{{Short description|British politician and journalist}} {{other people}} {{for|the place|Yangyuan County}} {{family name hatnote|Yang ({{lang|zh|杨}})|lang=Chinese}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Use British English|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Yuan Yang | native_name = {{nobold|杨缘}} | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|MP}} | image = Official portrait of Yuan Yang MP crop 2.jpg | caption = Official portrait, 2024 | office = Member of Parliament<br />for Earley and Woodley | term_start = 4 July 2024 | term_end = | predecessor = ''Constituency created'' | majority = 848 (1.9%) | successor = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1990}} | birth_place = Ningbo, Zhejiang, China | spouse = | children = | relatives = | party = Labour | education = Bradford Grammar School | alma_mater = {{nowrap|Balliol College, Oxford (BA)}}<br>{{nowrap|London School of Economics}} (MSc) | module2 = {{Infobox Chinese | child = yes | s = 杨缘 | t = 楊緣 | p = Yáng yuán}} | citizenship = United Kingdom<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-06-04 |title=Employment Rights Bill - Hansard - UK Parliament |url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2024-10-21/debates/DC4CA46C-E3A4-4A75-A0AA-5143E3E12585/EmploymentRightsBill#contribution-CCE5044E-1803-45D9-847A-999D738BAA73 |access-date=2025-04-06 |website=hansard.parliament.uk |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Lawrence |first=Elizabeth |date=2024-05-22 |title="Private Revolutions: Four Women Face China's New Social Order" by Yuan Yang |url=https://asianreviewofbooks.com/private-revolutions-four-women-face-chinas-new-social-order-by-yuan-yang/ |access-date=2025-04-06 |language=en-US}}</ref> }} '''Yuan Yang''' ({{lang-zh|c=杨缘}}; born 1990)<ref name="bloomsbury" /> is a British Labour Party politician, economist and journalist serving as Member of Parliament for Earley and Woodley since 2024. Yang is the first Chinese-born Briton to be elected to the UK Parliament,<ref name=":0" /> and the third of Chinese ethnicity after Alan Mak<ref>{{Cite news |date=2015-05-08 |title=Britain gains first ethnic Chinese MP |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/election-2015-32663252 |access-date=2025-04-06 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref> and Sarah Owen<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.politics.co.uk/reference/owen-sarah/ |title=Sarah Owen MP|access-date=2026-02-04|language=en-GB}}</ref>.
She was formerly the UK-based Europe–China correspondent for the ''Financial Times''.
==Early life and education== Yang was born in Ningbo in China,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/magazines/culture-magazine/article/private-revolutions-by-yuan-yang-review-j6r0f8rzn|title=Private Revolutions by Yuan Yang review — growing up in modern China|newspaper=The Times|first=Christina|last=Patterson|date=2024-05-19|access-date=2024-07-06|archive-date=8 June 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240608113613/https://www.thetimes.com/magazines/culture-magazine/article/private-revolutions-by-yuan-yang-review-j6r0f8rzn|url-status=live}}</ref> growing up in the southwestern Sichuan province.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://qz.com/2043655/yuan-yang-the-witness-to-declining-press-freedom-in-china|title=Yuan Yang, the British-Chinese journalist witnessing the decline of press freedom in China|first=Annabelle|last=Timsit|date=23 August 2021|website=Quartz|access-date=9 July 2024|archive-date=6 July 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240706183350/https://qz.com/2043655/yuan-yang-the-witness-to-declining-press-freedom-in-china|url-status=live}}</ref> She was raised by her maternal grandparents in a work unit (''danwei'').<ref>{{cite news |last1=Eaton |first1=George |title=Labour's Yuan Yang: "There is deep class anxiety in China" |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/encounter/2024/05/labours-yuan-yang-there-is-deep-class-anxiety-in-china |access-date=8 July 2024 |work=New Statesman |date=22 May 2024 |archive-date=27 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240627005036/https://www.newstatesman.com/encounter/2024/05/labours-yuan-yang-there-is-deep-class-anxiety-in-china |url-status=live }}</ref> At the age of four, she moved to the north of England with her parents – moving between Manchester and Leeds.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Bradshaw |first=Kit |date=27 August 2024 |title=First Chinese-born MP Yuan Yang 'felt like an outsider' when she came to UK as child |url=https://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2024-08-27/first-chinese-born-mp-felt-like-an-outsider-when-she-came-to-uk-as-child |website=ITV News Meridian}}</ref><ref name="auto"/> Yang became "very passionate about writing" as a child, and explained that her passion was "encouraged by my teachers and by a group called The Yorkshire Writing Squad that I joined as a teenager".<ref name="auto"/>
