Dan_Carden

Dan Carden

Dan Carden

British Labour politician

Daniel Joseph Carden (born 28 October 1986) is a British Labour Party politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Liverpool Walton since 2017.[1] He was reelected in 2019.[2]

Quick Facts MP, Member of Parliament for Liverpool Walton ...

Carden served as Shadow Secretary of State for International Development from 2018 to 2020,[3] and Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury from April to October 2020.[4] He resigned from the latter role due to the disagreements with the party leadership over the Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Bill.[5]

Carden is a patron of LGBT Labour, one of eight LGBT MPs newly elected in the 2017 general election.[6][7] An avowed socialist, he paid tribute to his predecessor Eric Heffer in a memorial lecture in January 2019.[8] He is a member of the Socialist Campaign Group.[9]

Early life and career

Daniel Joseph Carden was born and raised in Liverpool.[10] His mother worked in the NHS for over 40 years.[11] His father, Mike Carden, was a shop steward during the Liverpool dockers' dispute during the 1990s, and was left unemployed for seven years after being sacked for refusing to cross a picket line. In his maiden speech, Carden recalled: “From the age of eight, I stood on picket lines, and I’m as proud to stand alongside workers in struggle today as an MP as I was then as a kid”.[12]

His secondary education was at St Edward's College in West Derby (OE 1998–2005) where he was the Head Boy.[13] He went on to study BSc International Relations at the London School of Economics, where he was also Chair of the University Labour Club.[14]

Prior to becoming an MP, Carden worked at Unite the Union in the office of its General Secretary, Len McCluskey.[15]

Parliamentary career

First term (2017-2019)

In 2017, Carden defeated Liverpool City Mayor Joe Anderson, Theresa Griffin MEP and others to be selected by the NEC to become Labour's candidate for Liverpool Walton, after the previous MP Steve Rotheram stood down to become Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor.[16] On 8 June, he was elected MP with 85.7% of the vote with a 32,551 majority – the strongest result in opposed elections in the seat's history.[17]

In 2017, Carden campaigned for a ban on LGBT conversion therapy after a church in Anfield was exposed by a Liverpool Echo investigation for offering ritual starvation as a 'cure' for homosexuality.[18][19] In July 2018, the UK Government pledged to bring forward proposals for a legislative ban.[20][21]

In July 2018, Carden used two consecutive Prime Minister's Questions to call for the new Royal Liverpool Hospital to be delivered in the public sector following the collapse of Carillion.[22][23] On 25 September 2018, it was reported that the government would terminate the Private finance initiative deal, taking the hospital into full public ownership.[24]

Shadow International Development Secretary

On 1 December 2018, he was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for International Development after the resignation of Kate Osamor following events surrounding her son's drugs conviction.[3]

In the run-up to the 2019 General Election, Carden promised “the most radical international development policies ever seen in this country.”[25] He said Labour would turn the CDC Group into a green development bank and create a new Public Services Unit for water, healthcare and education.[26][27] Other policy plans included banning all aid spending on fossil fuels, support for trade unions globally, tripling funding for women's rights groups, introducing an ombudsman for abuse in aid sector and support for small-scale farmers with a Food Sovereignty Fund.[28]

Carden called for the UK to use its influence to democratise the IMF and World Bank, challenging the agenda of liberalising markets, cutting social spending and privatising public services “so the poorest countries can decide their own destiny”.[29] Alongside Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, he proposed an Overseas Loan Transparency Act to establish a new compulsory register to put an end to exploitative secret loans to foreign governments.[30] At the time of the COVID-19 pandemic, Carden called for the debts of countries in the Global South to be cancelled so that resources could go towards healthcare not debt repayments.[31][32]

Carden successfully defended his Liverpool Walton seat in the 2019 general election, winning 34,538 votes. This represented 84.7% of the vote, and, at 74.83%, the largest majority in the entire country.[2][33]

Second term (2019-)

Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury

On 9 April 2020, Carden became Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury following a reshuffle by new party leader Keir Starmer.[4] In October, he accused the Conservative government of corruption in its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting public contracts handed to Tory-linked firms without competition or transparency.[34][35]

Return to the backbenches

On 15 October 2021, Carden resigned from Labour's front bench in order to vote against the Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Bill, defying the party's instruction to abstain.[36] In his resignation letter, he wrote: "As a Liverpool MP and trade unionist, I share the deep concerns about this legislation from across the labour movement, human rights organisations, and so many who have suffered the abuse of state power, from blacklisted workers to the Hillsborough families and survivors."[5]

Carden became involved with the Inter-Parliamentary Union. In March 2022, Carden delivered an address to the global assembly of parliamentarians in Indonesia. Referencing his Irish heritage, he called on countries to accept more refugees and to reject "anti-migrant, racist rhetoric".[37][38] In November 2022, Carden became Treasurer of the British Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.[39] On 12 March 2023, at the Inter-Parliamentary Union's 146th Assembly in Manama, Bahrain, Carden was elected President of the Board of the Forum of Young Parliamentarians.[40]

In September 2023, Carden was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, after Samantha Dixon left the position to become a whip.[41] However, on 15 November 2023, Dan Carden was among 10 frontbench Labour MPs to resign their roles in order to vote in favour of a motion tabled by the SNP calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, joining a group of 56 Labour MPs in defying the party's instruction to abstain.[42][43]

On 13 December 2023, Carden was appointed Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy to Mexico.[44]

