Helen Elizabeth Hayes (born 8 August 1974) is a British Labour Party

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

, who has been the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for

Dulwich and West Norwood Dulwich and West Norwood is a constituency in South London created in 1997. It has been represented by Helen Hayes of Labour since her election in 2015. In the 2016 EU referendum The United Kingdom European Union membership referend ...

since the May 2015 general election.

Early life

Hayes attended

Ormskirk Grammar School Ormskirk Grammar School was a school in Ormskirk, West Lancashire, England. History It was founded circa 1610 and moved from the original school house at Barkhouse Hill to Ruff Lane in 1850. The architect Sydney Smirke designed the original scho ...

, a comprehensive secondary school based in

Ormskirk Ormskirk is a market town in the West Lancashire district of Lancashire, England, north of Liverpool, northwest of St Helens, southeast of Southport and southwest of Preston. Ormskirk is known for its gingerbread. Geography and administr ...

, near

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

in the northwest of England. She was an undergraduate at

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided the f ...

. After university, Hayes worked as a town planner. She became managing partner of her own town planning company, Urban Practitioners, before becoming a partner at London architectural practice

Allies and Morrison Allies and Morrison LLP is an architecture and urban planning practice based in London and Cambridge. Founded in 1984, the practice is now one of Britain's largest architectural firms. The practice's work ranges from architecture and interio ...

. Hayes is a Chartered Member of the

Royal Town Planning Institute The Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) is the professional body representing planners in the United Kingdom, and Ireland. It promotes and develops policy affecting planning and the built environment. Founded in 1914, the institute was gra ...

, a member of the

King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is an NHS trust in London, England. It is closely involved with Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, with which it shares its chair, Sir Hugh Taylor, its strategy director and IT director. It ...

and is also a trustee of

Turner Contemporary Turner Contemporary is one of the UK’s leading contemporary art galleries. Celebrating Margate’s connection with the painter J.M.W. Turner (1775 – 1851), an artist who believed that art could be an agent of change, its year-round exhibition ...

art gallery in Margate.

Political career

Before being elected as an MP, Hayes was elected as a

Councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

for the College ward of

Southwark Council Southwark London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Southwark in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. History There have previously been a numbe ...

in 2010 and in 2014. Following her election as an MP in May 2015 she held both roles for 10 months before resigning as a Councillor in March 2016 to focus on her Parliamentary duties. Hayes has served on the

Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee The Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee (formerly the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee) is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to examine ...

since July 2015. She supported Remain in the

EU referendum This is a list of referendums related to the European Union, or referendums related to the European Communities, which were predecessors of the European Union. Since 1972, a total of 48 referendums have been held by EU member states, candidate st ...

in June 2016 and voted against the triggering of Article 50 in February 2017. In 2018, Hayes criticised the closure of two

Royal Mail , kw, Postya Riel, ga, An Post Ríoga , logo = Royal Mail.svg , logo_size = 250px , type = Public limited company , traded_as = , foundation = , founder = Henry VIII , location = London, England, UK , key_people = * Keith Williams ...

delivery offices in her constituency. She has signed a range of

Early day motions In the Westminster parliamentary system, an early day motion (EDM) is a motion, expressed as a single sentence, tabled by members of Parliament that formally calls for debate "on an early day". In practice, they are rarely debated in the House a ...

in Parliament since her election. These range from calling on the Government to better protect and support Transgender rights, and for the adoption of a public health approach to drugs policy in the UK. Following the election of

Keir Starmer Sir Keir Rodney Starmer (; born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and barrister who has served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St Pancras ...

as Labour Leader, she was promoted as Shadow Minister for the Cabinet office in April 2020. Hayes resigned her role as a Shadow Minister on 30 December 2020 in order to abstain on the Future Trade Agreement between the UK and the EU. In the

November 2021 British shadow cabinet reshuffle On 29 November 2021, Keir Starmer, Leader of the Opposition in the United Kingdom, carried out a reshuffle of his shadow cabinet. The slimmed down shadow cabinet, was seen to be Starmer creating a top team in his own image. The major outcome ...

, she returned to the frontbench as Shadow Minister for Children and Early Years, replacing

Tulip Siddiq Tulip Rizwana Siddiq ( bn, টিউলিপ রেজওয়ানা সিদ্দীক; born 16 September 1982) is a British politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hampstead and Kilburn since 2015. A member of the L ...

Personal life

Hayes is married to Ben Jupp; the couple have two children. Her sister-in law is

Rachel Jupp Rachel Jupp (born 1977) is a British television news and current affairs producer. She became the Editor of the BBC's '' Panorama'' current affairs series in September 2016. Early life Jupp was raised in Twickenham. She attended Orleans Park Scho ...

, editor of the BBC current affairs series, ''

Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography, film, seismic images, or 3D modeling. The word was originally coined in ...

''.

References

External links

* *
Listing on Southwark Council website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayes, Helen 1974 births Living people Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Councillors in the London Borough of Southwark UK MPs 2015–2017 UK MPs 2017–2019 UK MPs 2019–present 21st-century British women politicians 21st-century English women 21st-century English people People educated at Ormskirk Grammar School Women councillors in England