Yang received a bursary to attend the fee-paying Bradford Grammar School, graduating in 2008.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Alred |first=Jessica |title=Yuan Yang |url=https://www.bradfordgrammar.com/portfolio-items/yuan-yang/ |access-date=2024-07-09 |website=Bradford Grammar School |language=en-GB}}</ref> She studied for a bachelor's degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Balliol College, Oxford, graduating in 2011 with first-class honours.<ref name="BalliolAnnualRecord">{{cite magazine |title=Annual Record |url=https://www.balliol.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/annual_record_for_web.pdf |magazine=Balliol College Annual Record |page=100 |publisher=Balliol College |access-date=4 July 2024 |archive-date=5 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240705232450/https://www.balliol.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/annual_record_for_web.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> She was the sabbatical women's officer in the Oxford Student 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>
During the 2008 financial crisis, she co-founded Rethinking Economics, a non-profit campaign that Yang described as coming from the belief that "students should be able to choose among different schools of thought" with regards to economics education.<ref>{{cite web |date=10 April 2015 |title=Students weigh the value of new economics course |url=https://www.ft.com/content/fc2eb464-d93d-11e4-b907-00144feab7de |website=Financial Times |access-date=7 June 2023 |archive-date=29 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230529001047/https://www.ft.com/content/fc2eb464-d93d-11e4-b907-00144feab7de |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="yahoo">{{cite web |date=23 August 2021 |title=Yuan Yang, the British-Chinese journalist witnessing the decline of press freedom in China |url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/yuan-yang-british-chinese-journalist-110654581.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS91cmw_cT1odHRwcyUzQSUyRiUyRmZpbmFuY2UueWFob28uY29tJTJGbmV3cyUyRnl1YW4teWFuZy1icml0aXNoLWNoaW5lc2Utam91cm5hbGlzdC0xMTA2NTQ1ODEuaHRtbCZzYT1EJnNvdXJjZT1kb2NzJnVzdD0xNjg2MTc5Mjc0MDczNTA4JnVzZz1BT3ZWYXcyUGF3MDJTbGNRMkZFMU8xZ2FYRlpS&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAIgDsT4iamH86xXdnNC9sl8TyALkEfAZ9cqMxj2eYLNzjBdeElh3EliNYTMa1dvLQ2qv5pzTJi2hDSx9nTIBn_dpBYb3rOtLRkKyAKUQKNejCf5XCYqGZClPXX1GxHssho7zkKoXLbSzqCj9V_SaY_9Y2wfg7sfOIMZQQOOk8k2P |website=Yahoo Finance}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Yuan Yang |url=https://www.ft.com/yuan-yang |website=Financial Times |access-date=7 June 2023 |archive-date=7 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230607022019/http://www.ft.com/yuan-yang |url-status=live }}</ref> Yang expressed the hope that the campaign would provide a space for students wanting to address "real world economic issues, broader questions of economic justice and reforming the real economy."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.worldeconomicsassociation.org/newsletterarticles/interview-with-yuan-yang/|title=Interview with Yuan Yang on Rethinking Economics and WEA's Young Economists Network (YEN) | World Economics Association|website=www.worldeconomicsassociation.org|access-date=9 July 2024|archive-date=23 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240123165834/https://www.worldeconomicsassociation.org/newsletterarticles/interview-with-yuan-yang/|url-status=live}}</ref>
Yang attended the London School of Economics from 2012–2013, studying for an MSc in economics. She studied at Peking University in 2013 as part of a Chinese government sponsored programme.<ref name="auto"/>
