Lisa Eva Nandy was born in
Manchester on 9 August 1979,
[1][2] the daughter of Louise (
née Byers) and
Dipak Nandy, an academic and Marxist from
India.
[3][4][5] Her grandfather
Frank Byers was a
Liberal MP who held many offices in the Liberal Party, later being created a
life peer.
[6] Nandy grew up in both Manchester and
Bury, where her family subsequently settled.
[7]
She was educated at
Parrs Wood High School, a mixed comprehensive school in
East Didsbury in
Manchester, followed by
Holy Cross College in Bury.
[8][9] She studied politics at
Newcastle University, graduating in 2001, and obtained a master's degree in public policy from
Birkbeck, University of London.
[9]
She worked as a researcher and caseworker for the
Walthamstow Labour MP
Neil Gerrard.
[10] After that, Nandy worked as a researcher at the homelessness charity
Centrepoint from 2003 to 2005, and then as senior policy adviser at
The Children's Society from 2005 until her election in 2010, where she specialised in issues facing young refugees, also acting as adviser to the
Children's Commissioner for England and to the
Independent Asylum Commission.
[3][11][12][13] She served as a Labour councillor for the Hammersmith Broadway ward on
Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council from 2006 to 2010.
[9] As a councillor, she served as shadow cabinet member for housing.
[7]