Ruth Anderson is the Chief Executive of Index on Censorship – the international campaign to protect and promote free speech around the world, which was originally launched in 1971 to provide a platform for Soviet dissidents to expose what was happening behind the Iron Curtain. 

Ruth was appointed a Labour Peer in 2022 and was previously the Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent North & Kidsgrove. During that time, she was the Vice-Chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party and the Parliamentary Chair of the Jewish Labour Movement. 

She is also an Honorary Captain in the Royal Navy and a Trustee of the Antisemitism Policy Trust and AJEX. 

Before her election Ruth ran HOPE not hate, the anti-extremism campaign which defeated the BNP and EDL, she remains on their board. Ruth has also worked in the trade union, third sector and private sectors before seeking election.