International development and advocacy

Anderson began her career in development and environmental and poverty campaigns, both in London and abroad. She worked for Christian Aid from 1994 to 1997, taking on roles as a campaign assistant in London, working in Serbia during the war and as Head of Country Office in Bosnia in the aftermath of the Bosnian War. From 1997 to 1999 she was Head of World Action for the Methodist youth organisation MAYC, leading campaigns on bullying, Burma and International Debt cancellation. She then worked for CAFOD in London as Head of Campaigns and Advocacy Strategy Manager. Here she co-founded the Trade Justice Campaign. From 2003 to 2006 she was a trustee of the Jubilee Debt Campaign. During her time as a freelance consultant in Kenya from 2007 to 2010, she worked on several successful campaigns on water and urban nutrition, working with organisations such as End Water Poverty and Oxfam, as well as helping to establish grassroots organisations such as the Shalom Centre for Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation. Upon returning to London, Anderson joined WaterAid as Head of Global Campaigns.^[8][9]

Politics

Anderson decided to get involved in politics in response to the closing of children's centres and local institutions. She was elected to represent Bedford Ward on Wandsworth London Borough Council in 2014, alongside Rosena Allin-Khan, and re-elected in 2018.^[10][11] Anderson was the Labour Spokesperson for Community Services and the Environment from 2015 to 2018 and the Deputy Leader of Wandsworth Labour Group from 2016 to 2018. She resigned from the Council in April 2021.^[12]

She co-founded Wandsworth Welcomes Refugees and was the Head of Community Services for the Katherine Low Settlement, a community centre in Battersea from 2016 to 2020. Locally, she campaigned for the 20 mph speed limit, against the closure of children's centres, and against cutting the Autism Advisory Service.^[13] Anderson supported a second Brexit referendum, which she said was "the route to bringing the country back together."^{[14][better source needed]}

Anderson was elected MP for Putney on 12 December 2019, succeeding retiring MP Justine Greening, who had been elected as a Conservative. In a national election in which Labour won its fewest House seats since 1935, Putney was the only constituency Labour gained.^[15] She made her maiden speech on 9 January 2020.^[16] She backed Keir Starmer and Rosena Allin-Khan in the 2020 Labour leadership and deputy leadership elections, respectively.

On 7 January 2021, Anderson was promoted from Parliamentary Private Secretary to Preet Gill as Shadow Secretary of State for International Development to replace Helen Hayes as a Shadow Minister for the Cabinet under Rachel Reeves due to Hayes resigning over Labour's support for the European Union (Future Relationship) Act 2020.^[17] In December 2021, she was promoted within the shadow Cabinet Office team to serve as Shadow Paymaster General,^[18] a position she held until the 2023 British shadow cabinet reshuffle.

In the September 2023 shadow cabinet reshuffle, leader Keir Starmer appointed her to be Shadow Minister for Northern Ireland.^[19]

Anderson is a member of Labour Friends of Israel.^[20]