== Journalism == In a 2021 interview with ''Quartz'', Yang noted that she initially intended to become a poet but pivoted to journalism by accident.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Timsit |first=Annabelle |date=2021-08-23 |title=Yuan Yang, the British-Chinese journalist witnessing the decline of press freedom in China |url=https://qz.com/2043655/yuan-yang-the-witness-to-declining-press-freedom-in-china |access-date=2024-07-06 |website=Quartz |language=en |archive-date=6 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240706183350/https://qz.com/2043655/yuan-yang-the-witness-to-declining-press-freedom-in-china |url-status=live }}</ref>
She began her journalism career as a Marjorie Deane intern in the economics section of ''The Economist'' magazine.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-03-09 |title=Internships |url=https://marjoriedeane.com/internships/ |access-date=2024-07-06 |website=Marjorie Deane Financial Journalism Foundation |language=en |archive-date=30 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240330025005/https://marjoriedeane.com/internships/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
In 2016, she moved to China as an economics correspondent for the ''Financial Times''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ft.com/content/8e96d1ae-ab83-11e8-94bd-cba20d67390c|title='I am an expat in the country I was born in'|website=www.ft.com|date=6 September 2018 |access-date=9 July 2024|archive-date=25 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220925064205/https://www.ft.com/content/8e96d1ae-ab83-11e8-94bd-cba20d67390c|url-status=live |last1=Yang |first1=Yuan }}</ref> She has served as deputy Beijing bureau chief for the ''FT'', and covered China's technology sector and economy. Yang is also a regular contributor to ''BBC News''.<ref name=yahoo/>
In May 2024, Yang's book<ref name="bloomsbury">{{cite web |url=https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/private-revolutions-9781526655929/ |title=Private Revolutions |last=Yang |first=Yuan |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |date=9 May 2024 |website=Bloomsbury Publishing |access-date=2 June 2024 |archive-date=2 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240602201624/https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/private-revolutions-9781526655929/ |url-status=live }}</ref> ''Private Revolutions'' was published by Bloomsbury Publishing.<ref name=book>{{cite web| url =https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/bloomsbury-wins-four-way-auction-for-major-talent-yuan-yang| title =Bloomsbury wins four-way auction for 'major talent' Yuan Yang| date =8 February 2022| website =Book Seller| access-date =7 June 2023| archive-date =8 February 2022| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20220208095544/https://www.thebookseller.com/rights/bloomsbury-wins-four-way-auction-for-major-talent-yuan-yang| url-status =live}}</ref> The book is about the coming of age of four women born in China in the 1980s and 1990s, in a society about to change beyond recognition. It was shortlisted for the 2025 Women's Prize for Non-Fiction.<ref name=schaub>{{Cite web |last=Schaub |first=Michael |date=March 27, 2025 |title=Women's Prize for Non-Fiction Shortlist Revealed |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-features/articles/womens-prize-for-non-fiction-shortlist-revealed/ |access-date=13 June 2025 |website=Kirkus Reviews |language=en |archive-date=1 April 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250401011747/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-features/articles/womens-prize-for-non-fiction-shortlist-revealed/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Political career== In December 2023, Yang was announced as the Labour Party candidate for Earley and Woodley<ref>{{Cite web |title=Yang Yang PPC – Earley and Woodley CLP |url=https://earleyandwoodleylabour.com/yuanyang/ |access-date=22 May 2024 |website=Earley and Woodley Labour CLP |language=en-GB |archive-date=2 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240602202004/https://earleyandwoodleylabour.com/yuanyang/ |url-status=live }}</ref> in the 2024 general election.