Valerie Vaz was first elected as the Labour MP for Walsall South in 2015, being reelected in 2019 with a majority of 3,456.
The Walsall South constituency covers the centre of the town of Walsall in the West Midlands and has been a safe Labour seat for over fifty years. A third of the electorate are of Asian descent. Levels of deprivation and child poverty in this constituency are well above the national average.
Vaz served as Shadow Leader of the House of Commons between 2016 and 2021, and sat in the Shadow Cabinet during that time.
Born in 1954, Vaz was educated at the University of London. Prior to entering Parliament, Vaz was a solicitor setting up her own company. She also sat as a Deputy District Judge in the County Courts of the Midlands. She is the sister of former Labour MP Keith Vaz.
Valerie Vaz was a Councillor in the London Borough of Ealing from 1986 to 1990, and the council’s Deputy Leader from 1988 to 1989.
Vaz nominated Sir Keir Starmer in the 2020 Labour leadership election, having backed Jeremy Corbyn in the 2016 contest, and Andy Burnham in 2015.
Vaz is married with a daughter. According to the Register of Members Interests, she employs her husband, Paul Townsend, as a Senior Parliamentary Assistant.
Valerie Vaz is the Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Groups on Epilepsy. She is the Vice Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Groups on Music; Terminal Illness; Portugal;
Email: valerie.vaz.mp@parliament.uk
Personal Website: http://www.valerievazmp.co.uk/
Twitter: @Valerie_VazMP
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/ValerieVazMP
