Joan Ryan

Joan Marie Ryan (born 8 September 1955, is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Enfield North, having first held the seat between 1997 and 2010, when she lost it to Nick de Bois, but regained it in 2015. She had been deputy leader of Barnet Council.

Political career
Ryan served as a local Labour Councillor for eight years. She was Chair of Policy and Finance and deputy leader of Barnet Council before being elected as Member of Parliament for Enfield North in the 1997 general election.

Ryan was parliamentary private secretary to Andrew Smith, and a senior whip. From 5 May 2006 to 29 June 2007, she was Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for nationality, citizenship and immigration at the Home Office, succeeding Andy Burnham. In the 2005 election she retained her seat with a slightly reduced majority. On 29 June, it was announced that the Prime Minister had appointed Ryan as Special Representative to Cyprus and as a Privy Counsellor.

Ryan was defeated by Conservative candidate Nick de Bois by 1,692 votes in the 2010 general election. After losing her seat, Ryan was appointed Chief Executive of the Global Tamil Forum, and later became deputy director of the successful NOtoAV campaign.

In March 2013, Ryan announced she was to seek re-selection by Labour to contest the Enfield North constituency for the 2015 General Election. Ryan was re-selected and stood again in 2015 and regained her seat in the House of Commons with a majority of 1,086 votes.