Helen Southworth

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Helen Southworth MP
Member of Parliament for Warrington South
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 May 1997
Preceded by	Mike Hall
Succeeded by	Incumbent

Born	13 November 1956 (1956-11-13) (age 53) Preston
Nationality	British
Political party	Labour
Alma mater	Lancaster University
Religion	Roman Catholic

Helen Mary Southworth (born 13 November, 1956), is a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. She is the Member of Parliament for Warrington South, and was first elected at the 1997 General Election. She retained the Warrington South seat at the 2001 and 2005 general elections, each time with a reduced majority.

Born in Preston, Southworth was educated a Roman Catholic at the former Larkhill Convent school in Preston. In 1978, she graduated with a BA in English Literature from Lancaster University.

Before entering Parliament, Southworth was a councillor on St Helens Borough Council, on which she became chairperson of the Leisure Committee. She unsuccessfully contested the Wirral South constituency at the 1992 General Election.

Southworth served as a member of the House of Commons select committees on Trade and Industry (1998-2001) and Procedure (1997-1999). She was Parliamentary Private Secretary to Paul Boateng, the former Chief Secretary to the Treasury, from 2001 to 2005. In 2005 she was appointed a member of the Culture, Media and Sport select committee, which will scrutinise the implementation of the London 2012 Olympic Games.

She has served as a non-executive director on a number of bodies, including the charity Age Concern, Grosvenor Housing Association and Merseyside and Knowsley Health Authority.

She is the sister of science writer Gabrielle Walker, well known for her radio shows on BBC Radio 4 and also her Antarctic studies.