Yvonne Fovargue

Yvonne Helen Fovargue (born 29 November 1956 ) is a British Labour Party politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Makerfield in Greater Manchester since 2010.

Fovargue attended Sale Grammar School and obtained a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Leeds.

In the 1980s, she worked as a housing officer on the Moss Side estate, before becoming the Chief Executive of St Helens Citizens Advice Bureau, a role she held for over 20 years.

She also served as a local councillor in Warrington from 2004 until her election as an MP in 2010.

Fovargue was elected with a majority of 12,490 at the 2010 general election.

She was appointed as an Opposition Whip in 2011 and served as Shadow Transport Minister and Shadow Defence Minister.

She was then appointed as a Shadow Education Minister with responsibility for Further Education and Skills in October 2014 following resignation of Rushanara Ali.

She supported Owen Smith in the failed attempt to replace Jeremy Corbyn in the 2016 Labour Party (UK) leadership election.

Yvonne Fovargue is a member of the Unite trade union and the Co-operative Party.

She resigned from this role in March 2019 after voting against the Labour whip in a vote on a second Brexit referendum.

Fovargue supported neighbouring MP Lisa Nandy in the 2020 Labour Party leadership election.

Fovargue is UK Trade Envoy to Libya and Tunisia.

She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2024 New Year Honours for political and public service.

Fovargue is married to Paul Kenny and has a daughter.

She is a member of Mensa and an avid reader of crime fiction.