One of Labour’s rising stars has claimed she is shunned by colleagues because she speaks with a middle-class, southern accent. Shadow transport secretary Mary Creagh revealed she is the victim of inverse snobbery because she does not have a ‘broad regional accent’. Miss Creagh said she had been the victim of ‘throwaway comments’ and ‘assumptions’ about her upbringing from her own side. Shadow transport secretary Mary Creagh claims she had been the victim of ¿throwaway comments¿ and ¿assumptions¿ about her upbringing from her own side . ‘People have sort of made assumptions on the basis that I don’t have a broad regional accent, and I’ve been quite quick to put them right about my background,’ the shadow minister told Total Politics magazine. ‘People assume that I’m from a more comfortable background than I actually am, and that’s actually been on my own side when that’s happened. People have made throwaway comments. ‘And I’m always very keen for people to understand that actually, it wasn’t all that easy when I was growing up in Coventry as the car factory shut down and unemployment went through the roof. Mary Creagh is a married mother-of-two who has been MP for Wakefield since 2005. She was born and brought up in Coventry. Her father, Thomas, was a car factory worker and her mother, Elizabeth, a primary school teacher. The 46-year-old went to  Bishop Ullathorne Comprehensive School in Coventry and landed a  was a scholarship at Pembroke College, Oxford to read modern languages. She worked for the London Enterprise Agency, before becoming a Labour councillor in Islington in 1998, standing down when she became an MP. She joined Ed Miliband's shadow cabinet in 2010, making a name for attacking the government over the forests sell-off, the badger cull and horsemeat burgers. ‘The fact that I went to Oxford and . acquired a kind of… lost my Coventry accent – although it does come back . in moments of high stress – it should not be, you know, I think people . make a lot of assumptions about people and they’re not necessarily . useful or helpful.' Miss Creagh, 46, a married mother-of-two who has been MP for Wakefield since 2005, was born and brought up in Coventry. Her father was a car factory worker and her mother a primary school teacher. Her remarks may surprise colleagues, since many senior Labour figures, including Ed Miliband, Ed Balls, Chuka Umunna and Tristram Hunt, also speak with southern accents. In the shadow Cabinet, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper has been accused of adopting a mysterious northern accent though she was raised in Hampshire and educated at Oxford. Miss Cooper represents the Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford constituency, a collection of former coalmining towns in Yorkshire. Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham speaks with a light northern accent, while shadow work and pensions secretary Rachel Reeves has a strong south London twang. Shadow Cabinet Office minister Michael Dugher, tipped as a potential future leader, was born and raised in Doncaster, south Yorkshire, and has a noticeable northern accent. Former TV presenter Gloria de Piero, the shadow womens’ minister, has a strong Bradford accent. In the interview, Miss Creagh defended Mr . Miliband, who has been under increasing pressure over Labour’s . narrowing poll lead and faltering response to last week’s Budget. ‘Look, Tony Blair’s not around . anymore,’ Miss Creagh said. ‘I think Ed Miliband is right to forge his . own path. I think he’s bold, creative and a very deep thinker. 'We have to show that we are different, and we are different, from those days.’ Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham has a northern accent, shadow work and pensions secretary Rachel Reeves has a strong south London twang and Labour's vice-chairman Michael Dugher was born and raised in Doncaster . She said the likes former Business Secretary Lord Mandelson could make a 'contribution' to Labour, but the party had to move on. 'Mandelson was quoted on the radio this morning, so yes, there is definitely a place for people who served under both previous prime ministers, I think, to make a contribution. 'You know, when people offer me help, wherever it comes from, I’m always grateful for it. I don’t think anybody, any individual, has a monopoly on wisdom, and I think we should take ideas from wherever they come.'
Mary Creagh was born and raised on Coventry but has southern accent .
Shadow transport secretary says she is the victim of inverse snobbery .
