About Fiona

Fiona was first elected MP for Slough in 1997 and was one of 101 Labour women to enter Parliament that year. She was re-elected in June 2001 and May 2005.

Fiona has always campaigned for justice and equality for women and minorities of all kinds. Before becoming an MP, Fiona was director of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants and briefly a press officer for the National Council for Voluntary Organisations. She has been an inner London primary school teacher and a university lecturer at London University Institute of Education and worked in a private company.

Fiona held elected offices in the NUS and a student union and on Wandsworth Council, where she was leader of the Labour Group between 1988 and 1990. She was also Chair of Liberty.

In Parliament, Fiona made her maiden speech on the theme of the right to read. She was responsible for changes to the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, which entitled people who held second-class British status and no other citizenship, to register as British citizens. She has actively campaigned against people-trafficking and is leading a campaign for changes in the law on prostitution.

After Labour's 1997 General Election victory, Fiona was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to Chris Smith, Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, from December 1997 to April 2001.

Following the 2001 General Election, Fiona served as a Home Office Minister between June 2003 and May 2006, when she asked the Prime Minister to relieve her of her responsibilities. Fiona had responsibility for race equality, community policy and civil renewal, from 2003 to 2005. She then had responsibility for the criminal justice system including victims and witnesses, prison casework, criminal injuries compensation and prostitution, until 2006.

Fiona has taken up a wide range of issues on behalf of her constituents. She created Health Action Slough, which mobilised local people to focus on the high rate of heart disease and stroke in Slough. The gap in life expectancy between Slough and the rest of Berkshire is now narrowing faster than the national average.

Fiona's current priorities are campaigning for better outdoor play facilities and leading a team of businesses and training providers to improve the skills of local people, so they can benefit more from the wide range of jobs available locally, and so that local companies can prosper too. Fiona regularly meets with bodies which provide services to local people, from transport companies to schools and hospitals, making sure they know about the concerns of her constituents. Sometimes, as was the case for years with First Great Western, these bodies are slow to react, but Fiona persists and her persistence usually pays off.

Fiona is currently a member of the Children, Schools and Families Select Committee. She is a member of the Labour Party National Policy Forum and a member of the Fabian Society Executive Committee. She is co-Chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party Women's Committee and runs a mentoring scheme for Labour women who want to stand for Parliament.

When not working, Fiona enjoys walking in the countryside, talking with friends, reading books and going to the theatre, opera, museums and galleries. Fiona is a keen cyclist.