Labour MP Camberwell and Peckham

Date of birth

30 July 1950

Political profile

Harriet Harman has had one of the more eventful political careers in the present House of Commons.

An MP since Labour's most radical days in 1983, she sat on the frontbench throughout the 1980s and 1990s.

During this time her left-wing past as an officer of the National Council for Civil Liberties (now Liberty) receded and she became a leading moderniser, close to both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.

These close associations with the leadership may have helped her in 1996 when she attracted heavy criticism from Labour ranks for sending her children to selective schools.

When Labour came to power in 1997, she entered the Cabinet as social security secretary, but left the post in 1998 following high profile disputes with fellow minister Frank Field and backbench anger over cuts to lone parent benefits.

Rather than follow the common route of becoming a rebel, she remained loyal to the government from the backbenches.

She became a campaigner for improved maternity provisions and for paid parental leave.

Her continued loyalty was recognised by an almost unprecedented return to government in 2001, as solicitor general.

Contact

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Commons office 0207 219 4218