Helen Hayes | |
---|---|
![]() Official portrait, 2024 | |
Shadow Minister for Children and Early Years | |
In office 4 December 2021 –4 July 2024 | |
Leader | Keir Starmer |
Preceded by | Tulip Siddiq |
Succeeded by | James Wild |
Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office | |
In office 9 April 2020 –30 December 2020 | |
Leader | Keir Starmer |
Preceded by | Chris Matheson |
Succeeded by | Fleur Anderson |
Opposition Whip | |
In office 7 January 2020 –9 April 2020 | |
Leader | Jeremy Corbyn |
Member of Parliament for Dulwich and West Norwood | |
Assumed office 7 May 2015 | |
Preceded by | Dame Tessa Jowell |
Majority | 18,789 (41.4%) |
Personal details | |
Born | Helen Elizabeth Hayes 8 August 1974 Liverpool,Merseyside,England |
Political party | Labour |
Alma mater | Balliol College,Oxford |
Website | www |
Helen Elizabeth Hayes (born 8 August 1974) [1] is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dulwich and West Norwood since 2015. [2] She was elected chair of the House of Commons Education Select Committee in September 2024. [3] [4]
Helen Hayes was born on 8 August 1974 in Liverpool and attended Ormskirk Grammar School. [5] She was an undergraduate at Balliol College,Oxford. [6]
After university,Hayes worked as a town planner. She became managing partner of her own town planning company,Urban Practitioners,before becoming a partner at London architectural practice Allies and Morrison. [7]
Hayes is a Chartered Member of the Royal Town Planning Institute,a member of the King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and is also a trustee of Turner Contemporary art gallery in Margate. [7]
Before being elected as an MP,Hayes was elected as a Councillor for the College ward of Southwark Council [8] in 2010 and in 2014. [9] [10] Following her election as an MP in 2015 she held both roles for 10 months before resigning as a Councillor in March 2016 to focus on her Parliamentary duties. [11]
Hayes was elected to Parliament at the 2015 general election as MP for Dulwich and West Norwood with 54.1% of the vote and a majority of 16,122. [12] [13] [14]
Hayes has served on the Housing,Communities and Local Government Committee since July 2015. [15]
She supported Remain in the EU referendum in June 2016 and voted against the triggering of Article 50 in February 2017. [16]
She was a critic of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and supported Owen Smith in the failed attempt to replace him in the 2016 leadership election. [17]
At the snap 2017 general election,Hayes was re-elected as MP for Dulwich and West Norwood with an increased vote share of 69.6% and an increased majority of 28,156. [18] [19]
In 2018,Hayes criticised the closure of two Royal Mail delivery offices in her constituency. [20]
Hayes was again re-elected at the 2019 general election,with a decreased vote share of 65.5% and a decreased majority of 27,310. [21]
In the November 2021 British shadow cabinet reshuffle,she returned to the frontbench as Shadow Minister for Children and Early Years,replacing Tulip Siddiq. [22]
At the 2024 general election,Hayes was again re-elected with a decreased vote share of 60.3% and a decreased majority of 18,789. [23] She was subsequently elected Chair of the House of Commons Education Select Committee in September 2024. [24] [25]
In November 2024,Hayes voted against the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill,which proposes to legalise assisted dying. [26]
Hayes is married to Ben Jupp;the couple have two children. [5] Her sister-in law is Rachel Jupp,editor of the BBC current affairs series, Panorama . [27]