Labour colleagues make 'throwaway comments' and 'assumptions'
One of Labour’s rising stars has claimed she is shunned by colleagues because she speaks with a middle-class, southern accent. Shadow transport secretary Mary Creagh revealed she is the victim of inverse snobbery because she does not have a ‘broad regional accent’. Miss Creagh said she had been the victim of ‘throwaway comments’ and ‘assumptions’ about her upbringing from her own side. Shadow transport secretary Mary Creagh claims she had been the victim of ¿throwaway comments¿ and ¿assumptions¿ about her upbringing from her own side . ‘People have sort of made assumptions on the basis that I don’t have a broad regional accent, and I’ve been quite quick to put them right about my background,’ the shadow minister told Total Politics magazine. ‘People assume that I’m from a more comfortable background than I actually am, and that’s actually been on my own side when that’s happened. People have made throwaway comments. ‘And I’m always very keen for people to understand that actually, it wasn’t all that easy when I was growing up in Coventry as the car factory shut down and unemployment went through the roof. Mary Creagh is a married mother-of-two who has been MP for Wakefield since 2005. She was born and brought up in Coventry. Her father, Thomas, was a car factory worker and her mother, Elizabeth, a primary school teacher. The 46-year-old went to  Bishop Ullathorne Comprehensive School in Coventry and landed a was a scholarship at Pembroke College, Oxford to read modern languages. She worked for the London Enterprise Agency, before becoming a Labour councillor in Islington in 1998, standing down when she became an MP. She joined Ed Miliband's shadow cabinet in 2010, making a name for attacking the government over the forests sell-off, the badger cull and horsemeat burgers. ‘The fact that I went to Oxford and . acquired a kind of… lost my Coventry accent – although it does come back . in moments of high stress – it should not be, you know, I think people . make a lot of assumptions about people and they’re not necessarily . useful or helpful.' Miss Creagh, 46, a married mother-of-two who has been MP for Wakefield since 2005, was born and brought up in Coventry. Her father was a car factory worker and her mother a primary school teacher. Her remarks may surprise colleagues, since many senior Labour figures, including Ed Miliband, Ed Balls, Chuka Umunna and Tristram Hunt, also speak with southern accents. In the shadow Cabinet, shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper has been accused of adopting a mysterious northern accent though she was raised in Hampshire and educated at Oxford. Miss Cooper represents the Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford constituency, a collection of former coalmining towns in Yorkshire. Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham speaks with a light northern accent, while shadow work and pensions secretary Rachel Reeves has a strong south London twang. Shadow Cabinet Office minister Michael Dugher, tipped as a potential future leader, was born and raised in Doncaster, south Yorkshire, and has a noticeable northern accent. Former TV presenter Gloria de Piero, the shadow womens’ minister, has a strong Bradford accent. In the interview, Miss Creagh defended Mr . Miliband, who has been under increasing pressure over Labour’s . narrowing poll lead and faltering response to last week’s Budget. ‘Look, Tony Blair’s not around . anymore,’ Miss Creagh said. ‘I think Ed Miliband is right to forge his . own path. I think he’s bold, creative and a very deep thinker. 'We have to show that we are different, and we are different, from those days.’ Shadow health secretary Andy Burnham has a northern accent, shadow work and pensions secretary Rachel Reeves has a strong south London twang and Labour's vice-chairman Michael Dugher was born and raised in Doncaster . She said the likes former Business Secretary Lord Mandelson could make a 'contribution' to Labour, but the party had to move on. 'Mandelson was quoted on the radio this morning, so yes, there is definitely a place for people who served under both previous prime ministers, I think, to make a contribution. 'You know, when people offer me help, wherever it comes from, I’m always grateful for it. I don’t think anybody, any individual, has a monopoly on wisdom, and I think we should take ideas from wherever they come.'
middle-class, southern accent. Shadow transport secretary Mary Creagh revealed she is the victim been the victim of ‘throwaway comments’ and side. Shadow transport secretary Mary Creagh born and raised in Doncaster, south Yorkshire,