Rachel Nancy Blake is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Cities of London and Westminster constituency since 2024.[1][2][3][4][5] She ran as the Labour Co-op candidate, winning the seat with 39% of the vote. Blake previously served as a councillor in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets for the Bow East ward from 2014 to 2024[6][7] and as deputy mayor in Tower Hamlets from 2018 until 2022.[2]
Career
Blake attended Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, graduating with a BA degree in 2001,[8] before studying for a master's degree in Social Policy at the London School of Economics. She joined the Labour Party in 2003. Early in her career, she was a policy advisor at HM Treasury under then-Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown[2] and was a member of Kate Barker's team on a Review of Land Use Planning which was published in December 2006.[9] From 2009 to 2013, she was a manager at East London Housing Partnership.[10]
In May 2014, Blake was elected as a Labour Party councillor for the Bow East ward on Tower Hamlets London Borough Council,[11] before her appointment to Tower Hamlets' Cabinet in July 2015.[12] Blake resigned in July 2024 after her election as the MP for the Cities of London and Westminster constituency.[13]
Representing the Local Government Association at a hearing of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee in June 2021, she claimed that national regulations often held back and undermined local ambition and innovation on climate change. She called for more ambitious building standards on energy efficiency, but noted that competitions for funding meant councils often wasted resources on bidding.[14] At a Local Government Association community wellbeing ward in December 2021 she attacked poor organisation of the COVID-19 vaccine booster programme.[15]
Rachel Blake is vice-chair of the Labour Housing Group.[16] She was previously the secretary of the London Labour Housing Group[17] and a member of the London Legacy Development Corporation Board. She has campaigned for tougher regulations of short-term rentals in London,[18] housing improvements and other built environment issues.[3][19][20]
Personal life
Blake was born in Manchester and grew up in London,[21] where she currently lives. Her partner, Marc Francis,[22] is a fellow Tower Hamlets borough councillor. She has two sons. She is a member of Unison and the GMB Union.