<ref>{{Cite web |date=18 December 2023 |title=Yuan Yang selected as Labour candidate for new Earley and Woodley MP seat |url=https://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/news/23996957.labour-candidate-earley-woodley-mp-seat-selected/ |access-date=23 December 2023 |website=Reading Chronicle |language=en}}</ref> Her family had lived in Earley for 14 years prior to her selection.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=https://wokingham.today/vote-2024-earley-and-woodley-labour-candidate-is-honoured-to-be-standing-in-the-new-seat/|title=VOTE 2024: Earley and Woodley Labour candidate is 'honoured' to be standing in the new seat – Wokingham.Today|date=22 May 2024 }}</ref> Yang explained that part of her motivation for standing derived from witnessing "the damage austerity has done to our community" in the area.<ref name="auto1"/>
In July 2024, she won the newly created constituency with 18,209 votes, beating the Conservative party candidate who received 17,361 votes,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://wokingham.today/general-election-2024-labours-yuan-yang-wins-earley-woodley-seat/ |title=General Election 2024: Labour's Yuan Yang wins Earley & Woodley seat |work=Wokingham Today |date=5 July 2024 |access-date=5 July 2024 |archive-date=5 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240705202557/https://wokingham.today/general-election-2024-labours-yuan-yang-wins-earley-woodley-seat/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and becoming the UK's first Chinese-born MP. Before she was an MP, Yang backed the rights of Hongkongers in the United Kingdom and was critical of the Chinese government's 2020 Hong Kong national security law.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Tse |first=Hans |date=5 July 2024 |title=Yuan Yang becomes UK's the first Chinese-born lawmaker |url=http://hongkongfp.com/2024/07/05/former-journalist-yuan-yang-becomes-uks-first-chinese-born-lawmaker-as-labour-win-general-election-landslide/ |access-date=5 July 2024 |language=en-GB}}</ref>
As Yang is a Quaker,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Yang |first1=Yuan |title=Democracy begins with us |url=https://www.newstatesman.com/ideas/2024/07/democracy-begins-with-us-yuan-yang |access-date=10 July 2024 |work=New Statesman |date=2 July 2024}}</ref> she was sworn in to parliament by taking a solemn affirmation on 10 July 2024.<ref>{{Cite tweet |user=YuanfenYang |number=1810999204480757833 |title=I was 'sworn in' to Parliament this morning, so now our new constituency of Earley, Woodley, Shinfield and Whitley has its first ever fully-fledged MP! This is just the start – over the summer I'll be hiring for my constituency office & scouting out surgery venues. Get in touch! [Media]}}</ref>
In October, Yang was elected as a member of the Treasury Select Committee,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Treasury Committee membership appointed - Committees - UK Parliament |url=https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/158/treasury-committee/news/203450/treasury-committee-membership-appointed/ |access-date=2025-04-10 |website=committees.parliament.uk |language=en}}</ref> on which she has raised issues with the quality of labour-force inactivity data. In November 2024 she became chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Social Science and Policy.<ref>{{Cite web |title=All Party Parliamentary Group On Social Science and Policy |url=https://socialscienceappg.co.uk/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240618233937/https://socialscienceappg.co.uk/ |archive-date=18 June 2024 |access-date=2025-04-10 |website=socialscienceappg.co.uk |language=en-US |url-status=live }}</ref>
Yang has campaigned for Reading FC to be sold, in response to the current ownership crisis.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Yang |first=Yuan |date=2025-03-09 |title=FROM THE MP: Yuan Yang – Reading FC is vital to our local community |url=https://wokingham.today/from-the-mp-yuan-yang-reading-fc-is-vital-to-our-local-community/ |access-date=2025-04-10 |work=Wokingham Today}}</ref> In February 2025, alongside fan group Sell Before We Dai, she ran a petition calling for an inquiry into Reading FC’s absent owner which garnered over 10,000 signatures.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-02-28 |title=Petition to save Reading FC reaches 10k signatures in ONE WEEK |url=https://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/news/24972313.reading-fc-petition-reaches-10k-signatures-one-week/ |access-date=2025-04-10 |website=Reading Chronicle |language=en}}</ref> In March 2025 Yang secured a backbench parliamentary debate on the financial sustainability of football.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-03-07 |title=Berkshire MPs speak out in Parliament during Reading and Football Governance debate |url=https://www.readingchronicle.co.uk/news/24989056.reading-fc-football-governance-debate-hits-parliament/ |access-date=2025-04-10 |website=Reading Chronicle |language=en}}</ref>
