Thank you for visiting this website. It is designed to help you find out more about my current work, and what I did during the eight years that I was the Member of Parliament for Bethnal Green & Bow in East London.

Today I Chair an organisation that I founded called THANCS � Tower Hamlets Advocacy Network & Community Support. It aims to get ordinary people�s voices heard by government, and to connect people with politics. It is non-party political. THANCS reaches out to anyone who thinks politics should be done in a more positive way. We think parliament should take people�s views into account not just every five years at an election, but every day. If you are interested in joining THANCS please see the section for more information (although we�re based in Tower Hamlets, we have a national remit and welcome members from around the country).

The issue I am most passionate about is poverty reduction, both in the UK and abroad. I continue to work with the All Party Parliamentary Group on Genocide Prevention and the Great Lakes Region � I founded this group in 1998, and I am proud that today over 100 MPs are members. We have had notable successes in our work on conflict resolution, and have been commended by the UN Security Council�s Expert Panel for our recommendations on UN peace-keeping.

I also work with the media, and am part of the team that makes the Sky News 7 o Clock show, combining politics and culture. I write for various newspapers and magazines, including the Guardian and the New Statesman. I am very excited about another project I have Chaired for five years, called the Rich Mix Foundation. This is an arts and cultural centre that aims to connect communities and cultures through world-class art in the heart of the East End.

I have recently written a pamphlet for the IPPR (Institute of Public Policy & Research) called �The Battle to Engage�, which looks at what we must do to reduce poverty and inequality, and how this should be linked to a progressive consensus that breaths life into our democracy. That brings me back to THANCS. Politics shouldn�t just be for politicians. If it is, our democracy will wither. So I hope you might be interested in this and other work.

Finally, on a personal note, I live with my Italian husband, Tiberio, in Mile End. I was born in Sheffield, and brought up in Camden, London. My father is African-American from Georgia. My mother is Jewish from Newcastle - and her grandparents were Scottish, Irish, and Hungarian. I was proud to represent London's East End, so diverse, and so often a gateway to the world. And I am excited now to carry on living and working in London�s East End, soon to host the Olympic Games.

Thank you for visiting this site, and I hope you find it of use. - Oona