Sheila was elected as the MP for Edinburgh East at the May 2010 General Election. Since then she has focussed on issues including unemployment, disability benefits and housing. She is a member of both the Work and Pensions Select Committee and the Political and Constitutional Reform Select Committee. In 2011 she was appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Jon Trickett MP, Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office.
 
Background
Sheila grew up in Edinburgh and her first job was as a teacher. She then studied law and worked for a solicitor’s firm in Edinburgh that dealt with people receiving legal aid. She focussed on family law and represented clients in cases involving divorce, domestic abuse, child protection and adoption.
 
Sheila has also worked with women who were victims of domestic violence. She developed close links with the charity Women’s Aid and was involved in setting up the Edinburgh Women’s Rape Crisis Centre in 1979.
 
Sheila was elected as Labour Councillor for Moredun in 1991. This was an area in which many houses lacked such basics as central heating and double glazing. She campaigned to get improvements carried out and new housing built and was appointed Convenor for Housing in 1999, a position she retained until she stood down from the council in 2007.
 
Sheila is a keen cyclist and does not own a car. She was heavily involved in Spokes, a campaign for better cycling facilities in Edinburgh.
 
Sheila is married with four grown up children .