 she was back in the rehearsal room.
She was educated at Bradford Girls’ Grammar School and Chetham’s School of Music, dropped out of a maths course at the University of Oxford and continued studying cello at the Royal College of Music. She is married to an opera singer, Kevin Walton.
She’s one of us.
Perhaps a future UK culture minister who knows about culture? What is the world coming to?
Thangam Debbonaire is rather a good cellist if the video of her in the HoC quartet is anything to go by – and not forgetting that Keir Starmer studied at Guildhall School of Music so presumably is not without musical knowledge.
The House of Commons Quartet that this formidable lady formed was named “Statutory Instruments” (SD readers who don’t immediately get the joke, it’s a frequently-used parliamentary process) and also contains the granddaughter of Tony Wedgwood Benn, a London Labour councillor and a Channel Four presenter. Curiously enough, no Tories (despite the name).
Please can Labour get elected – as soon as possible.
Frankly, with these wretched Tories, I’d rather have Britain First in power instead of them!
not with a left hand like that. Gets coat.
“…with a good grasp of priorities” is how you describe her. (But maybe not such a good grasp of the cello?)
She will fail to appreciate that “culture” is supposed to cover football and things like that–anything that is “part of our culture”.
Perhaps she could apply for the vacancy at Rattle”s Munich orchestra.
I’m pondering which ‘us’ Thangam Debbonaire might be ‘one of’ as far as you’re concerned….
Ironically she belongs to a party which has no understanding of her gender.
yes, crying shame a party led by someone who has no idea what a women is.
You can’t even spell it.
The acceptance of transsexualism brings problems that will have to be dealt with, Labour at least tries to approach the theme with a sympathetic ear, the issue isn’t as simple as you would want it to be.
I think “sex” not “gender” (often short for “gender identity”) may be the word here.
For God’s sake, it won’t help – she rather will be minister of transport then culture in wretched future Labour office, there is no difference between them and Tories anyway.
Who says politicians and musicians make strange bedfellows? In Parliament, I’d take well orchestrated music over typical argumentative discord any day! All governments would be more productive and humane if they contained more professional musicians and fewer professional politicos!!!
I don’t think your new friends at the Critic would agree, Norman!
I took it to mean that NL was essentially saying that “musica vincit omnia”. In other words, we are united by our love of music.