# Jo White

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{{Short description|British politician (born 1964)}}
{{for|the cricketer|Jo White (cricketer)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name             = Jo White
| honorific_suffix = [MP](/source/Member_of_Parliament_(United_Kingdom))
| image            = Official portrait of Jo White MP crop 2.jpg
| image_upright    = 
| alt              = 
| caption          = Official portrait, 2024
| order            = 
| office           = [Member of Parliament](/source/Member_of_Parliament_(United_Kingdom))<br/> for [Bassetlaw](/source/Bassetlaw_(UK_Parliament_constituency))
| predecessor      = [Brendan Clarke-Smith](/source/Brendan_Clarke-Smith)
| term_start       = 4 July 2024
| majority         = 5,768 (12.9%)
| office1          = Member of [Bassetlaw District Council](/source/Bassetlaw_District_Council)<br>for [Worksop East](/source/Worksop_East_(Bassetlaw_electoral_ward))
| term_start1      = 3 May 2012
| predecessor1     = John Scott
| birth_name       = Joanna Ruth White
| birth_date       = {{birth date and age|1964|01|22|df=y}}
| birth_place      = [Stamford](/source/Stamford%2C_Lincolnshire), [Lincolnshire](/source/Lincolnshire), England
| party            = [Labour](/source/Labour_Party_(UK))

| 
| other_party = [Labour Friends of Israel](/source/Labour_Friends_of_Israel)<br>[Red Wall Caucus](/source/Red_Wall_Caucus)
| spouse      = {{marriage|[John Mann](/source/John_Mann%2C_Baron_Mann)|1986}}
| alma_mater  = [University of Manchester](/source/University_of_Manchester)
}}

'''Joanna Ruth White''' (born 22 January 1964) is a British [Labour Party](/source/Labour_Party_(UK)) politician serving as [Member of Parliament](/source/Member_of_Parliament_(United_Kingdom)) (MP) for [Bassetlaw](/source/Bassetlaw_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) since 2024.

She is chair of the [Red Wall Caucus](/source/Red_Wall_Caucus) of [red wall](/source/Red_wall_(British_politics)) Labour MPs in Parliament.

== Early life and education ==
White was born in 1964 in [Stamford](/source/Stamford%2C_Lincolnshire), [Lincolnshire](/source/Lincolnshire).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Index entry |url=https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/information.pl?cite=RuSRoHKQVNT8WvxOtgm%2F5w&scan=1 |website=FreeBMD |publisher=ONS}}</ref> She has an identical twin, Deb Davies, who was elected as a Labour councillor in [Newport, Wales](/source/Newport%2C_Wales) in 2012.<ref>{{cite news |date=14 May 2012 |title=Newport councillor scoops seat at same time as twin |url=https://www.southwalesargus.co.uk/news/9704960.newport-councillor-scoops-seat-at-same-time-as-twin/ |access-date=1 November 2022 |work=[South Wales Argus](/source/South_Wales_Argus)}}</ref> In 2022, she stated she had recently discovered their partly Jewish ancestry.<ref>{{Cite web |last=White |first=Joanna |title=I'm standing as a Labour candidate because I know they've changed on antisemitism |url=https://www.thejc.com/lets-talk/im-standing-as-a-labour-candidate-because-i-know-theyve-changed-on-antisemitism-tqloh2wc |access-date=2024-07-17 |website=www.thejc.com |date=28 September 2022 |language=en}}</ref>

White studied at the [University of Manchester](/source/University_of_Manchester), where she was General Secretary of the [Students' Union](/source/University_of_Manchester_Students'_Union).<ref>{{Cite web |title=The former student leaders entering Parliament |url=https://wonkhe.com/blogs/the-student-leaders-that-could-be-about-to-enter-parliament/ |access-date=2024-07-16 |website=Wonkhe |language=en-GB}}</ref>

