(Elizabeth) Liz McManus (born 23 March 1947) is an Irish Labour Party politician. She was the deputy leader of the Labour Party and Party Spokesperson for Health. Following the resignation of Pat Rabbitte on 23 August, 2007, she was acting leader of the Labour Party until September 2007 but chose not to stand for re-election as deputy leader when a deputy leadership election was held. Joan Burton replaced her as deputy leader. Liz McManus was born in 1947 in Montréal, Canada and is currently a TD for Wicklow. She studied Architecture at University College Dublin. She first ran for political office in 1979 when she was elected to Bray Urban District Council for the Sinn Féin the Workers Party. Later, she was elected to Wicklow County Council. She helped establish a women's refuge in Bray in 1978 and was its convenor until 1991. McManus was first elected to Dáil Éireann at the 1992 general election. She was then a member of the Democratic Left party. She has retained her seat in every subsequent election. Between 1994 and 1997 the Democratic Left formed a government with Fine Gael and the Labour Party and McManus became Minister of State for Housing & Urban Renewal. During this period she was also a member of the Northern Ireland Forum for Peace & Reconciliation. In 1999 the Democratic Left merged with the Labour Party. In 2002 Liz McManus was elected the deputy leader of the Labour Party. Another former Democratic Left TD Pat Rabbitte, became leader of the party. McManus is currently also the Labour Party Spokesperson for Health. As well as being a politician McManus is an accomplished writer. She won the Hennessy, Listowel and Irish Pen awards in fiction. Her first novel "Acts of Subversion" was nominated for the Aer Lingus/Irish Times Literature Prize. McManus was also a weekly columnist with the Sunday Tribune (1986–1992). She is married to Dr. John McManus and has four children.
Political career
| Oireachtas | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Newly created seat in constituency |
Democratic Left Teachta Dála for Wicklow 1992–1999 |
Succeeded by Democratic Left merges with the Labour Party |
| Preceded by McManus was previously a member of Democratic Left |
Labour Party Teachta Dála for Wicklow 1999 – present |
Incumbent |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Emmet Stagg |
Minister of State at the Department of the Environment 1994–1997 |
Succeeded by Bobby Molloy |
| Preceded by Brendan Howlin |
Deputy Leader of Irish Labour Party 2002-2007 |
Succeeded by Joan Burton |
