Meet the team

Diane Abbott - a serial rebel

Born in London in 1953, the daughter of a Jamaican welder and a nurse, Diane was Britain's first black woman MP.

She worked at the Home Office, the National Council for Civil Liberties and Thames TV before entering Parliament as a Labour MP at the 1987 general election.

She became known as a feisty firebrand, and lit up the Commons Treasury select committee with her relentless questioning.

Her straight manner was never better expressed than in a comment to the then governor of the Bank of England, Sir Edward George: "You're just an inflation nutter, aren't you?"

She was one of the first Labour MPs openly to criticise Peter Mandelson, Tony Blair's close confidant, famously calling him a source of "poison" in the government. Diane isn't afraid to step out of party line and is a serial rebel against the government.

As a pupil at Harrow County Grammar School, Diane appeared as Lady Macduff in a performance that was notable for also starring Michael Portillo.