Mary Helen Creagh is a British politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Coventry East since 2024, having previously served as MP for Wakefield from 2005 to 2019. A member of the Labour Party, she has served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Nature since July 2024.
Creagh was born and raised in Coventry, Warwickshire, where she attended Bishop Ullathorne Roman Catholic School. She studied Modern Languages at Pembroke College, Oxford and European Studies at the London School of Economics. After interning in Brussels, she worked as a lecturer and charity trustee. She began her political career serving on Islington London Borough Council from 1998 to 2005. She moved to West Yorkshire after she was first elected as MP for Wakefield in the 2005 general election.
After Labour's defeat in 2010, Creagh was appointed to Ed Miliband's Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. She was then moved to Shadow Transport Secretary in 2013 and Shadow International Development Secretary in 2014. Following Miliband's resignation, she announced she would run for Leader of the Labour Party in the 2015 leadership election although she later withdrew her candidacy. She resigned from the frontbench following the election as Labour leader of Jeremy Corbyn.
Creagh became chair of the Environmental Audit Select Committee in 2016 but lost her Wakefield seat to the Conservative Party candidate Imran Ahmad Khan at the 2019 general election. After losing her seat, she was appointed as chief executive of national walking charity Living Streets in September 2020.
