Harris was born in the constituency of Swansea East which she now represents in Parliament. She attended Swansea University from 1994 to 1998 and studied a joint degree in Social History and Social Policy. Following university, Harris worked for Swansea-based community projects such as the Guiding Hand Association and then the Joshua Foundation. Before her political career she worked as the Parliamentary assistant of her now predecessor Siân James MP, who announced her intention to step down in March 2015.
Harris was elected the first ever Deputy Leader of Welsh Labour on 21 April 2018. Her key pledges for election included:
Increase party membership across Wales, so everyone can play their part in campaigning.
Reach out to all our communities, by working with our trade unions, affiliates and supporters.
Nurture new talent across our party, by encouraging underrepresented groups to get involved in our movement.
Campaign against Tory austerity, demonstrating the difference Labour values and socialist policies can make to our communities.
Rejuvenate our CLPs, making them the beating heart of our movement and communities.
Harris secured 51.5% of the electoral college vote, which was announced at Welsh Labour conference in Venue Cymru, Llandudno. Her election was controversial as she lost in the members section by a margin of 2 to 1 and she lost overall in the aggregated total of votes by 1,401.
Campaigns
Harris has led many successful campaigns during her time in Parliament. These have included campaigns on children's funerals, fixed-odds-betting terminals and fires in people's homes caused by electricity. After losing her son Martin in 1989, Harris was forced to take out a loan and rely on donations from the community to cover the funeral costs. Not wanting other parents to suffer the same hardship, Harris spoke about her grief in an adjournment debate on 28 November 2016 and went on to work with the Fair Funerals Campaign to press the Government to create a Children's Funeral Fund. The fund was announced in Wales at Welsh Labour conference on 25 March 2017, by Theresa May for England on 31 March 2018 and Scotland most recently on 30 May 2018. Following a two-year campaign to reduce the maximum stake on fixed-odds-betting terminals from £100 per spin to £2, on 17 May 2018 the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport announced that they would be reducing the stake in line with Harris's suggestion of £2 a spin. Harris started a campaign on fires caused by electrical products in people's homes as a result of a death of a constituent, Linda Merron in Penlan, Swansea. Her campaign is to raise awareness of cheap electrical goods being sold online and the potential impact of unsafe goods and she has had several debates in the House of Commons on the issue.
Controversy
In July 2018, Harris came under political pressure after allegations of homophobia were made against her during a trial in Cardiff involving a former colleague, who subsequently became an employee in her office after Harris was elected. The allegations, which dated from before Harris had become an MP alleged that Harris had homophobic remarks and an alleged assault. Harris stated that she did not remember the incidents but stated if they had occurred they would have been "office banter". Her response caused controversy among LGBT groups and Labour Party colleagues; however, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and LGBT political colleagues supported her, with some describing her as a 'strong ally' to the LGBT community.
