Biography

Joan Marie Ryan (born 8 September 1955) is a British Labour Party politician. She has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Enfield North since 2015, having previously represented the constituency from 1997–2010. She is currently chair of the Labour Friends of Israel (LFI). Ryan studied sociology and worked as a teacher in London before being elected as a councillor on Barnet London Borough Council in 1990. She served as deputy leader of the council from 1994–1998. She was a government whip under Tony Blair from 2002–2006, a junior Home Office minister from 2006–2007, and the Prime Minister's Special Representative to Cyprus from 2007–2008. She lost her seat in the 2010 general election to Conservative Nick de Bois, and was deputy campaign director of NOtoAV in the 2011 Alternative Vote referendum. Ryan was re-elected in Enfield North in the 2015 general election. She became chair of LFI in 2015, and has been noted as a critic of the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn.