Catherine McKinnell was born and grew up in the west end of Newcastle, and was first elected as the Labour MP for Newcastle upon Tyne North in May 2010.

Catherine studied politics and history at Edinburgh University, where she was active in various student organisations campaigning on international development and human rights issues. Prior to her election as an MP, Catherine worked as an employment solicitor with a large Newcastle-based firm.

Following a brief stint on the Political and Constitutional Reform Select Committee, Catherine was appointed Shadow Solicitor General in October 2010 by Ed Miliband, as part of his first frontbench team.

In October 2011, Catherine was appointed Shadow Minister for Children and Young Families within the Shadow Education team.

Before becoming a Shadow Minister, Catherine also introduced a Ten Minute Rule Bill into Parliament which seeks to make better use of the public procurement system to increase the number of apprenticeship places available in what she has called the ‘Small Change, Big Difference’ campaign: http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/house_of_commons/newsid_8994000/8994368.stm

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