Harriet Harman was the interim Labour Party Leader after Gordon Brown stood down after the 2010 general election. She was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport in 2011.

She is currently the longest continuously serving female MP in the House of Commons.

She was appointed as Secretary of State for Social Security in 1997 and then Solicitor General in June 2001 and in 2005 was Minister of State at the Department for Constitutional Affairs. She was as Leader of the House of Commons, Lord Privy Seal, and Minister for Women and Equality from 2007 to 2010.

She qualified as a lawyer, worked at Brent Law Centre in London, then became legal officer at the National Council for Civil Liberties and was elected MP for Camberwell and Peckham following a by-election in 1982. In 1984 she was appointed to the Labour Front-bench as Spokesperson for Social Services, becoming Spokesperson for Health in 1987 and Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury in Labour's Shadow Cabinet in 1992.

She studied politics at York University, then qualified as a lawyer.