I have been the Member of Parliament for Glasgow North from 2005 to 12 April this year and am also a Minister in the Scotland Office.

I have been selected by Glasgow North CLP as PPC.

I previously served on the Scottish Affairs Committee and then as a member of the International Development Committee at the House of Commons. Until my appointment as a Minister, I was Chair of the All Party Group on Debt, Aid and Trade and Chair of the backbench group of Scottish Labour MPs.

I was born in Paisley on 22 April 1961. I attended Sacred Heart High School in Paisley and Paisley Grammar School. After leaving school, I studied Scots Law at Strathclyde University. I then practised as a solicitor from 1983 until 2000. Between 1990 and 2000 I was a partner in the Glasgow legal firm, Pacitti Jones. I have lived in Glasgow North Constituency for over 18 years.

I was a Labour candidate in the Scottish Parliament Elections in 1999 on the West of Scotland list. I served as the Secretary of the former Glasgow Kelvin Constituency Labour Party from 1995-1998 and as their Women's Officer from 2000-2001.

In March 2001, after Maria Fyfe announced her decision not to stand for re-election, I was selected by Maryhill Labour Party to be their Westminster Parliamentary candidate. At the General Election in June 2001, I was elected as Member of Parliament for Glasgow Maryhill.

Boundary changes to Westminster parliamentary constituencies created the new Glasgow North seat and I was chosen to be the Labour Party candidate by local party members. I am very pleased to have been elected in the 2005 General Election to represent this new, diverse and exciting constituency.

In September 2008, I was appointed as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Scotland Office.

My personal interests include dancing, films and art history.