I was elected as Member of Parliament for the Jarrow constituency in December 2019 and I’m extremely proud to represent our constituency. A constituency with such historical importance.

I’ve lived in the North East for 34 years and before entering into Parliament, I worked for Royal Mail for 25 years and in this time I was also a trade union rep. 

Workers rights remain hugely important to me and I am proud to be in a position now, as MP, that allows me to hold the Government to account – demanding Ministers provide more support to workers. 

I have also served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Diane Abbott MP as well as the Parliamentary Private Secretary for the Shadow Secretary for Northern Ireland Peter Kyle MP. 

I have been an active Member of the Labour Party for many years, before my election as MP I was elected to represent Preston Ward at the 2010 local elections, gaining the seat from the Conservative incumbent. I was then re-elected in 2014 and 2018. 

I have also served on the Labour Party National Constitutional committee and was also Chair of Unite’s Regional Labour Party Liaison Committee and on the Northern TUC Executive Committee. 

I have always, and will always be, a strong trade unionist – I firmly believe in trade union and socialist values. I am also an active member of the Socialist Campaign Group of MPs in Parliament.

Since my election to Parliament in 2019, I have worked hard on behalf of Jarrow constituents and held several positions. I have served consistently on the Women and Equalities Select Committee (WEC) and the Backbench Business Committee. 

In my position on the Women and Equalities Select Committee I have contributed to enquiries on a vast range of important topics such as: Reform of the Gender Recognition Act, Menopause and the workplace, Sexism and Inequality in Football and Equality and the UK asylum process. You can find out more about the work the WEC does here.

On the Backbench Business Committee, along with other cross-party backbench MPs we give opportunities to backbench Members of Parliament to bring forward debates of their choice. You can find out more information about this committee here. 

I keep constituents updated about my work regularly via my social media channels and through monthly newsletters. If you would like to subscribe to my mailing list to receive regular updates about my work and campaigns – you can register here!