Anne Begg was elected as the Labour MP for Aberdeen South to the House of Commons on 1st May 1997, the first permanent wheelchair user ever to be elected to Parliament.

Her political interests are wide but include welfare reform, pensions, equality and broadcasting as well as issues which affect her constituency. She was also active in the debate to allow embryonic stem cell research.

A member of the Work and Pensions Select Committee since 2001, Anne also chairs debates and legislative committees in Parliament in her role as a member of the Speaker’s Panel of Chairmen.  She chairs a number of All Party Groups - Offshore Oil and Gas, Equalities, Commercial Radio and is Secretary of the BBC Group.

Before she was elected, Anne was a Secondary school teacher of English for 19 years and in 1988 she was Disabled Scot of the Year.

In 2008 Anne also became Vice-Chair of the current Speaker's Conference, which is tasked with making recommendations about how the House of Commons can increase the representation of women, ethnic minorities and disabled people.