Paula Barker
Paula Barker MP | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Official portrait, 2019 | |||||||||
Member of Parliament for Liverpool Wavertree | |||||||||
Incumbent | |||||||||
Assumed office 12 December 2019 | |||||||||
Preceded by | Luciana Berger | ||||||||
Majority | 16,304 (41.0%) | ||||||||
| |||||||||
Personal details | |||||||||
Born | (1972-05-09) 9 May 1972 (age 52) Liverpool, England | ||||||||
Political party | Labour | ||||||||
Website | Official website | ||||||||
Paula Barker (born 9 May 1972)[1] is a British Labour Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Liverpool Wavertree since 2019. She served as the Shadow Minister for Devolution and the English Regions from September 2023 to November 2023.
Before her election, Barker was the Unison North West Regional Convenor, as well as the leader of her local government branch in Halton, Cheshire.
Early life and education
Paula Barker was born on 9 May 1972 at Sefton General Hospital in Wavertree, Liverpool.[2] Her father was diagnosed with cancer and died two weeks before her second birthday, leaving her mother to raise her as a single parent. Barker attended Holly Lodge Girls' High School in West Derby, Liverpool.[3]
Early career
Barker was employed in local government for almost 30 years. She moved from Liverpool City Council for a promotion at neighbouring Knowsley Council to work in Customer Services, where she spent around four years. In 2001, she joined Halton Borough Council, where she progressively became more active in her trade union, UNISON.[4][5] She held a variety of roles in her local branch, before becoming Branch Secretary and then for the last five years prior to her election to Parliament, she was the North West Regional Convenor for UNISON, the most senior lay official for the union. In this role, she constantly championed workers rights for the 200,000 plus members she represented.[6][7]
Parliamentary career
At the 2019 general election, Barker was elected to Parliament as MP for Liverpool Wavertree with 72.2% of the vote and a majority of 27,085.[8][9] Barker made her maiden speech on 4 February 2020, becoming one of the first of the new MPs from the 2019 general election to do so. In it, she outlined the rich diversity of the Liverpool Wavertree constituency, whilst also pointing out to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government that it is local representatives who know what is best for their constituencies.[10]
Since that maiden speech, Barker has called upon the Government to enact meaningful reform of the social care market.[11] She also sponsored the Private Members Bill put forward by Mike Amesbury, Labour MP for Weaver Vale, on proposed changes to the law regarding school uniforms.
Barker served as a member of the Justice Select Committee[12] between May 2020 and July 2021 and is currently a Member of Home Affairs Select Committee and became PPS to Shadow Defence Minister, John Healey in March 2022.[13]
In February 2022, Barker was re-selected as the Labour candidate for Liverpool Wavertree at the 2024 general election.[14] With a 14% lower turnout, she was re-elected with a decreased vote share and majority of 16,304.[15]
She was appointed Shadow Minister for Homelessness and Rough Sleeping on 28 October 2022. In the 2023 British shadow cabinet reshuffle, she was appointed Shadow Minister for Devolution and the English Regions.[16]
She is a member of Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East.[17] On 15 November 2023, she resigned from the frontbench to vote for a SNP motion demanding a ceasefire in Gaza.[18]
In May 2024, PoliticsHome reported that Barker had left the Socialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs.[19]
Barker was re-elected to Parliament as MP for Liverpool Wavertree at the 2024 general election with a decreased vote share of 58% and a decreased majority of 16,304.[20]
References
- ^ Brunskill, Ian (19 March 2020). The Times guide to the House of Commons 2019 : the definitive record of Britain's historic 2019 General Election. HarperCollins Publishers Limited. p. 260. ISBN 978-0-00-839258-1. OCLC 1129682574.
- ^ "PAULA BARKER". Liverpool Echo.
- ^ "Paula Barker MP - Who is she?". Politics.co.uk.
