Olivia Bailey

Bailey was born in Reading, Berkshire in 1986 to a policeman father and teacher mother.^[3] She attended Ranelagh School in Bracknell and experienced homophobic bullying at school.^[3]

Bailey studied at St Hilda's College, Oxford, where she was the Junior Common Room President.^[6] She graduated in 2008 with a Bachelor of Arts in Modern History and Politics.^[7]

She was Women's Officer of the National Union of Students (NUS) from 2009 to 2011,^[8] and Chair of Labour Students from 2011 to 2012.^[9] As an officer of the NUS, Bailey created the Vote for Students pledge and published the first national study into harassment and abuse suffered by women students.^[10]

Bailey had been Chair of the Labour Women's Network, deputy General Secretary of the Fabian Society, and a senior aide to Keir Starmer, before standing as a parliamentary candidate.^[5]

Bailey contested Reading West at the 2017 general election, but was defeated by the incumbent Member of Parliament (MP), Alok Sharma.^[3][11]

At the 2024 general election, Bailey was elected as MP for the new Reading West and Mid Berkshire constituency with 35% of the vote.^[12] She was subsequently appointed parliamentary private secretary to the Work and Pensions Secretary, Liz Kendall.^[13]

In September 2025 she was appointed as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Early Education) and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Equalities) at the Department for Education, with the latter focusing on LGBT+ legislation and policy.^[14]

In April 2026 she voted against the motion to launch a parliamentary inquiry into Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's vetting of Lord Mandelson.^[15]

Bailey is married to Finn McGoldrick, with whom she has two children.^[16][17] McGoldrick is a Member of Reading Council.

Her father, Roy Bailey, has been a Member of Bracknell Forest Council since 2023.^[18][19]