Paula Barker | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2024 | |||||||||
| Member of Parliament forLiverpool Wavertree | |||||||||
| Assumed office 12 December 2019 | |||||||||
| Preceded by | Luciana Berger | ||||||||
| Majority | 16,304 (41.0%) | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||
| Born | (1972-05-09)9 May 1972 (age 53) Liverpool, England | ||||||||
| Political party | Labour | ||||||||
| Website | Official website | ||||||||
Paula Barker (born 9 May 1972)[1] is a BritishLabour Party politician who has served as theMember of Parliament (MP) forLiverpool Wavertree since2019. She served as theShadow Minister for Devolution and the English Regions from September 2023 to November 2023.
Before her election, Barker worked as a local government officer in the North West. She was also theUnison North West Regional Convenor, as well as the leader of her local government branch inHalton, Cheshire.
Paula Barker was born on 9 May 1972 at Sefton General Hospital inWavertree, Liverpool.[2] Her father died two weeks before her second birthday, leaving her mother to raise her as a single parent.[2] Barker attendedHolly Lodge Girls' High School inWest Derby, Liverpool.[3]
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Barker was employed in local government for almost 30 years.[citation needed] She moved fromLiverpool City Council for a promotion at neighbouringKnowsley Council to work in Customer Services, where she spent around four years. In 2001, she joinedHalton Borough Council, where she progressively became more active in her trade union,UNISON.[citation needed] She held the position of Halton Branch Secretary for UNISON and in May 2015 became its North West Regional Convenor, taking over fromAngela Rayner, who resigned her position to serve as MP forAshton-under-Lyne, which she won inthe 2015 parliamentary election.[4][3]
At the2019 general election, Barker was elected to Parliament as MP forLiverpool Wavertree with 72.2% of the vote and a majority of 27,085.[5][6] 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 and said that local representatives, rather than theSecretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, know what is best for their constituencies.[7]
As an opposition MP, Barker called upon theConservative Government to enact meaningful reform of the social care market.[8] She also sponsored thePrivate Members Bill put forward byMike Amesbury, Labour MP forWeaver Vale, on proposed changes to the law regarding school uniforms.
Barker served as a member of the Justice Select Committee[9] between May 2020 and July 2021 and is currently a Member of Home Affairs Select Committee. She became PPS to Shadow Defence MinisterJohn Healey in March 2022.[10]
In February 2022, Barker was re-selected as the Labour candidate for the new Liverpool Wavertree constituency to stand at the2024 general election.[11]
She was appointedShadow Minister for Homelessness and Rough Sleeping on 28 October 2022. In the2023 British shadow cabinet reshuffle, she was appointed Shadow Minister for Devolution and the English Regions.[12]
She is a member ofLabour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East.[13] On 15 November 2023, she resigned from the frontbench to vote for a SNP motion demanding a ceasefire in Gaza.[14]
In May 2024,PoliticsHome reported that Barker had left theSocialist Campaign Group of Labour MPs.[15]
Barker was re-elected to Parliament as MP for Liverpool Wavertree at the2024 general election with a decreased vote share of 58% and a decreased majority of 16,304.[16]
In October 2024 she was appointed to the Parliamentary Committee on Standards[17] as well as the Parliamentary Committee on Privileges[18] and serves as Vice Chair of both. She also remains Co-Chair of theall-party parliamentary group for ending homelessness and rough sleeping.[19]
Barker was a co-sponsor ofKim Leadbeater's 2024Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.[20]
Barker was a candidate for the2025 Labour Party deputy leadership election, but pulled out after not achieving the required backing of 80 MPs.[21]
Barker is married with two sons.[2]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forLiverpool Wavertree 2019–present | Incumbent |
