Amy Hodge at the Royal Exchange, Manchester. She is a supporter of Arts Emergency and a mentor with the National Youth Theatre. Personal life Hesmondhalgh is married to screenwriter Ian Kershaw. The couple live in Tameside with their two daughters. Activism and fundraising Hesmondhalgh is a Labour Party member. In August 2015, she endorsed Jeremy Corbyn's campaign in the Labour Party leadership election. She tweeted: "Proudly supporting Jeremy Corbyn in the Labour leadership contest." She campaigned for Corbyn as party leader in the 2017 UK general election. In May 2017, speaking at Labour's general election campaign launch in Manchester, she said: "I realised the Labour party and its core values would finally be in line with my own deeply held socialist beliefs about equality, justice and peace." On 1 May 2013, Hesmondhalgh appeared on ITV game show All Star Mr & Mrs with husband Ian, and won £20,000 for Maundy Relief. Hesmondhalgh is a patron of the following organisations: Trans Media Watch, Maundy Relief, Marple Drama, WAST, Manchester People's Assembly, Reuben's Retreat, The Alex Williams Believe and Achieve Trust, and The Sophie Lancaster Foundation (for whom she and Ian held a creative writing competition in schools across the North West in 2011). The latter organisation was set up following the murder of Sophie Lancaster. In 2019, she set up the group 500 Acts of Kindness, a fundraising community where 500 members donate a pound a week to give to an individual, group, family or organisation in need. Filmography Awards and nominations References External links 1970 births Living people English humanists English television actresses English soap opera actresses People from Accrington Alumni of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art Actresses from Lancashire British LGBT rights activists 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses English stage actresses Labour Party (UK) people