Dawn Butler

Dawn Butler MP
Official portrait, 2020
Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office
In office 3 November 2009 – 11 May 2010
Prime Minister	Gordon Brown
Preceded by	Tom Watson
Succeeded by	Caroline Nokes[a]
Minister for Young Citizens and Youth Engagement
In office 30 October 2009 – 11 May 2010
Prime Minister	Gordon Brown
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Shadow portfolios 2016‍–‍2020 Shadow Secretary of State 2017–2020 Women and Equalities Shadow Minister 2016–2017[b] Black and Minority Ethnic Communities
Member of Parliament for Brent Central
Incumbent
Assumed office 7 May 2015
Preceded by	Sarah Teather
Majority	20,870 (42.5%)
Member of Parliament for Brent South
In office 5 May 2005 – 12 April 2010
Preceded by	Paul Boateng
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished
Personal details
Born	Dawn Petula Butler[1] (1969-11-03) 3 November 1969 (age 54) Forest Gate, London, England[2]
Political party	Labour
Other political affiliations	Socialist Campaign Group
Website	www.dawnbutler.org.uk

Dawn Petula Butler (born 3 November 1969) is a British Labour Party politician who has been a Member of Parliament (MP) for Brent Central since 2015.

Born in London to Jamaican parents, Butler served prior to entering politics as a trade union officer and adviser to the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone. She was elected as the MP for Brent South at the 2005 general election. She served in Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government as Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office and Minister for Young Citizens and Youth Engagement from 2009 to 2010. She lost her seat at the 2010 general election to the Liberal Democrat candidate, Sarah Teather. She returned to parliament as the MP for Brent Central at the 2015 general election. Initially a supporter of Andy Burnham, Butler later became a close ally of Jeremy Corbyn during his tenure as Leader of the Opposition.

In October 2016, Butler was appointed to the new role of Shadow Minister for Black and Minority Ethnic Communities by Corbyn after his re-election as Labour leader. In February 2017, she resigned to vote against the triggering of Article 50, which formally launched the Brexit negotiations, but returned to the portfolio in June of that year before being promoted to the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Women and Equalities in the August. She stood in the 2020 Labour Party deputy leadership election and came last, in fifth place. She was removed from the Shadow Cabinet by new Labour leader Keir Starmer in 2020 and returned to the backbenches.

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