Anneliese Dodds

Anneliese Jane Dodds (born 16 March 1978) is a British Labour and Co-operative politician and public policy analyst who served as Minister of State for Development and Minister of State for Women and Equalities from July 2024 to February 2025. She previously served as Chair of the Labour Party from 2021 to 2024. She was Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer from April 2020 to May 2021, the first woman to hold the position, and Shadow Secretary of State for Women and Equalities from 2021 to 2024. She has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Oxford East since 2017 and was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for South East England from 2014 to 2017. Born in Aberdeen, Dodds went to school at Robert Gordon's College, before going to read philosophy, politics and economics as an undergraduate at St Hilda's College, Oxford. Subsequently, she took a master's degree in Social Policy at the University of Edinburgh, and a PhD degree in government at the London School of Economics. She lectured in Public Policy at King's College London and Aston University. After joining the Labour Party, Dodds contested Billericay unsuccessfully at the 2005 general election and Reading East at the 2010 general election. Dodds was elected to the European Parliament at the 2014 European Parliament election. She resigned her South East England seat when she was elected to the House of Commons at the 2017 general election. She served in the Shadow Treasury Team of Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell as Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury from 2017 to 2020. In this role, she supported calls for a confirmatory referendum on Britain's withdrawal from the European Union. In April 2020, she was appointed Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer by new Labour leader Keir Starmer. She was demoted from the role in a reshuffle after the 2021 local elections, and appointed Chair of the Party and Policy Review. She gained the additional Shadow Women and Equalities Secretary brief in September 2021, following Marsha de Cordova's resignation.