- ^ Barker, Paula (10 March 2020). ""My socialism is aspirational" – Paula Barker's full maiden speech". LabourList.
- ^ "The core ideals of trade unionism endure from one generation to the next". Morning Star. 2 June 2018.
- ^ "A blog from our Regional Convenor, Paula Barker". Unison North West.
- ^ "The Peterloo protesters had liberated their own minds from apathy and fear". Morning Star. 16 August 2019.
- ^ "Liverpool Wavertree parliamentary constituency – Election 2019". BBC.com. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
- ^ "Statement of persons nominated". Archived from the original on 16 November 2019. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
- ^ "Rating and Valuation - Hansard". hansard.parliament.uk. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
- ^ "Social Care - Hansard". hansard.parliament.uk. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
- ^ "Parliament.uk". UK Parliament. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
- ^ "Government Source". UK Parliament Library. UK Government. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
- ^ Paula Barker [@PaulaBarkerMP] (10 February 2022). "🚨 ANNOUNCEMENT🚨 I am truly humbled at this news. I will continue to do my best in fighting for our people across every community of my constituency and hopefully play my part in delivering a Labour Government at the next General Election" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Liverpool Wavertree results". BBC. 5 July 2024. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
- ^ "Meet our Shadow Cabinet". The Labour Party. Retrieved 8 September 2023.
- ^ "Parliamentary Supporters". LFPME. 1 January 1970. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
- ^ "Labour frontbenchers quit to back Gaza ceasefire motion". BBC News. 15 November 2023. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
- ^ "The Labour left under Keir Starmer: 'They're not just sealing the tomb but incinerating it'". Politics Home. 29 April 2024. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
- ^ "Liverpool Wavertree results". BBC. 5 July 2024. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
- Contributions in Parliament at Hansard
- Voting record at Public Whip
- Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou
Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
---|---|---|
Preceded by | Member of Parliament for Liverpool Wavertree 2019–present | Incumbent |
- v
- t
- e
- Labour Party
- Parliamentary Labour Party
- List of Labour Party MPs
- Luke Akehurst
- Lewis Atkinson
- Jonathan Brash
- Alan Campbell
- Mark Ferguson
- Emma Foody
- Mary Foy
- Mary Glindon
- Sharon Hodgson
- Ian Lavery
- Emma Lewell-Buck
- Andy McDonald
- Chris McDonald
- Lola McEvoy
- Catherine McKinnell
- Grahame Morris
- Joe Morris
- Luke Myer
- Chi Onwurah
- Kate Osborne
- Bridget Phillipson
- Sam Rushworth
- David Smith
- Alan Strickland
- Anna Turley
- Liz Twist
- Debbie Abrahams
- Mike Amesbury
