Editing Diane Abbott (section)

==Early life and career==
Diane Abbott was born on 27 September 1953 in [[Paddington]] to [[Jamaicans|Jamaican]] parents. Her father was a [[welder]] and her mother a nurse.<ref name="nytimes1">{{cite book |editor1-last=Appiah |editor1-first=Kwame Anthony |editor1-link=Kwame Anthony Appiah |editor2-last=Gates |editor2-first=Henry Louis Jr. |editor2-link=Henry Louis Gates, Jr. |title=Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience |url=https://archive.org/details/africanaencyclop00appi |url-access=registration |publisher=Basic Civitas Books |year=1999 |access-date=31 July 2013 |isbn=978-0-465-00071-5}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=4 October 2016 |title=Labour Party Conference Speech 2016 |url=https://www.dianeabbott.org.uk/news/news/articles/item1267 |website=Diane Abbott MP}}</ref> Both of her parents left school at the age of 14.<ref>{{cite web |date=29 July 2019 |title=Shelf Life: Diane Abbott |url=https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/2019/jul/diane-abbott-books-interview.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190904144114/https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/2019/jul/diane-abbott-books-interview.html |archive-date=4 September 2019 |access-date=4 September 2019 |website=www.penguin.co.uk}}</ref> She attended [[Harrow County School for Girls]] (a [[grammar school]]) and then [[Newnham College, Cambridge]], where she studied history, achieving a lower second-class degree (2:2).<ref>{{cite news |last=Whale |first=Sebastian |date=7 March 2019 |title=Diane Abbott: 'Jamaicans have a lot of self-belief, you know' |work=Politics Home |url=https://www.politicshome.com/news/uk/political-parties/labour-party/house/house-magazine/102344/diane-abbott-%E2%80%9Cjamaicans-have-lot |url-status=live |access-date=19 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190308032848/https://www.politicshome.com/news/uk/political-parties/labour-party/house/house-magazine/102344/diane-abbott-%E2%80%9Cjamaicans-have-lot |archive-date=8 March 2019}}</ref><ref name="FotW">{{cite news |date=7 November 2003 |title=Faces of the week |work=[[BBC News]] |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3247947.stm |url-status=live |access-date=5 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060521225625/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3247947.stm |archive-date=21 May 2006}}</ref> At Cambridge, one of her supervisors was [[Simon Schama]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Simon Schama on the American right |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/this_week/7575239.stm |work=BBC News |date=21 August 2008 |access-date=27 March 2010}}</ref>

After university, Abbott became an administration trainee at the [[Home Office]] (1976 to 1978), and then a Race Relations Officer at the [[National Council for Civil Liberties]] (1978 to 1980).<ref name="Vote2001">{{cite news |year=2001 |title=Vote 2001: Candidates: Diane Abbott |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/vote2001/candidates/candidates/2/28601.stm |url-status=live |access-date=21 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714231139/http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/vote2001/candidates/candidates/2/28601.stm |archive-date=14 July 2014}}</ref> She was a researcher and reporter at [[Thames Television]] from 1980 to 1983, and then a researcher at the breakfast television company [[TV-am]] from 1983 to 1985.<ref name="Voice">{{cite news |last=Wadsworth |first=Marc |date=15 June 2017 |title=Diane Abbott: 'She Won't Be Quitting Any Time Soon' |work=[[The Voice (British newspaper)|The Voice]] |url=http://www.voice-online.co.uk/article/diane-abbott-she-wont-be-quitting-any-time-soon |url-status=dead |access-date=15 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116053741/http://www.voice-online.co.uk/article/diane-abbott-she-wont-be-quitting-any-time-soon |archive-date=16 November 2018}}</ref> She was a press officer at the [[Greater London Council]] under [[Ken Livingstone]] from 1985 to 1986, and Head of Press and Public Relations at [[Lambeth Council]] from 1986 to 1987.<ref name="Vote2001" />

In 2024, during the [[Undercover Policing Inquiry]] into the conduct of about 139 undercover police officers who infiltrated and disrupted social justice groups, the [[Metropolitan Police]] apologised for using undercover officers to spy on anti-racism campaigners, including Abbott, during the 1980s and 1990s. Many secret police reports on Abbott were uncovered by the inquiry. Abbott criticised these activities as being racist and unjustified.<ref name=guardian-20240703>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/article/2024/jul/03/spy-cops-filed-reports-diane-abbott-anti-racism-campaigning-inquiry |title='Spy cops' filed reports on Diane Abbott's anti-racism campaigning, inquiry told |last=Evans |first=Rob |author-link=Rob Evans (reporter)|newspaper=The Guardian |date=3 July 2024 |access-date=3 July 2024}}</ref>

Abbott's career in politics began in 1982 when she was elected to [[Westminster City Council]], serving until 1986. In 1983, she was active in the [[Labour Party Black Sections]] movement, alongside [[Bernie Grant]], [[Paul Boateng]] and [[Keith Vaz]], campaigning for greater African Caribbean and Asian political representation.<ref name="Voice" /><ref name="Bush">{{Cite news |last=Bush |first=Stephen |author-link=Stephen Bush|date=9 September 2021 |orig-date=17 January 2017 |title=Having the last laugh |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2017/01/having-last-laugh |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220831024230/https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/2017/01/having-last-laugh |archive-date=31 August 2022 |access-date=15 May 2023 |work=[[New Statesman]]}}</ref> In 1985, she unsuccessfully fought to be selected in [[Brent East]], losing out to [[Ken Livingstone]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Milne |first=Seumas |author-link=Seumas Milne |date=29 April 2015 |title=From the archive, 29 April 1985: Ken Livingstone wins fight for Brent East nomination |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/apr/29/ken-livingstone-mp-brent-east-labour |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161227204121/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/apr/29/ken-livingstone-mp-brent-east-labour |archive-date=27 December 2016 |work=The Guardian}}</ref>