Date of birth: 30 August 1958

Education: London School of Economics BSc, MSc, MA

Karen lives with her partner Barrie Taylor. They have one son.

Past Career:
Karen worked for:
* a charity specialising in employment for disabled people
* the London Borough of Hackney in the same field
* the Labour Party Head Office as a Policy Officer specialising in health, and
* from 1992 until her election in 1997 she worked in the Labour Party’s Campaigns Unit

Current Positions:
* She currently serves on the Home Affairs Select Committee.
* Karen chairs the All Party Parliamentary Group for Citizens Advice.
* Karen is serving on two commissions looking at poverty in London and tenant involvement.
* Karen served on the Select Committee on Social Security, 1997 – 2001, and the Work and Pensions Select Committee, 2001 -2005. Karen was Chair of the London Labour Group.
* She served as a member of the Mayor of London’s Affordable Housing Commission.
* Karen is a Board Member of constituency SRB projects.

Special Interests: Housing, protected tenants and leasehold reform, urban regeneration, refugees and asylum-seekers, welfare, children.