Rebecca Long-Bailey

Rebecca Roseanne Long-Bailey (' Long'''; born 22 September 1979) is a British politician and a solicitor serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Salford and Eccles since 2015.

Rebecca Roseanne Long was born on 22 September 1979 in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester to Irish parents.

Her father, Jimmy Long, was a docker in Salford Quays and a trade union representative at Shell, Barton Docks, and her mother Una was a shop worker.

She attended Chester Catholic High School.

Her first job was in a pawn shop, something she says "taught [her] more about the struggles of life than any degree or qualification ever could".

She also worked in various call centres, a furniture factory, and in postal delivery before eventually studying to become a solicitor.

Long-Bailey studied Politics and Sociology at Manchester Metropolitan University, and then completed "various part-time law conversion and solicitors' courses".

She worked for the law firms Pinsent Masons and Halliwells from 2003 to 2007.

Long-Bailey was admitted as a solicitor in 2007, where she worked for Hill Dickinson specialising in commercial law, commercial property, NHS contracts and NHS estates.

She has worked for the law firm Pinsent Masons and in 2003, began working in landlord and tenant law for the law firm Halliwells; she was admitted as a solicitor on 1 November 2007 and moved that year to work for Hill Dickinson, specialising in commercial law, commercial property, NHS contracts and NHS estates.

The Sunday Times said that she was incorrect as she was only a solicitor since 2007, though she was a trainee solicitor and paralegal from 2003 to 2007.

Long-Bailey joined the Labour Party in 2010.

A spokesperson reported that she was moved to attend a Labour Party meeting after seeing "dramatic plans to dismantle" the NHS in her work as a solicitor.

When Hazel Blears stood down as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Salford and Eccles, the Labour Party decided to have a woman-only shortlist to choose its candidate for this safe seat.

Long-Bailey received the backing of Unite the Union, Mayor of Salford Ian Stewart and former Salford City Council leader John Merry.

On selection as a Labour Party candidate in 2014 she wrote that she had "been working as a solicitor with the NHS in Manchester for 10 years".

Long-Bailey was elected to the British House of Commons at the 2015 general election.

After Jeremy Corbyn was elected in the 2015 Labour leadership election, Long-Bailey was appointed as a Junior Treasury Minister and was nominated to sit on the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party.

At the 2015 general election, Long-Bailey was elected with 49.4% of the vote and a majority of 12,541.

Long-Bailey was one of 36 Labour MPs to nominate Jeremy Corbyn as a candidate in the 2015 Labour leadership election.

On 18 September 2015, after Corbyn was elected as leader, she was appointed as a Shadow Minister for the Treasury as part of his first frontbench team.

She was also appointed to Labour's National Executive Committee by Corbyn as one of three representatives of the front bench, replacing Hilary Benn.

A member of the Labour Party, Long-Bailey served in the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2016 to 2017, Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy from 2017 to 2020 and Shadow Secretary of State for Education in 2020.

Born in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Long-Bailey studied Politics and Sociology at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Long-Bailey served in Jeremy Corbyn’s Shadow Cabinet from 2016 to 2020.

She served as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2016 to 2017, deputising for Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell.

Long-Bailey was appointed as the Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury on 27 June 2016 after there were several resignations from the Shadow Cabinet.

She then served as Shadow Business Secretary from 2017 to 2020.

After Clive Lewis's resignation from the Shadow Cabinet over Corbyn's whipping of the Article 50 vote, Long-Bailey was appointed as the Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on 9 February 2017.

At the 2017 general election, Long-Bailey was re-elected with an increased vote share of 65.6% and an increased majority of 19.132.

In 2019, Long-Bailey contributed to the writing of Labour's manifesto for the 2019 general election.

She said that "I don't just agree with the policies, I've spent the last four years writing them".

At the 2019 general election, Long-Bailey was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 56.8% and a decreased majority of 16,327.

Following Labour's defeat in the 2019 general election, Jeremy Corbyn announced that he would stand down as Leader of the Labour Party.

She was a candidate in the 2020 Labour Party leadership election, finishing second to Keir Starmer.

She then briefly served as Shadow Secretary of State for Education before being sacked by Starmer after two months in the role.

Long-Bailey announced that she would stand in an article for Tribune magazine on 6 January 2020.

Her flatmate Angela Rayner ran for deputy leader, with the pair having made an agreement to run on an unofficial joint ticket.

Near the beginning of the campaign, Long-Bailey said she would score Corbyn "10 out of 10" for his leadership of the party, adding that before the election he was "savaged by the press".

She received 33 nominations from Labour MPs and MEPs, comprising 15% of members of the two groups, which is above the 10% needed to pass the first stage of the process.