Paula Barker

Paula Barker was raised in a single parent family, an experience that she has said helped shape her beliefs. After leaving school, she had a 30 year career in local government, initially working at Liverpool City Council. Following this, Barker became involved in union politics, succeeding Angela Rayner as North West regional convenor for Unison in 2015. She was also a member of the North West TUC and is currently a member of Labour’s Socialist Campaign Group. Succeeding Jewish MP Luciana Berger, Barker has said she wants to “bring unity where [she] can”, suspending four members of her branch after they criticised her attempt to build bridges with the Jewish community. Barker’s maiden speech emphasised the benefits of strengthening local government and she has championed workers rights as well as advocated for reform of social care to better reward staff and unite fragmented healthcare providers. A loyal supporter of Jeremy Corbyn, Barker backed Rebecca Long-Bailey in the 2020 Labour leadership election. She recently signed an Early Day Motion calling for The Sun newspaper to be removed from the parliamentary estate. Since 2020, she has been on the Justice Select Committee.