Alcohol addiction and recovery

In July 2021, Carden revealed during a parliamentary debate that in his early twenties alcohol addiction had nearly killed him amid the pressure of coming to terms with his sexuality. In recovery since 2019, Carden credits his sobriety to the support of his family and friends, as well as the guidance of support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous.[45][46]

In 2021, Carden led a campaign to deliver the recommendations of Dame Carol Black’s Independent Review of Drugs, securing the largest ever investment for addiction treatment services.[47] He has also campaigned for measures such as minimum unit pricing and greater regulation of alcohol advertising.[48][49] Working with Alcohol Health Alliance UK, he has led calls for an Independent Review of Alcohol to inform a new Alcohol Strategy, highlighting that despite record alcohol-specific deaths, the UK has not published a strategy for tackling alcohol harm since 2012.[50]

Carden is an Ambassador for Adfam and Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Drugs, Alcohol and Justice.[51][52][53]

References

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    Thorp, Liam (11 May 2017). "We meet the 30-year-old who beat Mayor Anderson to contest Liverpool MP role". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  2. [2]
    "Liverpool Walton parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  3. [3]
    "Labour MP Kate Osamor resigns as shadow international development secretary". New Statesman. 1 December 2018. Retrieved 16 December 2018.
  4. [4]
    Rodgers, Sienna (9 April 2020). "Shadow ministers appointed as Starmer completes frontbench". LabourList. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  5. [5]
    Burtenshaw, Ronan (15 October 2020). "Dan Carden Resigns from Labour Frontbench over CHIS Bill". Tribune.
  6. [6]
    "Patrons". LGBT+ Labour.
  7. [7]
    "The UK just elected a record number of LGBTQ people to Parliament". Pink News.
  8. [8]
    Carden, Dan (27 January 2019). "Never a Yes Man". Tribune.
  9. [9]
    @DanCardenMP (20 December 2018). "Last night @jeremycorbyn visited our Socialist Campaign Group meeting in the same room he was nominated to stand for Leader of the Labour Party" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  10. [10]
    "No. 61961". The London Gazette. 19 June 2017. p. 11778.
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    "Trade unionist Dan Carden selected in Liverpool Walton". Left Futures. 10 May 2017. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
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    "Dan Carden MP talks Parliament, Jeremy Corbyn and music venue closures". Getintothis. 22 October 2018.
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    Thomas, Joe (9 June 2017). "Liverpool's new MP Dan Carden 'absolutely honoured'". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
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    Parry, John (2 July 2018). "Parliament hears calls for ban on gay 'cure' therapies after ECHO investigation". Liverpool ECHO.
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    "LGBT Action Plan" (PDF). July 2018.
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    MP, Dan Carden (21 November 2019). "I'm proud of our section of the #LabourManifesto, with the most radical international development policies ever seen in this country..."
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    McVeigh, Karen (21 November 2019). "Labour vows to make UK development bank a champion of climate justice". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
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    Carden, Dan (7 August 2019). "People, not profit". Fabians. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  28. [28]
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    "A Labour Government Will Not Ignore The Global Debt Crisis". Huffington Post UK. 17 June 2019. Retrieved 20 December 2019.[permanent dead link]
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    Carden, Dan (25 March 2020). "The British government has abandoned the Global South to coronavirus". Open Democracy UK.
  32. [32]
    @DanCardenMP (1 April 2020). "We must go beyond aid and charity in supporting countries in the Global South" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  33. [33]
    "Commons Briefing Paper 8749. General Election 2019: results and analysis" (PDF). London: House of Commons Library. 28 January 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  34. [34]
    "Hansard, Local Contact Tracing Volume 682: debated on Wednesday 14 October 2020".
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    Carden, Dan (9 December 2020). "Obscene profiteering and cronyism has been the hallmark of the government's response to Covid". Politics Home.
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    Rodgers, Sienna (15 October 2020). "Dan Carden quits Labour frontbench over 'spycops' bill". LabourList.
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  39. [39]
    "Officers - BGIPU". 10 August 2023. Archived from the original on 10 August 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  40. [40]
    Nimmo, Rick (16 March 2023). "BGIPU member Dan Carden MP elected President of Forum of Young Parliamentarians". BGIPU. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  41. [41]
    ""Labour has a new top team."". Samantha Dixon MP. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  42. [42]
    "How did my MP vote on Gaza ceasefire?". BBC News. 16 November 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
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    "Rishi's Rwanda Plan B". POLITICO. 16 November 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
  44. [44]
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  45. [45]
    "'Choose to live': Dan Carden's emotional speech about alcohol addiction – video". The Guardian. 1 July 2021. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
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    "Hansard: Pride Month debate".
  47. [47]
    Adu, Aletha (26 October 2021). "MP who battled alcohol addiction demands £1.78billion for treatment services". mirror. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
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    Chappell, Elliot. "Labour MP with history of alcohol addiction calls for minimum unit pricing". LabourList. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
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    "MPs debate alcohol labelling". Alcohol Health Alliance. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  50. [50]
    "MPs, Lords and over 50 organisations and experts write to the Prime Minister calling for an independent review on alcohol harm". Alcohol Health Alliance. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  51. [51]
    "Dan Carden MP becomes Adfam Ambassador". Adfam. 14 July 2021. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
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    "Drugs, Alcohol and Justice APPG". www.parallelparliament.co.uk. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  53. [53]
    DDN (30 May 2022). "Visible Recovery". Drink and Drugs News. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
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