Vera Baird

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Vera Baird QC MP (February 13, 1951) British politician, author and barrister, Member of Parliament for Redcar, and a Queen's Counsel. She is a member of the Labour Party.

She was born in 1951 in Oldham, Lancashire, and was educated at the Chadderton Grammar School; Newcastle Polytechnic; the Open University; and the University of London. She joined the Labour Party in 1971 and was Called to the Bar at Gray's Inn in 1975 and has been a practising barrister since, and currently works in the Chambers of Michael Mansfield, working alongside Patrick Roche, the husband of her former parliamentary colleague, Barbara Roche.

At the 1983 General Election, she unsuccefully contested the constituency of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and was defeated into third place, the winner of the contest being Alan Beith. She has written several books concerning rape and women's experiences in court and a book on women murderers. She is also a visiting Fellow at St Hilda's College, Oxford.

Vera Baird was selected to contest the ultra safe Labour seat of Redcar at the 2001 General Election following the retirement of the sitting MP and former Cabinet minister, Mo Mowlam.

Following the 2005 General Election, Baird became the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Home Secretary, Charles Clarke.

On 8 May 2006, she was appointed as a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Department for Constitutional Affairs.