Paula Barker

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Paula Barker MP
Official portrait, 2019
Member of Parliament for Liverpool Wavertree
Incumbent
Assumed office 12 December 2019[1]
Preceded by	Luciana Berger
Majority	27,085 (62.4%)
Personal details
Born	(1972-05-09) 9 May 1972 (age 49) Liverpool, England[2]
Political party	Labour
Other political affiliations	Socialist Campaign Group (2019–present)[3]
Children	2
Website	vote.labour.org.uk/paula-barker

Paula Barker (born 9 May 1972)^[4] is a British Labour Party politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Liverpool Wavertree since 2019.

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[]

Barker was born at Sefton General Hospital in Wavertree, Liverpool. 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.

Early career[]

Barker was employed in local government for almost 30 years. On day one of her employment, she went to find the union rep and joined NALGO. Within the first year of her employment, she was balloted for industrial action and joined colleagues on the picket line.

She eventually moved from Liverpool City Council for a promotion at neighbouring Knowsley Council to work in Customer Services, where she spent around four years. In around 2001, she joined Halton Borough Council, where she progressively became more active in her trade union, UNISON. 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.^[5][6][7]

Political career[]

Barker's candidacy to be the Labour candidate for Liverpool Wavertree was backed by several unions and Momentum.^[8] She was subsequently elected at the 2019 general election, winning 31,310 votes (72.2% of the vote) a fall of 3,407 votes (7.3%).^[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.

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Paula Barker.

• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Voting record at Public Whip
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou