Barry Gardiner was born in Glasgow in 1957. He studied at St. Andrews University and Cambridge. In 1983, he won a John F Kennedy scholarship to do research at Harvard.In 1987 he entered business and ran a company of international maritime arbitrators for 10 years before entering parliament as MP for Brent North in 1997 with a swing of 18.83% - the largest in any general election since 1945.

Barry was a City Councillor in Cambridge where he chaired the Finance Committee and became the youngest mayor in the City's 800 year history. In Parliament, he has served on the Public Accounts Select Committee, and on the Broadcasting and Procedure Select Committees. He stood on the Finance Standing Committee that scrutinised the budget for 3 years in a row.

He has chaired the All Party Group on Sports and Leisure and the All Party Group on Commonhold and Leasehold Reform. He founded and chaired Labour Friends of India and is a regular contributor to the Gujarati and Asian press.  Barry was made Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in April 2004, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Trade and Industry in May 2005 and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at DEFRA between May 2006- June 2007. In July 2007 Barry was appointed by the Prime Minister to be his special representative on forestry. Barry and his wife, Caroline, have three sons and a daughter.