About Helen
Helen was elected MP for Bishop Auckland in May 2005.
Following the 2005 General Election, she served on the influential Public Accounts Committee until her appointment as Parliamentary Private Secretary at the Ministry of Justice in April 2007.
In June 2007, Helen was appointed Deputy Leader of the House of Commons. Working alongside the Leader of the House, Harriet Harman, (see left) Helen is responsible for organising and arranging business in the House and working on the new Government’s Programme for Constitutional Reform.
Helen is therefore be at the heart of the Government’s agenda to modernise and increase the powers of Parliament, enhance the rights and responsibilities of citizens and renew our democratic institutions.
She has recently played a key role in the parliamentary scrutiny of the EU Reform Treaty, and regularly represents the Government in House of Commons debates (see left)
You can find out more about the Office of the Leader of the House of Commons here, and you can see a collection of Helen’s ministerial speeches here.
Helen was born in Nottingham in 1958 and grew up in Derbyshire. After going to the local comprehensive school, she went to Somerville College, Oxford, where she read Politics, Philosophy and Economics.
After leaving Oxford, Helen’s first job was as a researcher for Philip Whitehead MP. She became a civil servant at the Treasury in 1980 and rose to become Head of the Central Strategy Unit in 1995. Her time at the Treasury also included a period working in the office of the Czechoslovak Prime Minister during the transition from communism in 1990 to 1991.
Having left the Treasury in 1997, Helen became Director of the Commission on the Future of Multi Ethnic Britain, and in 1998 became Head of Strategy at the Children’s Society. From 2002 until entering Parliament, she was Chief Executive of the National Association of Toy and Leisure Libraries.
Helen is a member of the GMB, Amnesty International and the Christian Socialist Movement. She has also been Chair of Camden Co-operative Party and a school governor. Helen’s main political interests include the environment, children’s issues and international development.
You can find out more about Helen’s political interests here and you can read a number of her published articles here.
Helen is married with two children, and outside of politics, she enjoys cooking, walking and being with her family.
