Rebecca Long-Bailey

Rebecca Long-Bailey (born 22 September 1979) is a British Labour Party politician who was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Salford and Eccles at the 2015 general election.

She has been Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy since February 2017.

Early life
Rebecca Long-Bailey was born Rebecca Long in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, to Irish parents on 22 September 1979. Her father, Jimmy Long, was a Salford docker and a trade union representative at Shell, Barton Docks. She attended Chester Catholic High School.

She began her working life serving at the shop counter of a pawn shop, an experience that she says "taught [her] more about the struggles of life than any degree or qualification ever could." She also worked in call centres, a furniture factory, and as a postwoman before eventually studying to become a solicitor.

She studied politics and sociology at Manchester Metropolitan University, then completed "various part-time law conversion and solicitors’ courses."

Career
She worked as a solicitor at law firms Halliwells, Pinsent Masons and Hill Dickinson, specialising in commercial law, commercial property, NHS contracts and NHS estates.

When Hazel Blears decided to stand down, Long stood as a candidate for Salford and Eccles, and received the backing of Unite Union, Salford's elected mayor, Ian Stewart, and former Salford council leader John Merry, when the Labour Party decided to have a woman-only shortlist.

Long-Bailey was one of 36 Labour MPs to nominate Jeremy Corbyn as a candidate in the Labour leadership election of 2015. After winning the leadership of the party, Corbyn replaced Hilary Benn on Labour's NEC with Long-Bailey.

In June 2016, Long-Bailey was appointed as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury after mass resignations from the shadow cabinet necessitated a reshuffle. Following Clive Lewis's resignation from the Shadow Cabinet on 8 February 2017 over Corbyn's whipping of the Article 50 vote, Long-Bailey was appointed as Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Personal life
Long-Bailey is married and has a son