Prominent former Brexit rebel to chair Northern Ireland Affairs Committee (NIAC)
From her refusal to tow the party line during Brexit votes, to her controversial views on LGBTQ+ issues, Tonia Antoniazzi MP, the new chair of the NIAC has proven to be an independent minded and intransigent politician.
A former languages teacher and professional rugby union player for the Wales national team, Antoniazzi first came to prominence in 2018 for rebelling against her former party leader Jeremy Corbyn MP when the former Labour leader whipped his MPs to abstain on a vote to staying in the European Economic Area (EEA), which would have meant staying in the European Union’s single market.
Elected unexpectedly in 2017 to represent Gower in Westminster amid an initial surge of support for Labour under Corbyn’s leadership. She was appointed as a Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the then Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Owen Smith in 2017, before serving as PPS to the Welsh Secretary in 2018.
In her three years in the political wilderness, Antoniazzi made headlines for demanding in the House of Commons, when making a statement on 5G, that English health officials state that “all radio frequency signals are a possible human carcinogen”.
Antoniazzi has also been accused of “trying to erase official commentary about how bad [UK transphobia is] is”, by trans rights activists after she said it was “not relevant” to include the UK among other countries where LGBT+ rights have been under attack during an international resolution on anti-LGBT+ hate.
Antoniazzi resigned as a Labour PPS again in December 2020, returning to the backbenches after party leader Keir Starmer MP instructed his MPs to vote in favour of then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s European Union (Future Relationship) Bill. However, she returned to the shadow front bench in 2021, serving as a shadow junior Northern Ireland minister, and as a shadow junior whip between 2021 up to the 2024 general election.
Labour’s election to government in July 2024, however, did not bear the fruit of a frontbench appointment for Antoniazzi, who was instead elected unopposed to chair the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee.
As chair of the NIAC, Antoniazzi along with the other 12 members of the committee will examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Northern Ireland office and its associated public bodies. DUP leader Gavin Robinson MP, The SDLP leader Claire Hanna MP, and Alliance MP Sorcha Eastwood are among the members.
Speaking after her election to the committee, Antoniazzi stated: “It is a privilege to have been entrusted by my fellow members with chairing the NIAC. I look forward to working with parties from across the political spectrum to ensure the issues that matter are properly scrutinises in the interests of all communities in Northern Ireland.”
