Mary has 22 years experience as an elected politician at local, national and international levels, developing policies and campaigns to tackle social inequality, protect the environment and tackle climate change. She served in the UK Parliament as Health Minister, Shadow Cabinet Member for Environment, Transport and International Development, and Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee.

She led ground breaking committee inquiries on ocean microplastics, soil, fast fashion, chemical regulations, air pollution, floods, heatwaves, single use plastics, invasive species and green finance. She also led on auditing the UK government’s progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals and pushed for the net zero emissions target.

Before politics she worked for 7 years at Cranfield University’s Business School. She is fluent in French and Italian.