Olivia Bailey

Olivia Bailey
MP
Official portrait of Olivia Bailey, she has short dark hair and is smiling at the camera.
Official portrait, 2024
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Early Education
In office
7 September 2025 – 22 July 2026
Prime MinisterKeir Starmer
Preceded byStephen Morgan
Succeeded byPaul Waugh
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equalities
In office
7 September 2025 – 22 July 2026
Prime MinisterKeir Starmer
Preceded byNia Griffith
Succeeded bySimon Lightwood
Member of Parliament
for Reading West and Mid Berkshire
Incumbent
Assumed office
4 July 2024
Preceded byAlok Sharma
(Reading West[a])
Majority1,361 (3.0%)
Personal details
BornOlivia Joanna Bailey
1986 (age 39–40)
Reading, Berkshire, England
PartyLabour
SpouseFinn McGoldrick
Children2
EducationRanelagh School,
St Hilda's College, Oxford (BA)

Olivia Joanna Bailey (born 1986)[3] is a British Labour Party politician who has served as Member of Parliament for Reading West and Mid Berkshire since 2024.[4][5] She served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Early Education and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equalities concurrently from 2025 to 2026.

Early life and education

Bailey was born in Reading, Berkshire in 1986 to a policeman father and teacher mother.[3] She attended Ranelagh School in Bracknell and experienced homophobic bullying at school.[3]

Bailey studied at St Hilda's College, Oxford, where she was the Junior Common Room President.[6] She graduated in 2008 with a Bachelor of Arts in Modern History and Politics.[7]

She was Women's Officer of the National Union of Students (NUS) from 2009 to 2011,[8] and Chair of Labour Students from 2011 to 2012.[9] As an officer of the NUS, Bailey created the Vote for Students pledge and published the first national study into harassment and abuse suffered by women students.[10]

Political career

Bailey had been Chair of the Labour Women's Network, deputy General Secretary of the Fabian Society, and a senior aide to Keir Starmer, before standing as a parliamentary candidate.[5]

Bailey contested Reading West at the 2017 general election, but was defeated by the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP), Alok Sharma.[3][11]

At the 2024 general election, Bailey was elected as MP for the new Reading West and Mid Berkshire constituency with 35% of the vote.[12] She was subsequently appointed parliamentary private secretary to the Work and Pensions Secretary, Liz Kendall.[13]

In September 2025 she was appointed as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Early Education) and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Equalities) at the Department for Education, with the latter focusing on LGBT+ legislation and policy.[14]

In April 2026 she voted against the motion to launch a parliamentary inquiry into Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's vetting of Lord Mandelson.[15]

Personal life

Bailey is married to Finn McGoldrick, with whom she has two children.[16][17] McGoldrick is a Member of Reading Council.

Her father, Roy Bailey, has been a Member of Bracknell Forest Council since 2023.[18][19]

Notes

  1. ↑ The Reading West constituency was renamed "Reading West and Mid Berkshire" at the 2024 general election, with major boundary changes[1][2]

References

  1. ↑ "The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report – South East". boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
  2. ↑ "South East: New Constituency Boundaries 2023". Electoral Calculus. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 4 "Reading-born Olivia aims for Reading West seat". RDG.Today. 23 Mar 2024. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  4. ↑ "Meet Olivia Bailey, Labour candidate for Reading West and Mid Berkshire". The Reading Chronicle. 2024. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  5. 1 2 "Olivia Bailey standing as Labour candidate for new MP seat". The Reading Chronicle. 7 Jan 2024. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  6. ↑ "Lewis Iwu penalised for dirty campaign tactics in OUSU race". Cherwell. 9 November 2007. Retrieved 2025-05-24.
  7. ↑ "Olivia Bailey MP". Policy Mogul. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  8. ↑ Ferguson, Mark (22 July 2010). "As Young Labour members, we support Oona for mayor". LabourList. Retrieved 2025-05-24.
  9. ↑ "History". Labour Students. Retrieved 2025-05-24.
  10. ↑ "The former student leaders entering Parliament". Wonkhe. Retrieved 2024-07-16.
  11. ↑ "Olivia Bailey – Labour Party". Reading West. 13 Jun 2024. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  12. ↑ "Reading West & Mid Berkshire | General Election 2024 | Sky News". election.news.sky.com. Retrieved 2024-07-13.
  13. ↑ "Full PPS list as seven more MPs made parliamentary private secretaries". LabourList. 21 February 2025. Retrieved 2025-05-24.
  14. ↑ "Olivia Bailey MP". GOV.UK. Archived from the original on 2025-11-16. Retrieved 2025-11-16.
  15. ↑ "PM won't face inquiry over claims he misled MPs on Mandelson vetting". GOV.UK. 2026-04-28. Retrieved 2026-07-13.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  16. ↑ Bailey, Olivia (21 March 2019). "Don't worry about "exposing" children to families like mine. Worry about hate". LabourList. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  17. ↑ Dickson, Annabelle (14 February 2022). "Britain's political power couples — ranked". Politico Europe. Retrieved 2025-05-24.
  18. ↑ Aldridge, James (14 December 2023). "Labour candidate hoping to be MP for West Reading". Reading Chronicle. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  19. ↑ "Councillor details - Councillor Roy Bailey". democratic.bracknell-forest.gov.uk. 2025-04-27. Archived from the original on 2025-04-27. Retrieved 2025-11-16.
Wikimedia Commons logo
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Olivia Bailey.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.