James Schneider


James Schneider is a former Co-Chair of the Oxford University Liberal Democrats and the former Press Officer for the left wing grassroots movement Momentum. In October 2016 he was appointed as a PR advisor to the leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, taking the role of Director of Strategic Communications. Schneider sees himself as an intermediary between the old Labour left and the newer, post–financial crisis left.

Early life and career

Schneider was born to Jewish parents in London. He was educated at the Dragon School and Winchester College before transferring to St Paul's School for the sixth form. He later attended Trinity College, Oxford at the University of Oxford to study Theology. While at Oxford, he was president of the Oxford University Liberal Democrats.
He joined Think Africa Press in 2010, a role he held until he became the senior correspondent at New African in 2014. He has described his work at Think Africa Press as formative, as he began to look at local issues using ideas that were critical of capitalism and imperialism. Schneider joined the Labour Party in May 2015 after the defeat of Ed Miliband and Labour in the 2015 General Election. He was a key figure within the left-wing grassroots movement Momentum in October 2015 formed as a support group for Jeremy Corbyn who had been elected Labour leader the previous month. The group also played a significant role in the 2016 campaign to reelect Corbyn after a leadership challenge. Schneider was appointed as Director of Strategic Communications for the office of the Leader of the Opposition, Jeremy Corbyn, in October 2016.
Schneider has written numerous articles for the New Statesman magazine on topics concerning the Labour Party. He has said that he has read Marxist sociologist Ralph Miliband and "learned from his critiques", but states that the academic was "writing in a different moment of history".

Personal life

He is the son of Brian Schneider, who was chief executive of property company OEM plc before his death in 2004, and Tessa Lang, a London-based property consultant.
Schneider describes himself as "culturally Jewish".