- David Baines
- Paula Barker
- Lorraine Beavers
- Elsie Blundell
- Phil Brickell
- Markus Campbell-Savours
- Dan Carden
- Lizzi Collinge
- Andrew Cooper
- Ashley Dalton
- Samantha Dixon
- Peter Dowd
- Angela Eagle
- Maria Eagle
- Maya Ellis
- Kirith Entwistle
- Bill Esterson
- Paul Foster
- James Frith
- Andrew Gwynne
- Sarah Hall
- Mark Hendrick
- Jonathan Hinder
- Patrick Hurley
- Kim Johnson
- Mike Kane
- Afzal Khan
- Josh MacAlister
- Andy MacNae
- Justin Madders
- Alison McGovern
- Jim McMahon
- Anneliese Midgley
- Julie Minns
- Navendu Mishra
- Connor Naismith
- Lisa Nandy
- Charlotte Nichols
- Matthew Patrick
- Jo Platt
- Lucy Powell
- Yasmin Qureshi
- Connor Rand
- Angela Rayner
- Jonathan Reynolds
- Marie Rimmer
- Tim Roca
- Sarah Russell
- Oliver Ryan
- Michelle Scrogham
- Josh Simons
- Cat Smith
- Jeff Smith
- Sarah Smith
- Graham Stringer
- Derek Twigg
- Christian Wakeford
- Paul Waugh
- Chris Webb
- Andrew Western
- Michael Wheeler
- Hilary Benn
- Clive Betts
- Olivia Blake
- Jade Botterill
- Sarah Champion
- Luke Charters
- Yvette Cooper
- Judith Cummins
- Nic Dakin
- Paul Davies
- Kate Dearden
- Anna Dixon
- Josh Fenton-Glynn
- Gill Furniss
- Louise Haigh
- Fabian Hamilton
- Emma Hardy
- John Healey
- Alison Hume
- Sally Jameson
- Dan Jarvis
- Diana Johnson
- Kim Leadbeater
- Simon Lightwood
- Rachael Maskell
- Keir Mather
- Ed Miliband
- Abtisam Mohamed
- Melanie Onn
- Stephanie Peacock
- Lee Pitcher
- Rachel Reeves
- Jake Richards
- Mark Sewards
- Naz Shah
- Alex Sobel
- Marie Tidball
- Jon Trickett
- Karl Turner
- Harpreet Uppal
- Katie White
- Catherine Atkinson
- Lee Barron
- Juliet Campbell
- Jonathan Davies
- Hamish Falconer
- Linsey Farnsworth
- Natalie Fleet
- Lilian Greenwood
- Amanda Hack
- Louise Jones
- Liz Kendall
- Gen Kitchen
- James Naish
- Samantha Niblett
- Alex Norris
- Michael Payne
- Jon Pearce
- Toby Perkins
- Mike Reader
- Lucy Rigby
- Jeevun Sandher
- Baggy Shanker
- Adam Thompson
- Michelle Welsh
- John Whitby
- Jo White
- Nadia Whittome
- Rosie Wrighting
- Steve Yemm
- Tahir Ali
- Alex Ballinger
- Antonia Bance
- Chris Bloore
- Sureena Brackenridge
- Julia Buckley
- Liam Byrne
- Alistair Carns
- Jacob Collier
- Tom Collins
- Sarah Coombes
- Mary Creagh
- Shaun Davies
- Cat Eccles
- Sarah Edwards
- Allison Gardner
- Preet Kaur Gill
- Jodie Gosling
- Paulette Hamilton
- Leigh Ingham
- Adam Jogee
- Gurinder Josan
- Warinder Juss
- Sonia Kumar
- Shabana Mahmood
- Pat McFadden
- Josh Newbury
- Taiwo Owatemi
- Jess Phillips
- Dave Robertson
- John Slinger
- Gareth Snell
- Rachel Taylor
- Laurence Turner
- Valerie Vaz
- Matt Western
- David Williams
- Jack Abbott
- Bayo Alaba
- Jess Asato
- Kevin Bonavia
- David Burton-Sampson
- Sam Carling
- Pam Cox
- Jen Craft
- Josh Dean
- Ben Goldsborough
- Chris Hinchliff
- Rachel Hopkins
- Terry Jermy
- Andrew Lewin
- Clive Lewis
- Alice Macdonald
- Alex Mayer
- Sarah Owen
- Andrew Pakes
- Peter Prinsley
- Jenny Riddell-Carpenter
- Alistair Strathern
