Harriet Harman

Harriet Harman

Harriet Ruth Harman QC (Hon.) (born 30 July 1950) is a British Labour Party politician. She is the Member of Parliament (MP) for Camberwell and Peckham and was MP for the predecessor Peckham constituency from 1982 to 1997. She was the interim Leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition from 11 May to 25 September 2010, until Ed Miliband took over the role.

In 2007, Harman was elected Deputy Leader of the Labour Party and served in the Cabinet as Leader of the House of Commons, Lord Privy Seal and Minister for Women and Equality from 2007 to 2010. Following the resignation of Gordon Brown as Prime Minister and Labour Leader on 11 May 2010 following his failure to win the general election (which ended in a hung parliament) five days earlier, Harman became interim Party Leader and interim Leader of the Opposition. She served in both roles until the Labour Party elected Ed Miliband leader.

Miliband appointed her Shadow Secretary of State for International Development and in the 2011 reshuffle, Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. She acts as stand-in Leader during Prime Minister's Questions during Milliband's absences, and shadows current Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg during Deputy Prime Minister's Questions. She is currently the longest continuously serving female MP in the House of Commons.