The Greggs-loving MP who used to belt out opera but now only sings nursery rhymes

New MP Maya Ellis loves a Greggs (stock image)
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


New MP Maya Ellis will bring musical talent, media experience and even a bit of Blackburn Rovers history to her new job representing Ribble Valley in Parliament. The mother of two young children was the shock victor over veteran Tory Nigel Evans when the heavily redrawn constituency went to the polls in July 4’s General Election.

But with a wafer-thin majority of just 856 Ms Ellis, 36, knows she will be hard put to hang on to the seat next time round. The Ribchester-raised local government professional spoke to Local Democracy Reporter Bill Jacobs about her family history and hopes for her new role as MPs returned to Westminster after a short recess.

Promising to spend as much time as possible at her family home in the constituency, Ms Ellis revealed that her great Uncle Johnny Forbes played for Blackburn Rovers, and her grandfather Donald Forbes was one of the founders of Forbes Solicitors. She confessed to having a love of singing opera and musicals having been a member of Preston Opera, but added that she tends to be limited to singing nursery rhymes these days.

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Ms Ellis also sat on the board of the Dukes Theatre and Cinema in Lancaster and is a Ribchester Parish councillor. In 2014 Ms Ellis became one of the youngest trustees to ever join the board of Girlguiding, where she has also been a member and lifelong volunteer since the age of seven.

This was a huge irony as former House of Commons deputy speaker Mr Evans’ claims to be part of a rescue plan for the Waddow Hall outdoor activity centre being sold off by the organisation was a central feature of the election campaign. She attended Ribchester Primary School, and Longridge High School before gaining a degree in French and English Literature, as well as an MBA, from Lancaster University.

She also has a Masters in journalism from Preston’s University of Central Lancashire. Ms Ellis started her career in the media in London working as a commercial manager at Hearst Magazines UK which publishes Good Housekeeping, Country Living, and Harper’s Bazaar.

She then moved back to the north and a career in business and technology policy in local government at Salford City Council and then Lancashire County Council. Before standing as a candidate, Ms Ellis was working on regeneration projects as part of the developing devolution deal for Lancashire.

New Ribble Valley Mp Maya Ellis
New Ribble Valley Mp Maya Ellis -Credit:LDRS/supplied

She said this background in local government and bringing multiple stakeholders together on county-wide projects means she should be in a good position to help co-ordinate discussions around the next stages of a hopeful devolution deal for Lancashire – something she’ll be focussing her time heavily on. Ms Ellis also intends to pay close attention to ensuring new housing targets come with the needed infrastructure around them.

She is passionate about maternity care and early years and ensuring families and young people get the best start in life and keen to see more provision for them so they feel part of their communities and can contribute to local projects. On a lighter note, the new MP has made no secret on social media of her love of Greggs.

Ms Ellis said: “I believe strongly that we all must do our bit to support our community, by contributing whatever skills and time we can. It is a privilege to be able to represent and work for a community that has given me so much growing up.

“I hope that through a Labour government, I can help this country put in place systems that ensure everyone plays their part to create a prosperous and joyful society where no one is left behind. But I can’t do this alone.

“I’m keen to support communities to find ways we can do things better, and find more effective ways to feed back to both local and national government the things that would help people to help their family and local area.”

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