Matthew Pennycook

https://www.labour.org.uk/greenwich-and-woolwich-matthew-pennycook

Greenwich and Woolwich, Matthew Pennycook

Matthew lives in West Greenwich with his partner Joanna in the ward he currently represents as an elected Labour Councillor. Matthew grew up in South London in a single parent family and attended his local state school. He joined the Labour Party when he was 19 to be part of a movement that would help bring about a more equal and socially just society than the one he grew up in. He was the first person in his family to go to university, graduating from the London School of Economics with a first-class honours degree in International Relations and History. He subsequently won a scholarship to read for an MPhil in International Relations at Balliol College, Oxford.

While still at university, Matthew began volunteering at the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG). Since then, he has held a series of senior roles in the charity and voluntary sectors including at the Fair Pay Network and the Resolution Foundation where he led on issues relating to welfare reform, low pay and working poverty. Matthew serves on the Living Wage Foundation’s advisory board, is a trustee of Greenwich Housing Rights, and has been a school governor at James Wolfe Primary School in Greenwich.