James “Jim” Riley

[Ruth Murphy]

 

Name: James “Jim” Riley

Avatar: David Harbour

Age: 48. (b. 9th January 1973).

Sex: Male.

Ethnicity: White.

Marital Status: Single.

Sexual Orientation: Bisexual [not ‘out’ but it’s not a secret either. Has only had one serious relationship – with a woman]. 

Party: Labour. 

Political Outlook: Labour centre, so somewhere in the Open Labour-Brownite space with a fondness for Blue Labour economics. 

Constituency: Liverpool West Derby. 

Year Elected: 2017. 

Education: 

• Thomas Gray Primary School, Bootle (1977-1984). 
• St George of England High School, Bootle (1984-1991).
• BA Jurisprudence, University of Oxford (1991-1994). 
• MJur, University of Oxford (1994-1995). 
• LPC, University of Law Manchester (1995-1996).

Career: 

• Solicitor, Thompsons Solicitors (1996-2000).
• Senior Solicitor, Thompsons Solicitors (2000-2001).
• Head Trade Union Unit, Thompsons (2001-2005).
• Head of Military Claims Unit, Thompsons (2005-2009). 
• UNISON, Senior Legal Officer (2009-2013). 
• Head of Legal, TUC (2013-2015). 

Political Career: 

• Member of Parliament for Liverpool West Derby (2017-). 

James “Jim” Riley was born in Bootle to 1973. His father was a docker and his mother a housewife. Jim states he had a “pleasant, straightforward” childhood. Despite his working class background, he was noted to have been an exceptional student and was encouraged by his teachers to aim high. 

He became the first in his family to go to University and the first in his sixth form to go to Oxbridge, where he studied law. Having been considered to be an exceptional mind in law, he obtained his MJur at Oxford and moved back up North to complete his LPC in Manchester. 

A Labour Party member since 16 and passionate defender of the Trade Unions with deep family links, Jim specialised in employment law and worked with Thompson’s Solicitors due to their connections to the Trade Union movement. He worked in the Liverpool and Manchester branches and quickly rose up the ranks, heading up crucial branches and divisions in the country. 

After 9 years of working at Thompsons, Jim moved on to work within UNISON and eventually headed the legal division within the TUC. He left but was respected as one of the country’s most respected Employment solicitors, and had provided advice to the Business, Defence and DWP Select Committees and legal guidance to various charities, organisations, councils and Trade Unions whilst doing freelance work after leaving the TUC. 

Working primarily in his home city of Merseyside, Jim was selected to be the Member of Parliament for Liverpool West Derby and won (to no surprise) in 2017. Jim has not been a notable MP, and was neither a noted Corbyn loyalist nor rebel. Following the disastrous 2019 General Election, he supported Lisa Nandy for leader and Angela Rayner for Deputy Leader.

He is a member of the following AAPGs: Carers, Children of Alcoholics, Green New Deal, Homelessness, Immigration Law and Policy, Liverpool City Region, Northern Culture, Palestine and Youth Affairs. He is the chair of the Homelessness AAPG. He is vice chair of the Northern Culture and Green New Deal AAPGs. 

In his personal life, Jim lives with his sister and his mother, with his sister being his mother’s carer. He is a lapsed Catholic. He is “not strictly teetotal, but virtually teetotal” and is interested in boxing, football and Scandi noirs. 

Edited June 27, 2022 by James Riley