Yang has supported tougher regulation of property management companies.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rip-off management fees - Campaign {{!}} Yuan Yang |url=https://www.yuanforearleyandwoodley.org/management-charges |access-date=2025-04-10 |website=Yuan Yang MP |language=en}}</ref>
In April 2025, Yang was detained, questioned, and denied entry to Israel alongside fellow Labour MP Abtisam Mohamed and two members of staff from the British NGOs who were hosting the delegation; the two MPs stated they were attempting to visit the occupied West Bank as part of a Parliamentary delegation.<ref name="news.sky.com">{{Cite web |title=Furious row after Labour MPs denied entry to Israel - as Lammy criticises 'disgraceful' Badenoch response |url=https://news.sky.com/story/labour-mps-yuan-yang-and-abtisam-mohamed-denied-entry-and-deported-from-israel-13343009 |access-date=2025-04-10 |website=Sky News |language=en}}</ref> Speaking about the incident in the House of Commons, Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer said: “They had both been granted entry clearance in advance of travelling to Israel [...] their treatment is unacceptable and deeply concerning”.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-04 |title=Israel: Refusal of Entry for UK Parliamentarians - Hansard - UK Parliament |url=https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2025-04-07/debates/241C7C28-7248-4721-AB27-648A30D58719/IsraelRefusalOfEntryForUKParliamentarians |access-date=2025-04-10 |website=hansard.parliament.uk |language=en}}</ref>
The Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, responded to the incident saying: “It is unacceptable, counterproductive, and deeply concerning that two British MPs on a parliamentary delegation to Israel have been detained and refused entry by the Israeli authorities."<ref name="news.sky.com"/>
On 11 May 2026, she called on Keir Starmer to resign after the poor results in the 2026 United Kingdom local elections.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sparrow |first=Andrew |date=2026-05-11 |title=Three ministerial aides quit and demand Keir Starmer’s resignation as speech fails to quell rebellion – UK politics live |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2026/may/11/keir-starmer-labour-leadership-speech-angela-rayner-wes-streeting-andy-burnham-catherine-west-may-elections-uk-politics-latest-news-updates |access-date=2026-05-11 |work=the Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
== Further reading ==
* {{cite news |last1=Cheung |first1=Rachel |title=Yuan Yang on China's Gender and Rural-Urban Divides |url=https://www.thewirechina.com/2024/09/08/yuan-yang-on-chinas-gender-and-rural-urban-divides/ |access-date=9 September 2024 |publisher=The Wire China |date=8 September 2024}}
==External links== {{Commons category}} *{{official website}} {{UK MP links | parliament = 5267 | publicwhip = Yuan_Yang | theywork = 26600 }} <!-- per WP:ELMINOFFICIAL, choose one official website only -->
{{Labour Party UK MPs}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yang, Yuan}} Category:Living people Category:1990 births Category:Politicians from Ningbo Category:Politicians from Leeds Category:Writers from Ningbo Category:Chinese emigrants to England Category:21st-century British journalists Category:British women economists Category:Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Category:Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Category:UK MPs 2024–present Category:21st-century British women politicians Category:Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Category:Alumni of the London School of Economics Category:Financial Times people Category:People educated at Bradford Grammar School Category:British Quakers Category:21st-century British women journalists