The MP for Wakefield held several senior shadow cabinet positions under former Labour leaders Ed Miliband and Harriet Harman, including serving as Shadow Defra minister between 2010 and 2013.
It was during this time that Ms Creagh set out Labour’s support for a landfill ban on food waste, although the Party later backtracked on this policy (see letsrecycle.com story).
She takes over as EAC chair from MP for Ogmore Huw Irranca-Davies, who recently announced he was stepping down both from the role and as an MP, prompting fresh elections (see letsrecycle.com story).
Mr Irranca-Davies had chaired the EAC through several inquiries since being elected to the role after last year’s General Election, but now intends to run for the Ogmore seat in the forthcoming Welsh Assembly elections.
Ms Creagh’s last senior role was Shadow International Development Secretary, but she stepped down from the opposition front bench in September 2015 to make way for Diane Abbot, who was appointed by current party leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Before being elected as MP for Wakefield in 2005, Ms Creagh served as a local Labour councillor in Islington, becoming Party group leader from 2000-2004.
She has also previously worked for the European Parliament in Brussels, and later chaired the Labour Movement for Europe from 2007 to 2009.
All Members of Parliament were able to vote in the EAC chair election, which saw Ms Creagh elected by a significant margin through the Alternative Vote system after three rounds and 460 votes cast. She beat off competition from other Labour MPs Barry Gardiner, Geraint Davies and Chris Evans.
Only Labour MPs could stand for the position, with the Party allocated the chair role for the EAC after the 2015 General Election.
Register for free to comment