Tracy Brabin was born on 9th May 1961 in Batley, Yorkshire. She played two roles on Coronation Street - first, the minor part of Chloe in December 1989 and then the regular part of Tricia Armstrong from March 1994 to May 1997.
Brabin graduated from Loughborough University with a degree in Drama and worked extensively in the theatre, as well as presenting the Children's BBC programme Corners, plus the school holiday strand But First This. Her most major part prior to the role of Tricia was in the Yorkshire Television series A Bit of a Do, as David Jason's girlfriend.
As well as appearing in many popular television series such as Peak Practice, EastEnders, Midsomer Murders, The Bill, Doctors, Holby City and Emmerdale, she is also a writer contributing scripts for series such as Heartbeat (which she also appeared in), Shameless, Family Affairs and The Story of Tracy Beaker. Brabin was also a regular on a batch of television advertisements for Sainsbury's.
Brabin later moved into politics. She was selected on 23rd September 2016 as the Labour Party candidate to succeed the murdered MP Jo Cox, who died on 16th June. Brabin was elected as the MP for the Batley and Spen constituency at the by-election on 20th October, uncontested as a mark of respect by most major political parties. Brabin was re-elected at the general election held the following year, with a majority of 8,961 votes. At the 2019 general election, she was re-elected once more with a reduced majority of 3,525 votes.
On 9th May 2021, Brabin was elected Mayor of West Yorkshire, the first person to take up the role since it was created. Assuming the role required her to step down as a Member of Parliament.