Christopher Lennie, Baron Lennie

Christopher John Lennie, Baron Lennie (born 22 February 1953) is a British politician and life peer who served as Deputy General Secretary of the Labour Party from 2001 to 2012.^[1][2] He has been an Opposition Whip in the House of Lords since 2016 and a Shadow Spokesperson since 2021.

The Right Honourable The Lord Lennie
Official portrait, 2024
Deputy General Secretary of the Labour Party
In office 2001–2012 Serving with Alicia Kennedy (2006–11)
Leader	Tony Blair Gordon Brown Ed Miliband
General Secretary	David Triesman Matt Carter Peter Watt Ray Collins Iain McNicol
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Assumed office 22 September 2014 Life peerage
Personal details
Born	(1953-02-22) February 22, 1953 (age 72)
Political party	Labour
Other offices 2016–present: Opposition Whip in the Lords 2021–present: Shadow BEIS Spokesperson 2021–present: Shadow International Trade Spokesperson

Political career

Lennie was regional director of the Labour Party in Northern England, and appointed Assistant General Secretary of the national party after the 2001 general election.^[3] He also served as Acting General Secretary on a couple of occasions.

He was shortlisted alongside Iain McNicol, then GMB Political Officer, to become General Secretary of the Labour Party in 2011. Despite reportedly being party leader's Ed Miliband's favoured candidate,^[4] Labour's NEC selected McNicol in a move seen as a departure from the New Labour era.^[5]

Lennie was appointed as a life peer in the House of Lords on 22 September 2014, as Baron Lennie of Longsands Tynemouth in the County of Tyne and Wear.^[6] He joined the opposition front bench as a whip in October 2016, and became a Shadow Spokesperson for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and International Trade in May 2021.