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Munira Wilson

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Munira Wilson
MP
Wilson in 2019
Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Health, Wellbeing and Social Care
Incumbent
Assumed office
6 January 2020
LeaderEd Davey & Mark Pack
Preceded byLuciana Berger
Member of Parliament
for Twickenham
Incumbent
Assumed office
12 December 2019
Preceded bySir Vince Cable
Majority14,121 (21.9%)
Personal details
Born
Munira Sherali Hassam[1]

(1978-04-26) 26 April 1978 (age 46)
NationalityBritish
Political partyLiberal Democrat
SpouseMichael Robert Wilson[2]
Alma materSt Catharine's College, Cambridge
OccupationPolitician
ProfessionLobbyist

Munira Hassam Wilson (née Hassam; born 26 April 1978) is a British Liberal Democrat politician who was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Twickenham at the 2019 general election. She succeeded the former Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable as MP.

Early life

Munira Wilson was born in 1978[citation needed] and attended Henrietta Barnett School, a state grammar school in north London. She then went on to study at St Catharine's College, Cambridge[citation needed] from 1996 to 2000, where she graduated with a degree in Modern Languages (French and German), including a year abroad as an English assistant in two secondary schools in southern France.

After graduation, she trained as a tax consultant with Ernst & Young. She then switched to working for the Liberal Democrats, becoming the campaigns organiser for Sue Doughty and the Guildford Liberal Democrats in 2004–5, ahead of Doughty losing her Guildford seat at the 2005 general election. She went on to work for newly elected MP Nick Clegg for the first six months of 2006. She subsequently went on to spend over a decade as a lobbyist, until her election to Parliament in 2019, firstly for Save the Children (2006–08), then for Beating Bowel Cancer (2008–09), and Novartis (2009–15), where she rose to become head of government affairs – pharmaceuticals. She then entered the public sector as a strategic account manager at NHS Digital from 2015–6, before returning to lobbying in 2016-9 as corporate affairs director, UK & Ireland for the German science and technology company Merck KGaA Darmstadt.[3]

Political career

Wilson served a term as a councillor on Richmond upon Thames London Borough Council from 2006 to 2010. She contested Twickenham's neighbouring constituency of Feltham and Heston in the 2010 general election, where she came third. In the 2012 London Assembly election she stood in South West constituency.

She was selected in 2019 to replace Sir Vince Cable as the Liberal Democrat candidate in his Twickenham constituency, and went on to hold the seat with an increased majority at the 2019 United Kingdom general election. She won the seat with 36,166 votes (56.1% of the total votes cast), giving her a majority of 14,121 over her Conservative opponent. The Green Party in Twickenham had voted to stand aside to support Wilson.[4]

Wilson has opposed plans for a third runway at Heathrow Airport, and has worked to improve rail services in South West London.[5] Twickenham is on a flight path to Heathrow, and Wilson has stated that "We are absolutely 100% opposed to Heathrow expansion."[6] She was appointed Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Health, Wellbeing and Social Care by acting leader Ed Davey in January 2020.[7]

Personal life

Munira Hassam married Michael Wilson at St Stephen's, Twickenham, in 2007.[1][2] She was raised a Muslim and now identifies as a committed Christian.[8][9] She is of Pakistani ancestry.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b "London Borough of Richmond upon Thames – Borough Council Election – 4th May 2006" (PDF). 4 May 2006. West Twickenham Ward. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  2. ^ a b "London Election 3rd May 2012". Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  3. ^ "Munira Wilson's LinkedIn page". Retrieved 12 January 2019.
  4. ^ "Twickenham Greens voted to stand aside regardless of Unite to Remain". South West Londoner. 10 December 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  5. ^ Bayley, Sian (14 November 2019). "The candidates you can vote for in Twickenham". Mylondon.news. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  6. ^ "Twickenham candidates take a stand against Heathrow expansion". South West Londoner. 29 November 2019. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  7. ^ "Meet our new Commons team". LibDems.org.uk. Liberal Democrats. 6 January 2020. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  8. ^ Eren Tatari, Muslims in British Local Government: Representing Minority Interests in Hackney, Newham, and Tower Hamlets, BRILL, 6 June 2014, p.51
  9. ^ "Feltham candidates grilled at hustings". MyLondon. 4 May 2010. Retrieved 18 December 2019.
  10. ^ Munira Hassam Wilson
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Twickenham
2019–present 		Incumbent
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