== Political career ==
White was office manager for her husband [John Mann](/source/John_Mann%2C_Baron_Mann), the Bassetlaw MP from 2003 to 2019.<ref>{{cite news |title=New Girl: No 1: Jo White |work=Private Eye |date=19 July 2024 |page=12}}</ref> She served as chair of the Bassetlaw Constituency Labour Party.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Stewart |first=Heather |date=2019-11-06 |title=Labour accused of 'student union politics' in candidate row |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/nov/06/labour-accused-of-student-union-politics-in-candidate-row |access-date=2024-07-17 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> She was a member of [Unite the Union](/source/Unite_the_Union)'s executive for over a decade.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kendix |first=Max |date=2024-07-17 |title=The seven tribes of new Labour MPs |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/article/seven-tribes-labour-mps-starmer-favourites-left-9b9320608 |access-date=2024-07-17 |website=[The Times](/source/The_Times)|language=en}}</ref>

White was first elected as a Member of [Bassetlaw District Council](/source/Bassetlaw_District_Council) for [Worksop East](/source/Worksop_East_(Bassetlaw_electoral_ward)) in [2012](/source/2012_Bassetlaw_District_Council_election).<ref>{{Cite web |date=5 July 2024 |title=Councillor Jo White |url=https://bassetlaw.moderngov.co.uk/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=174 |access-date=5 July 2024 |publisher=Bassetlaw District Council}}</ref> She was appointed as the executive member for regeneration in 2013 and became Deputy Leader in 2015.

White was elected as MP for Bassetlaw at the [2024 general election](/source/2024_United_Kingdom_general_election), defeating incumbent [Conservative](/source/Conservative_Party_(UK)) [Brendan Clarke-Smith](/source/Brendan_Clarke-Smith).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mann |first=Sebastian |date=2022-08-10 |title=Deputy council leader to stand as Labour MP |url=https://www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk/news/local-news/bassetlaw-deputy-council-leader-jo-7444731 |access-date=2024-07-05 |website=Lincolnshire Live |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=O'Neill |first=Ted |date=5 July 2024 |title=Bassetlaw General Election results as Labour's Jo White wins and Brendan Clarke-Smith loses Tory seat |url=https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/local-news/bassetlaw-general-election-results-labours-9381465 |access-date=5 July 2024 |work=Nottingham Post}}</ref>

In 2024, White founded a [red wall](/source/red_wall_(British_politics)) group of about 35 backbench Labour MPs, sometimes called the [Red Wall Caucus](/source/Red_Wall_Caucus), of which she is chair. The group has had meetings with ministers, and after the poor Labour results in the [2025 local elections](/source/2025_United_Kingdom_local_elections) it lobbied Prime Minister [Keir Starmer](/source/Keir_Starmer) to promote policies on border control, tackling anti-social behaviour, slow [GP](/source/General_practitioner) access and the cost-of-living for the working-class.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gibbons |first=Amy |date=25 December 2024 |title=Red Wall MPs tell Starmer to get tough on immigration or we will lose our seats to Reform |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/12/25/red-wall-starmer-get-tough-immigration-lose-seats-reform/ |website=The Telegraph |location=London |url-access=subscription |access-date=1 February 2025}}</ref><ref name=telegraph-20250503>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/05/03/starmer-stop-pussyfooting-labour-red-wall-chief/ |title=Starmer must stop 'pussyfooting around', says Labour Red Wall chief |last=Penna |first=Dominic |website=The Telegraph |location=London |url-access=subscription |date=3 May 2025 |access-date=3 May 2025}}</ref>

White is a Vice-Chair of [Labour Friends of Israel](/source/Labour_Friends_of_Israel).<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2024-11-27 |title=Labour Friends of Israel announces three new honorary vice-chairs |url=https://www.lfi.org.uk/labour-friends-of-israel-announces-three-new-honorary-vice-chairs/ |access-date=2024-11-27 |website=Labour Friends of Israel |language=en-US}}</ref>

== Political positions ==
In May 2025, Jo White publicly urged [Keir Starmer](/source/Keir_Starmer) to "stop pussy-footing around" and called on him to announce measures including "a national inquiry into [grooming gangs](/source/Child_sex_ring), a crackdown on immigration and investment in left-behind industrial heartlands." At the same time, White criticised the decision to restrict the [Winter Fuel Payment](/source/Winter_Fuel_Payment) to pensioners receiving means-tested benefits, likening the policy to the [poll tax](/source/Poll_tax_(Great_Britain)).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Starmer must stop 'pussyfooting around', says Labour Red Wall chief |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/05/03/starmer-stop-pussyfooting-labour-red-wall-chief/ |access-date=2025-10-28 |website=www.telegraph.co.uk}}</ref>

