Mary Creagh

Mary Creagh CBE FCIL MP
Official portrait, 2024
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Nature
Incumbent
Assumed office 18 July 2024
Prime Minister	Keir Starmer
Preceded by	Rebecca Pow
Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee
In office 10 February 2016 – 6 November 2019
Preceded by	Huw Irranca-Davies
Succeeded by	Philip Dunne
Shadow cabinet portfolios 2014–2015 International Development 2013–2014 Transport 2010–2013 Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Member of Parliament for Coventry East
Incumbent
Assumed office 4 July 2024
Preceded by	Colleen Fletcher
Majority	11,623 (31.3%)
Member of Parliament for Wakefield
In office 5 May 2005 – 6 November 2019
Preceded by	David Hinchliffe
Succeeded by	Imran Ahmad Khan
Member of Islington Council for Highbury West Highbury (1998–2002)
In office 7 May 1998 – 5 May 2005
Succeeded by	Theresa Debono
Personal details
Born	Mary Helen Creagh (1967-12-02) 2 December 1967 (age 57) Coventry, Warwickshire, England
Political party	Labour
Alma mater	Pembroke College, Oxford (MA) London School of Economics (PhD)

Mary Helen Creagh CBE FCIL (born 2 December 1967) 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.^[1][2]

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.