Stella Creasy

Stella Creasy - MP - 2017

Stella Judith Creasy (born 5 April 1977) is a British Labour and Co-operative politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for the London constituency of Walthamstow since the 2010 general election.

She served in the frontbench teams of Ed Miliband and Harriet Harman from 2011 to 2015. Following the Labour Party's defeat at the 2015 general election, Creasy stood in the Labour Party deputy leadership election, finishing second to Tom Watson. She was a critic of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and supported Owen Smith in the failed attempt to replace Corbyn in the 2016 leadership election.

Quotes

2015–2022

• Hogwarts gone wrong.
  • Describing the Westminster parliament, cited in Esther Addley "Stella Creasy: 'New politics? I'm still waiting for that to happen'" The Guardian (1 November 2015).

• What the police have said, literally, is: "If we recorded it, we will have to do something about it." And you think, yes, that’s absolutely the point.
• We now need the data to know the extent of what is happening, and what we are hearing from police who are doing it is that it transforms the way they deal with violence against women, because it makes the link between misogyny and violence.
  • Cited in Andrew Sparrow "Labour mayors back plan to make police record misogyny as hate crime" The Guardian (5 July 2020).
  • On Creasy's proposed amendment to the Domestic Abuse Bill which would mean police forces would need to record misogyny as a factor in criminal acts.

• [W]e know from police trials that classifying misogyny as a hate crime can encourage women to come forward, about domestic abuse, rape, forced marriages – there are lots of examples of how it can make a difference. All the evidence shows that this can make a difference. For comparison, there is a requirement to say if skin colour is a reason for why someone has been targeted.
  There are so many crimes that women have internalised. We have asked women to find ways of coping rather than asking the police to intervene and stop it.
  • Quoted by Susannah Butter "Stella Creasy: ‘There has never been a more important time to change the culture so women can feel safe’" Evening Standard (London, 16 March 2021).
  • Known as Amendment 84, it was withdrawn after debate.

• Why do we think motherhood should be about sacrifice in some way – that every mother should be a martyr? I don’t want to be a martyr – I just want to be a good mum and a good MP.
  • Cited in Gaby Hinsliff "Stella Creasy on her lonely maternity cover battle: ‘Women should be able to have kids and do politics’" The Guardian (30 October 2021).
  • In the context of Creasy's campaign for maternity cover for female MPs.

• Do I think some women were born with penises? Yes [...] But they are now women and I respect that.
• JK Rowling doesn't support self-identification whereas I do. Of course biological sex is real – it’s just not the end of the conversation. I am somebody who would say that a trans woman is an adult human female. I would say that you and I were adult human females. ...
  [O]ne of the things that happens to trans women is that they are oppressed because the patriarchy goes, "Oh well you’re a woman, right that's it, let's pick you apart". So it's right for me to stand with my trans sisters and say: "Let's fight these battles together".
• [Tominey: "Describing as 'bonkers' the need for two doctors to decide whether someone is a woman or not [gender dysphoria], as the law currently requires, [Creasy] adds":] That brings up all sorts of questions about what is a woman in terms of gender – what does it mean to live as a woman? I wear flat shoes, I’ve got terrible bunions, is someone going to tell me that living as a woman means you have to wear high heels for two years?
  Do I want to live in a world where we’re policing everyone who goes into a toilet? No. Do I recognise that there are very real concerns about refuges and safe spaces? Yes.
  • Interviewed by Camilla Tominey, as cited in "Stella Creasy: 'JK Rowling is wrong – a woman can have a penis'", The Telegraph (27 May 2022).

• Watching this I am concerned that the prime minister thinks homeless means "doesn't have a country pile at the moment".
  • As cited in "'Do you work in business?' Sunak mocked for 'excruciating' exchange with homeless man", The Observer (24 December 2022)
  • After an exchange when Rishi Sunak was volunteering at a soup kitchen the previous day which was covered in television news reports. Asked by Sunak if he would like to enter the finance industry, the man said: "I wouldn't mind, but I don't know, I'd like to get through Christmas first."

2023–present

• [W]e should all welcome the protection from sex-based harassment in a public bill. It echoes the way that hate crime legislation penalises those who target certain groups based on their identity, by using an existing offence used to prosecute harassment – from the Public Order Act 1986 – and applying a harsher sentence to those whose motivation is shown to be about the sex or perceived sex of their victim. It is the first time the statute book will recognise how misogyny drives crimes against women.
  Yet, as ever, nothing is straightforward. Public order offences allow the accused to claim a defence that they thought their behaviour was "reasonable", even if no one else would. This contrasts with other legislation that also covers harassment in English law, and only allows a defendant to claim their behaviour is reasonable if others would agree; that they "ought to know" if their conduct was unacceptable. Without changing this element of the forthcoming public harassment bill to be consistent with how harassment operates elsewhere, this new law – while well-intentioned – risks giving perpetrators the opportunity to claim "she just can’t take a compliment" as an actual defence to a criminal offence.
  • "Thousands of men harass women and say it was a compliment. Don’t let them get away with it" The Guardian (21 February 2023).

• "[D]on't feed the trolls" misses the point: if someone is obsessing about you to the point they are seeking out those around you, ignoring them won't disrupt their behaviour before it causes more damage.
  • "My harasser reported me to social services. I got him convicted", The Times (4 December 2023).
  • A harasser had made malicious communications to agencies like social services about Stella Creasy and her family. He was convicted under anti-stalking legislation Creasy had helped to draft.

• Now that the parliamentary security team requests the details of your daily travel plans – when you'll be visiting your local supermarket, or the pub – it's hard not to feel that something has gone very wrong. Indeed, my local council records me as a safeguarding risk to my own children because of the threats I face as an MP.
  • "Death and rape threats, bricks through windows: MPs must be able to serve without living in fear", The Guardian (22 February 2024).