=== Welfare ===
White supported cuts to several benefits including [Universal Credit](/source/Universal_Credit) and changes to the eligibility criteria for the [Personal Independence Payment](/source/Personal_Independence_Payment) (PIP) announced in the [March 2025 United Kingdom spring statement](/source/March_2025_United_Kingdom_spring_statement). While endorsing the reforms, White emphasised that "the system must protect the most vulnerable", but argued that parts of the welfare system encouraged "the feckless [and] squeezing out the needy". White also suggested that some families had "adapt[ed] to a lifestyle of living on benefits".<ref>{{Cite web |last=White |first=Jo |date=2025-06-25 |title='The benefits system has become unaffordable - it needs to be reformed' |url=https://labourlist.org/2025/06/welfare-reform-benefits-unaffordable-jo-white/ |access-date=2025-10-28 |website=[LabourList](/source/LabourList) |language=en-GB}}</ref>

=== Immigration ===
White has described illegal immigration as "The key issue in my constituency" and called for the introduction of mandatory [identity cards](/source/Identity_document) to "reassure voters that illegal immigrants won't get a job or healthcare without one."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-02-05 |title=Red Wall Labour MPs want tougher message on immigration to head off Reform |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0lze0lnd25o |access-date=2025-10-28 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref> In August 2025, White called upon the government to "act to shut [asylum](/source/Asylum_seeker) hotels sooner", stating: "We need to make it far more difficult for asylum seekers to want to come to this country."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Burke |first=Dave |date=2025-08-25 |title=Asylum is Labour's 'number 1 priority' as it's warned issue is becoming 'toxic' |url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/asylum-labours-number-one-priority-35787748 |access-date=2025-10-28 |website=Daily Mirror |language=en}}</ref>{{better source needed|reason=tabloid|date=November 2025}}

== Personal life ==
White married [John Mann, Baron Mann](/source/John_Mann%2C_Baron_Mann) in 1986, with whom she has three children.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pridmore |first=Oliver |date=2024-03-14 |title=John Mann cleared over allegation that wife broke rules with leaflets |url=https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/local-news/john-mann-cleared-over-allegation-9166859 |access-date=2024-07-05 |website=Nottinghamshire Live |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Round |first=Simon |title=Interview: John Mann MP |url=https://www.thejc.com/life-and-culture/interview-john-mann-mp-tjwrs3qg |access-date=2024-07-17 |website=www.thejc.com |date=12 February 2009 |language=en}}</ref> A former Labour member was convicted of harassment against White, including mailing her a dead bird in 2012.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2012-05-18 |title=MP John Mann's wife sent dead bird in post |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-18124124 |access-date=2024-07-06 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=White |first=Joanna |title=I'm standing as a Labour candidate because I know they've changed on antisemitism |url=https://www.thejc.com/lets-talk/im-standing-as-a-labour-candidate-because-i-know-theyve-changed-on-antisemitism-tqloh2wc |access-date=2024-07-17 |website=www.thejc.com |date=28 September 2022 |language=en}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{commons category}}
{{UK MP links
| parliament = 5105
| publicwhip = Jo_White
| theywork = 26358
}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{s-bef|before=[Brendan Clarke-Smith](/source/Brendan_Clarke-Smith)}}
{{s-ttl|title=[Member of Parliament](/source/Member_of_Parliament_(United_Kingdom))<br>for [Bassetlaw](/source/Bassetlaw_(UK_Parliament_constituency))|years=[2024](/source/2024_United_Kingdom_general_election)–present}}
{{s-inc}}
{{s-end}}

{{Labour Party UK MPs}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Jo}}
Category:1964 births
Category:Living people
Category:21st-century British women politicians
Category:Alumni of the University of Manchester
Category:Councillors in Nottinghamshire
Category:Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
Category:Labour Friends of Israel
Category:Labour Party (UK) councillors
Category:Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Category:People from Bassetlaw District
Category:People from Stamford, Lincolnshire
Category:UK MPs 2024–present
Category:Women councillors in England
Category:Spouses of life peers
Category:British baronesses by marriage

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Jo White](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo_White) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jo_White?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.