- David Taylor
- Matt Turmaine
- Chris Vince
- Mohammad Yasin
- Daniel Zeichner
- Diane Abbott
- Rushanara Ali
- Rosena Allin-Khan
- Fleur Anderson
- James Asser
- Jas Athwal
- Calvin Bailey
- Danny Beales
- Rachel Blake
- Dawn Butler
- Ruth Cadbury
- Nesil Caliskan
- Bambos Charalambous
- Feryal Clark
- Ben Coleman
- Liam Conlon
- Deirdre Costigan
- Neil Coyle
- Stella Creasy
- Janet Daby
- Marsha de Cordova
- Clive Efford
- Florence Eshalomi
- Miatta Fahnbulleh
- Vicky Foxcroft
- Daniel Francis
- Barry Gardiner
- Georgia Gould
- Helen Hayes
- Meg Hillier
- Rupa Huq
- Natasha Irons
- Sarah Jones
- Uma Kumaran
- David Lammy
- Seema Malhotra
- Siobhain McDonagh
- Margaret Mullane
- James Murray
- Abena Oppong-Asare
- Kate Osamor
- Matthew Pennycook
- David Pinto-Duschinsky
- Joe Powell
- Steve Reed
- Ellie Reeves
- Bell Ribeiro-Addy
- Sarah Sackman
- Tulip Siddiq
- Andy Slaughter
- Keir Starmer
- Wes Streeting
- Gareth Thomas
- Emily Thornberry
- Stephen Timms
- Dan Tomlinson
- Catherine West
- Callum Anderson
- Olivia Bailey
- Alex Baker
- Polly Billington
- Beccy Cooper
- Chris Curtis
- Emily Darlington
- Tan Dhesi
- Jim Dickson
- Anneliese Dodds
- Helena Dollimore
- Rosie Duffield
- Lauren Edwards
- Sojan Joseph
- Satvir Kaur
- Naushabah Khan
- Peter Kyle
- Laura Kyrke-Smith
- Peter Lamb
- Amanda Martin
- Kevin McKenna
- Stephen Morgan
- Luke Murphy
- Tris Osborne
- Darren Paffey
- Richard Quigley
- Emma Reynolds
- Matt Rodda
- Tom Rutland
- Lauren Sullivan
- Peter Swallow
- Mike Tapp
- Tony Vaughan
- Chris Ward
- Sean Woodcock
- Yuan Yang
- Dan Aldridge
- Heidi Alexander
- Sadik Al-Hassan
- Matt Bishop
- Neil Duncan-Jordan
- Damien Egan
- Anna Gelderd
- Lloyd Hatton
- Tom Hayes
- Claire Hazelgrove
- Darren Jones
- Jayne Kirkham
- Noah Law
- Kerry McCarthy
- Alex McIntyre
- Perran Moon
- Dan Norris
- Simon Opher
- Luke Pollard
- Steve Race
- Karin Smyth
- Will Stone
- Fred Thomas
- Jessica Toale
- Tonia Antoniazzi
- Alex Barros-Curtis
- Torsten Bell
- Chris Bryant
- Alex Davies-Jones
- Stephen Doughty
- Chris Elmore
- Chris Evans
- Catherine Fookes
- Gill German
- Becky Gittins
- Nia Griffith
- Carolyn Harris
- Claire Hughes
- Gerald Jones
- Ruth Jones
- Stephen Kinnock
- Anna McMorrin
- Jessica Morden
- Kanishka Narayan
- Andrew Ranger
- Nick Smith
- Jo Stevens
- Mark Tami
- Nick Thomas-Symonds
- Henry Tufnell
- Steve Witherden
- Zubir Ahmed
- Douglas Alexander
- Scott Arthur
- Richard Baker
- Johanna Baxter
- Maureen Burke
- Irene Campbell
- Torcuil Crichton
- Graeme Downie
- Patricia Ferguson
- Alan Gemmell
- Tracy Gilbert
- John Grady
- Lillian Jones
- Chris Kane
- Brian Leishman
- Douglas McAllister
- Martin McCluskey
- Blair McDougall
- Gordon McKee
- Frank McNally
- Kirsty McNeill
- Chris Murray
- Ian Murray
- Katrina Murray
- Pamela Nash
- Gregor Poynton
- Joani Reid
- Martin Rhodes
- Michael Shanks
- Euan Stainbank
- Kenneth Stevenson
- Elaine Stewart
- Kirsteen Sullivan
- Alison Taylor
- Imogen Walker
- Melanie Ward