Sarah McCarthy-Fry is the Labour MP for Portsmouth North, she was first elected in the 2005 general election. Sarah was born in 1955, daughter of a defence worker of Scottish descent.  

She went to Portsmouth High School and worked for the multi-national defence engineering company GKN Westland at Portsmouth, and most recently as financial controller for GKN Aerospace Services at Cowes, Isle of Wight. Her job included spells working abroad in Germany and the US. She qualified as a chartered accountant in 2004.

Sarah came to prominence in local politics leading the “Ban the Burner” campaign which successfully opposed the building of a proposed incinerator.  She was elected to Portsmouth City Council in 1994, chaired the environment committee, and was deputy leader for five years. 

Her main political interests are trade and industry, defence and the social economy.  

Sarah married her second husband Tony McCarthy in 1997 and they have four grown-up children. She is a fan of The Who, and her hobbies include tap-dancing, dog walking and amateur dramatics.   

In 2006 Sarah was made PPS to John Healey, Financial Secretary at the Treasury.

In the July 2007 reshuffle, Sarah was appointed PPS to the Chief Whip, Geoff Hoon.