She was a Shadow Spokesperson for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and an Opposition Whip from 2020, and a Shadow Spokesperson for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities from 2021.
Her first job was working in a bookshop.[6] She has also worked in social services.[7] From 1997 to 2001, she worked as the office manager for MP Tess Kingham in Gloucester.[5] She then worked as campaigns and communication manager for MP Mike Foster.[8] Hayman worked in public relations as a consultant for Copper Consultancy where she was account director before becoming their head of public affairs. She then became a self-employed consultant.[5]
Political career
Hayman was third on Labour's party list for West Midlands in the 2004 European Parliament election but was not elected as an MEP.[9] She stood as a candidate in the 2005 general election for Preseli Pembrokeshire after the incumbent Labour MP, Jackie Lawrence, stood down.[8] Hayman lost to Conservative Stephen Crabb.[10] In the 2010 general election, she contested Halesowen and Rowley Regis. The constituency had been represented by Labour MP Sylvia Heal since 1997. Hayman lost the seat to Conservative James Morris.[11]
Hayman was elected to represent Howgate division on Cumbria County Council in 2013, on which she later became vice-chair of the Children's Scrutiny Committee.[12][5] She resigned her seat shortly after her election to Parliament in 2015.[13]
House of Commons
She was elected as MP for the all women shortlist seat of Workington in the 2015 general election, she became the first female MP to represent a constituency in Cumbria.[14][15] From July to October 2015, she sat on the Justice Select Committee. Hayman was an opposition whip from September 2015 to October 2016. She campaigned against the closure of Workington's magistrates court. In February 2016, the Ministry of Justice announced that the court would not be closed.[16]
Hayman retained her seat in the June 2017 general election with a majority of 3,925 (9.4%).[20] During the election, the Conservative Party candidate claimed Hayman had breached election rules over mail sent to constituents. However, a complaint sent to the Serjeant-at-Arms of the House of Commons was not investigated because the mailing, to flood victims, was unrelated to the election and Hayman had notified it to Parliament once the election was called.[21]
She was co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Nuclear Energy,[22] and vice-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Rural Business.[23] Since 2017, she has written articles on the environment and animal welfare in the New Statesman.[24][25]
In July 2020, it was announced that Hayman received a nomination for a peerage.[29] She was created Baroness Hayman of Ullock, of Ullock in the County of Cumbria, on 9 September 2020.[30][31] Due to her view on animal welfare, she chose to wear fake fur robes to take her oath of allegiance.[32] She was appointed as a shadow DEFRA spokesperson and an opposition whip in October 2020, and a shadow DLUHC spokesperson in December 2021.
Personal life
She married Ross Hayman in 1997. They have two daughters and two sons. They live in the village of Ullock in Cumbria.[3][5][6]