I was born, raised and educated in Hull and the East Riding.

Full statement

I'm rooted in this region and I understand the needs and challenges we face.

My grandparents' families came from the rural East Riding and the city of Hull. They knew poverty and working class deprivation, but their aspiration for their children - my parents' generation - meant mine was the first generation to attend university.

Unlike a recent Conservative prime minister, I was proud of the opportunities my local community and my comprehensive school gave me, and grateful to Labour for making them possible.

The support and encouragement of my brilliant German teacher helped me gain a place at Cambridge where I read Modern Languages.

I qualified as a solictor with a maritime law firm in the City then specialised in international regulation and competition law with Freshfields in New York.

After moving to Boston, I joined the faculty at Harvard University winning several awards for excellence in teaching.

When I returned to the UK, I started a consultancy in public sector construction and procurement covering major infrastructure projects and social housing.

I have an LLM in Public Sector Procurement Law and Policy.

My family has given me a legacy of service to the community and the nation through their local churches and community organisations, and as frontline workers or members of the armed forces. My father served in the Royal Navy for 15 years before retraining as a teacher. My parents also ran the local independent youth orchestra for over twenty years and I am now a trustee of three arts charities.

The global Covid pandemic was one of the most devastating crises we have faced in recent years. To help protect my community, I trained as a vaccinator working for the NHS at vaccine centres and mobile units across East Yorkshire.

Standing in Beverley & Holderness in this year's general election, I reduced Graham Stuart’s 20,000+ majority to 124 votes – the narrowest in the North and the ninth narrowest nationally.

I'm also an experienced councillor and made history as the first female Labour mayor of Beverley.

Winning for Labour means getting out on the doorstep and taking our message to where it will be heard.