2010–2015 At the
2010 general election, McGovern was elected to Parliament as MP for
Wirral South with 40.8% of the vote and a majority of 531. 's
Any Questions? programme in 2016 McGovern made her maiden speech in the House of Commons on 3 June 2010 in a debate on European Affairs. She became former Prime Minister
Gordon Brown's parliamentary private secretary in July 2010. In November 2010, She was selected by the
PLP to become a member of the
International Development Select Committee. In March 2011, she visited India as part of an International Development Select Committee delegation. In the 2013 Labour reshuffle, she was added to the Shadow International Development team. In 2014, she was moved to the shadow Children and Families portfolio.
2015–2017 At the
2015 general election, McGovern was re-elected as MP for Wirral South with an increased vote share of 48.2% and an increased majority of 4,599. In May 2015, McGovern was appointed
Shadow Economic Secretary to the Treasury in Labour's
Treasury team. She departed the opposition front bench after
Jeremy Corbyn was
elected Labour leader in September 2015. In October 2015, McGovern was appointed as Chair of
Progress, a political organisation associated with the development of
New Labour. In January 2016, McGovern resigned from Labour's policy review on
child poverty and combating inequality, as a protest against
Progress being described by shadow Chancellor
John McDonnell as having "a hard right agenda". She commented that she had been "backed into a corner". A Labour Party spokesperson stated "She is resigning from something that doesn't exist", as the initiative had not been confirmed or launched yet. McGovern supported
Owen Smith in the unsuccessful attempt to replace
Jeremy Corbyn in the
2016 Labour Party (UK) leadership election. McGovern served as chair of the
Advisory Committee on Works of Art from July 2016 until April 2020, when she rejoined the opposition front bench. In September 2016, she was elected co-chair of the
all-party parliamentary group Friends of Syria.
2017–2019 At the snap
2017 general election, McGovern was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 57.2% and an increased majority of 8,323.
2019–2024 She was again re-elected at the
2019 general election, with a decreased vote share of 51.2% and a decreased majority of 6,105. In the
2020 Labour Party leadership election, McGovern supported
Jess Phillips. Due to the
2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, McGovern's constituency of Wirral South was abolished. She challenged
Mick Whitley in
Birkenhead for the Labour selection and was successful on 16 June 2023.
2024–present At the
2024 general election, McGovern was elected to Parliament as MP for Birkenhead with 52% of the vote and a majority of 13,798. She was appointed a
Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions) in the new Labour Government. McGovern described Job Centres as the "most unloved public service" and vowed to reform them. In September 2025, she moved to the
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government with the portfolio of Local Government and Homelessness. ==Views==