"I went into the election knowing it was a win-win scenario," she says.
"I wanted to win. But I knew if I lost I would win my life back." Now 38, King had been working 15-hour days since being elected eight years earlier as a Labour Party MP and foresaw a time when she would lose her mind, her family, or both if she carried on.
"I feel I blinked and half my life disappeared into the House of Commons," she explains. "It was a great privilege, but it's not what I want from my life now."
What she does want is to influence areas she cares passionately about, including youth services. King will chair the Make Space Youth Review, which launches this week, and is a trustee of youth volunteering initiative v.
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