Olivia Bailey | |
---|---|
![]() Official portrait, 2024 | |
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children and Families | |
Assumed office 7 September 2025 | |
Prime Minister | Keir Starmer |
Preceded by | Janet Daby |
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equalities | |
Assumed office 7 September 2025 | |
Prime Minister | Keir Starmer |
Preceded by | Nia Griffith |
Member of Parliament for Reading West and Mid Berkshire | |
Assumed office 4 July 2024 | |
Preceded by | Alok Sharma (Reading West [a] ) |
Majority | 1,361 (3.0%) |
Personal details | |
Born | Olivia Joanna Bailey 1986 (age 38–39) Reading,Berkshire,England |
Political party | Labour |
Spouse | Finn McGoldrick |
Alma mater | St Hilda's College,Oxford (BA) |
Olivia Joanna Bailey (born 17 September 1986) [3] is a British Labour Party politician who has served as Member of Parliament for Reading West and Mid Berkshire since 2024. [4] [5] Since 2025,she has also served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department for Education.
Bailey was born in Reading,Berkshire in 1986 to a policeman father and teacher mother. [3] She attended Ranelagh School in Bracknell and experienced homophobic bullying at school. [3]
Bailey studied at St Hilda's College,Oxford,where she was the Junior Common Room President. [6] She graduated in 2008 with a Bachelor of Arts in Modern History and Politics. [7]
She was Women's Officer of the National Union of Students (NUS) from 2009 to 2011, [8] and Chair of Labour Students from 2011 to 2012. [9] As an officer of the NUS,Bailey created the Vote for Students pledge and published the first national study into harassment and abuse suffered by women students. [10]
Bailey had been Chair of the Labour Women's Network,deputy General Secretary of the Fabian Society,and a senior aide to Keir Starmer,before standing as a parliamentary candidate. [5]
Bailey contested Reading West at the 2017 general election,but was defeated by the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP),Alok Sharma. [3] [11]
At the 2024 general election,Bailey was elected as MP for the new Reading West and Mid Berkshire constituency with 35% of the vote. [12] She was subsequently appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Work and Pensions Secretary,Liz Kendall. [13]
Bailey is a lesbian and married to Finn McGoldrick,with whom she has two children. [14] [15] McGoldrick is a Member of Reading Council and a special adviser to the Business Secretary,Jonathan Reynolds. [16] [15]
Her father,Roy Bailey,is a Member of Bracknell Forest Council. [17] Her mother has Alzheimer's disease. [3]