Danielle Rowley

Danielle Rowley (born 25 February 1990) is a Scottish Labour politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Midlothian from 2017 to 2019.

Early life and education Danielle Rowley was born on 25 February 1990 and grew up on a council estate in Dalkeith. Her father is Scottish Labour politician Alex Rowley and her late mother was a trade unionist. Both her grandfathers were Labour Party activists and miners. She was educated at Dalkeith High School and graduated from Edinburgh Napier University with a journalism degree in 2014. She went on to be elected as the Member of Parliament for the constituency with a majority of 885 votes over the sitting Scottish National party MP Owen Thompson. Shortly after her election, Rowley was appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry. She sat on the Scottish Affairs Select Committee from September 2017 to November 2019.

She chaired Richard Leonard's successful 2017 Scottish Labour leadership campaign to become Leader of the Scottish Labour Party, following Kezia Dugdale's decision to resign.

Rowley supported the United Kingdom (UK) remaining within the European Union (EU) in the 2016 UK EU membership referendum. In the indicative votes on 27 March 2019, she voted for a referendum on a Brexit withdrawal agreement, for the Norway-plus model, and for a customs union with the EU.

On 21 June 2019, Rowley was appointed as Shadow Minister for Climate Justice and Green Jobs, a new role. At the 2019 United Kingdom general election, Rowley lost her seat to Scottish National Party candidate Owen Thompson by a majority of 5,705. Thompson had previously held the seat from 2015 to 2017.

During the 2020 Labour leadership election, Rowley managed Emily Thornberry's unsuccessful campaign. In the same year, Rowley became the Head of Policy & Communications at the Scottish branch of the charity Samaritans.

Personal life Rowley has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. In January 2021, she had a son.