Creagh became chair of the Environmental Audit Select Committee in 2016 but lost her Wakefield seat to the Conservative Party candidate Imran Ahmad Khan at the 2019 general election.

Of Irish descent, Creagh was born in Coventry, Warwickshire, where her father was a car factory worker and her mother a primary school teacher.

[3][4] She was educated at the comprehensive Bishop Ullathorne Roman Catholic School in Coventry and read Modern Languages at Pembroke College, Oxford, graduating as MA (Oxon).

[9] In 2002, Creagh formally alleged cronyism in the appointment of the Islington Council chief executive by five Liberal Democrat councillors, thus triggering an investigation by the Standards Board for England.

Creagh was criticised by the tribunal as being "heavily influenced by her political motives" and that she was an "insensitive witness, lacking in balanced judgment and one who was prepared to make assumptions about honesty and integrity of others without any proper basis".

[10] However, Creagh defended herself, saying she "blew the whistle because I believed the Liberal Democrats were not meeting the standards we expect from people in public office.

The coalition pressured the government to make the fitting of a water temperature regulating device, such as a thermostatic mixing valve (TMV), compulsory in new bathrooms in England.

In 2009, after a three-year "Hot Water Burns Like Fire" campaign, the Labour government confirmed TMVs were to be a standard fitment in all new bathrooms from April 2010.

She said there was an "impunity gap" which allowed people accused of terrible crimes in places like Rwanda and Bosnia to escape justice and live freely in Britain.

[27] In 2011, Creagh criticised the decision by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to cut flood defence spending in real terms by 32%.

[28] In addition to her involvement in campaigns calling for the banning of wild animals performing in circuses,[29] she has opposed the government's policy of badger culling, claiming it was "anti-science" and that the option of vaccination should be explored.

[36] In November 2014, Creagh became Shadow Secretary of State for International Development in Ed Miliband's final reshuffle prior to the 2015 general election.

At the time of her announcement, she had secured about 10 nominations from Labour MPs, fewer than any of the other remaining candidates and well short of the 35 required to take part in the final ballot.

[41] On the 1 December 2015 edition of BBC programme Newsnight, Creagh argued in favour of military action in Syria, stating: "ISIL pose a clear threat to Britain", "it makes no sense to turn our planes back at the Syrian border" and "we must act to keep our country safe".

[44] She went on to state blue passports were "not worth £50 billion and crashing the economy" and the UK leaving the EU would be bad for the planet, and "more than the harm" done by Donald Trump.

[49] In February 2019, Creagh was invited to join breakaway Labour MPs when they formed The Independent Group, later Change UK, but declined.

In an interview with Channel 4 News, Ahmad Khan attributed his success during the election to "Islington Remainers" who had branded Leave voters "stupid, uneducated, racist or wrong".

[55] Creagh is working as a visiting professor at Cranfield University and has given speeches for the OECD in Paris and Chatham House in Tokyo.