Carolyn Harris | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) Official portrait, 2025 | |||||||||
| Deputy Leader of Welsh Labour | |||||||||
| Assumed office 21 April 2018 | |||||||||
| Leader | Carwyn Jones Mark Drakeford Vaughan Gething Eluned Morgan | ||||||||
| Preceded by | Office established | ||||||||
| United Kingdom Trade Envoy to New Zealand | |||||||||
| Assumed office 28 January 2025 | |||||||||
| Prime Minister | Keir Starmer | ||||||||
| Parliamentary Private Secretary to theLeader of the Opposition | |||||||||
| In office 6 April 2020 – 11 May 2021 | |||||||||
| Leader | Keir Starmer | ||||||||
| Preceded by | Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi | ||||||||
| Succeeded by | Sharon Hodgson | ||||||||
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| Member of Parliament forNeath and Swansea East Swansea East (2015–2024) | |||||||||
| Assumed office 7 May 2015 | |||||||||
| Preceded by | Siân James | ||||||||
| Majority | 6,627 (16.5%) | ||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||
| Born | (1960-09-18)18 September 1960 (age 65) Swansea, Wales | ||||||||
| Political party | Labour | ||||||||
| Alma mater | Swansea University | ||||||||
| Website | Official website | ||||||||
Carolyn Harris (born 18 September 1960) is aWelsh politician serving asDeputy Leader of Welsh Labour since 2018. She has beenMember of Parliament (MP) forNeath and Swansea East, previouslySwansea East since 2015.
Harris served as Shadow Minister for Safeguarding and Vulnerability from 2016 to 2017, and a junior Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities from 2017 to 2020. She wasParliamentary Private Secretary to theLeader of the Opposition,Keir Starmer, from 2020 to 2021.
Harris was born on 18 September 1960 inSwansea, Wales.[1] She attendedSwansea University from 1994 to 1998, where she studied a joint degree inSocial History andSocial Policy.
Following university, Harris worked for Swansea-based community projects such as the Guiding Hand Association and the Joshua Foundation. She has previously worked as a barmaid and a dinner lady.[2] Before her election to the Commons, she was a Parliamentary assistant to her predecessor,Siân James.[citation needed]
Harris was elected to Parliament at the2015 general election.[3] She gave her maiden speech on 8 June 2015, in which she argued thatDylan Thomas was wrong about his description of Swansea as "this ugly, lovely town".[4]
Harris served asParliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the shadowHome Affairs team from September 2015 to October 2016. She was promoted within the team as Shadow Minister for Safeguarding and Vulnerability in September 2016,[5][6] and became a junior Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities in July 2017.
Harris is a friend and ally of Keir Starmer,[7] encouraging him to stand in the2020 Labour leadership election and co-chairing his campaign.[8] She was appointed PPS to Starmer when he becameLeader of the Opposition in April 2020,[9][10] serving until her resignation in May 2021.
Harris is a member ofLabour Friends of Israel,[11] and is a non-executive director of theCentre for Social Justice, acentre-right think tank founded byConservative politician and formerWork and Pensions SecretaryIain Duncan Smith.[12]
On 28 January 2025 it was announced that Carolyn Harris would serve asUnited Kingdom Trade Envoy to New Zealand.[13]
The Labour Party announced in September 2017 that it would create the position ofDeputy Leader of Welsh Labour, and that the post would be held by a woman.[14] On 24 January 2018, Harris was confirmed as one of three candidates, alongsideNewport City Council leaderDebbie Wilcox andAssembly Member (AM) and former MPJulie Morgan.[15]
Harris was elected on 21 April 2018[16] after securing 51.5% of the electoral college vote, narrowly defeating Morgan.[17] Harris won the majority of votes from affiliated groups, AMs and MPs, but lost the membership by a margin of 2 to 1.[18][19] The electoral college system was abolished in favour ofone member, one vote in September 2018.[20]
Harris has led many successful campaigns during her time in Parliament, on issues including children's funerals, fixed-odds-betting terminals and electricity fires in homes. During her first year in Parliament, she raised issues such as theSwansea Bay tidal lagoon,electrification of the South Wales mainline to Swansea, and various consumer issues such asfixed odds betting terminals and faulty electrical goods.
After losing her son Martin in 1989, Harris was forced to take out a loan and rely on donations from the community to cover the funeral costs. Not wanting other parents to suffer the same hardship, Harris spoke about her grief in an adjournment debate on 28 November 2016. She went on to work with the Fair Funerals Campaign to press the Government to create a Children's Funeral Fund.[21] The fund was announced for Wales in March 2017,[22] by PM Theresa May for England in March 2018, and Scotland in May 2018.[23][24]
Following a two-year campaign to reduce the maximum stake on fixed-odds-betting terminals from £100 per spin to £2, on 17 May 2018 the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport announced that they would be reducing the stake in line with Harris's suggestion of £2 a spin.[25]
Harris started a campaign on fires caused by electrical products in people's homes as a result of a death of a constituent, Linda Merron in Penlan, Swansea.[26] Her campaign is to raise awareness of cheap electrical goods being sold online and the potential impact of unsafe goods and she has had several debates in theHouse of Commons on the issue.[27]
Harris faced allegations of making homophobic remarks by a former colleague in July 2018, as well as an alleged assault. She apologised for her conduct, which occurred before Harris was an MP, but added that her remarks would have been "office banter".[28] Due to the equivocal nature of the apology, some party colleagues called for her to step down as a Shadow Equalities Minister.[29] However, party leaderJeremy Corbyn,First MinisterCarwyn Jones, and other LGBT colleagues supported Harris.[30]
Harris was criticised for inviting Nicole Elkabbas, a convicted criminal, to speak at a parliamentary event on anti-gambling in February 2021. Two months earlier, Elkabbas was found guilty of eliciting tens of thousands in donations by faking a cancer diagnosis.[31][32] Harris gave Elkabbas a character reference at her sentencing, which she defended as being "in connection with her addiction leading her to crime."[31][33]
Harris resigned asParliamentary Private Secretary to Starmer on 11 May 2021, accused of inflaming party tensions following the2021 local elections and subsequentshadow cabinet reshuffle.[34]The Guardian reported that a Labour MP had made a formal complaint about Harris' conduct and comments about the private lives of shadow cabinet ministers,[35] whichThe Times reported to includeDeputy LeaderAngela Rayner.[36] Harris denied being forced to step down, attributing her decision to personal issues and a high workload.[8]
Harris has spoken about usingMounjaro injections to lose weight. She went from 19 stone (120 kg) to 11 stone (70 kg) in less than a year.[37]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forSwansea East 2015–present | Incumbent |
| Preceded by | Parliamentary Private Secretary to theLeader of the Opposition 2020 | Incumbent |
