Mary Creagh



Mary Helen Creagh FCIL (born 2 December 1967) has represented Wakefield as its Member of Parliament (MP) since 2005.

In 2010, Creagh was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, before becoming Shadow Secretary of State for Transport in 2013. In November 2014 she was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for International Development.

On 14 May 2015, Creagh announced she would run for Leader of the Labour Party in the leadership election resulting from Ed Miliband's resignation, although she later withdrew her candidacy.

Parliamentary career
Creagh succeeded the retiring David Hinchliffe as MP for Wakefield. She won the seat in 2005 with a majority of 5,154, and held the seat - altered by boundary changes - with a majority of 1,613 five years later. She was a member of the Human Rights Select Committee from 2005 until 2007, and was Parliamentary Private Secretary to Andy Burnham, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, from 2006 until June 2009. In June 2009, she was appointed as an Assistant Government Whip in the Department of Health.

Since entering the House of Commons, Creagh has campaigned successfully on a number of issues. In 2005 she introduced a Children's Food Bill which sought to introduce minimum nutritional standards for all school meals and take fizzy drinks and sugary snacks out of school vending machines. Both of these measures were accepted by the Government and became law under the Education and Inspections Act 2006.

In 2006, Creagh launched a campaign aimed at preventing scalding injuries in the home. She brought together medical experts, campaign groups, and victims of scalding injuries to lobby the government to change the building regulations to prevent people being severely burned by scalding hot water. The coalition pressured the government to make the fitting of a water temperature regulating device, such as a thermostatic mixing valve (TMV), compulsory in new bathrooms in England. In 2009, after a 3-year "Hot Water Burns Like Fire" campaign, the Labour Government confirmed that, from April 2010, TMVs were to be a standard fitment in all new bathrooms.

On 8 October 2010, Creagh was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

In 2013, Creagh was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Transport.

In November 2014, she became Shadow Secretary of State for International Development.