Gillian Merron
Gillian Merron | |
---|---|
Minister of State for Public Health | |
In office 10 June 2009 – 11 May 2010 | |
Prime Minister | Gordon Brown |
Preceded by | Dawn Primarolo |
Succeeded by | Anne Milton |
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs | |
In office 6 October 2008 – 10 June 2009 | |
Prime Minister | Gordon Brown |
Preceded by | Meg Munn |
Succeeded by | Chris Bryant |
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development | |
In office 25 January 2008 – 6 October 2008 | |
Prime Minister | Gordon Brown |
Preceded by | Shriti Vadera |
Succeeded by | Ivan Lewis |
Minister for the East Midlands | |
In office 28 June 2007 – 25 January 2008 | |
Prime Minister | Gordon Brown |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | Phil Hope |
Parliamentary Secretary to the Cabinet Office | |
In office 28 June 2007 – 24 January 2008 | |
Prime Minister | Gordon Brown |
Preceded by | Pat McFadden |
Succeeded by | Tom Watson |
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport | |
In office 8 May 2006 – 27 June 2007 | |
Prime Minister | Tony Blair |
Preceded by | Karen Buck |
Succeeded by | Jim Fitzpatrick |
Lord Commissioner of the Treasury | |
In office 17 December 2004 – 8 May 2006 | |
Prime Minister | Tony Blair |
Preceded by | Derek Twigg |
Succeeded by | Claire Ward |
Member of Parliament for Lincoln | |
In office 1 May 1997 – 12 April 2010 | |
Preceded by | Kenneth Carlisle |
Succeeded by | Karl McCartney |
Personal details | |
Born | Ilford, Essex | 12 April 1959
Nationality | British |
Political party | Labour |
Alma mater | Lancaster University |
Signature | |
Gillian Joanna Merron (born 12 April 1959) is a British politician serving as Chief Executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews since 2014. A member of the Labour Party, she was Member of Parliament (MP) for Lincoln from 1997 to 2010 and Minister of State for Public Health from 2009 to 2010.
Early life and career
Merron was born in Ilford, Essex to a Jewish family, and was educated at Wanstead High School in Wanstead in east London. She attended Lancaster University Management School, gaining a BSc (Hons) in Management Sciences. She worked in local government and as a NUPE (later UNISON) union official.
Merron joined the Labour Party in 1984. Before becoming an MP, Merron was the vice-chair for the regional Labour Party executive.[1] She co-ordinated the shadow cabinet central region campaign in the 1992 general election and the 1994 European Parliamentary Election.[citation needed]
Parliamentary career
Merron was made a prospective parliamentary candidate (PPC) through an all-women shortlist,[2] and was elected to the House of Commons in May 1997 with a majority of 11,130. From 1997 until 2007, when Quentin Davies defected to the Labour Party, she was Lincolnshire's only Labour MP - and the first since Margaret Beckett had the seat in 1979. In the 2005 general election, her majority was 4,613. She lost her seat to the Conservative candidate Karl McCartney in the 2010 general election.
From October 2002 until May 2006, she was a government whip and Lord Commissioner of the Treasury. She then moved to the Department for Transport, where she worked until the reshuffle on 29 June 2007, when she became a minister at the Cabinet Office and the first ever minister of the East Midlands.[citation needed]
Following Peter Hain's resignation on 24 January 2008, Merron was reshuffled again, becoming a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department for International Development, leaving both of her previous roles. Following Gordon Brown's next reshuffle on 5 October 2008, Merron was moved to the Foreign Office in the same post, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State. A promotion to Minister of State soon followed, with Merron moving to the Department of Health to take on responsibility for Public Health.[citation needed]
Merron followed the party whip in votes on equal gay rights, the hunting ban, foundation hospitals, a ban on smoking in public places, the Iraq war, preventative laws to stop climate change, and The Digital Economy Bill.[3]
She held the following positions:
- July 1998-July 1999 - Parliamentary Private Secretary to Doug Henderson as Minister of State for the Armed Forces
- July 1999-June 2001 - Parliamentary Private Secretary to Baroness Symons as Minister of State for Defence Procurement
- June 2001-October 2002 - Parliamentary Private Secretary to John Reid as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
- October 2002-December 2004 - Assistant Government Whip
- December 2004-May 2006 - Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury & Government Whip
- May 2006-June 2007 - Parliamentary under Secretary of State at the Department for Transport
- June 2007-January 2008 - Parliamentary under Secretary of State at the Cabinet Office
- January 2008-October 2008 - Parliamentary under Secretary of State at the Department for International Development
- October 2008-June 2009 - Parliamentary under Secretary of State at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office
- June 2009– May 2010 - Minister of State for Public Health
Expenses
Merron MP's expense were higher than average.[4] She is one of 98 MPs who voted to support Conservative MP David Maclean's bill to keep their expenses and correspondence secret.[5][6]
Year | Total Expenses | Ranking | out of |
---|---|---|---|
2001/02 | £94,459 | joint 178th | 657 |
2002/03 | £123,954 | 87th | 657 |
2003/04 | £136,706 | 55th | 658 |
2004/05 | £139,854 | 64th | 659 |
2005/06 | £133,480 | - | - |
2006/07 | £144,914 | 176th | 645 |
2007/08 | £155,972 | 172nd | 645 |
On 19 June 2009, MP's expenses were revealed (heavily edited) on the Internet. Merron received criticism for purchasing a television, television stand, home theatre kit, and numerous other goods.[7] She wrote on her website: "The majority of claims I make directly pay for professional staff, office costs, communication with constituents, and travel. I do not have a second job, do not employ any family members or friends, nor have I taken the annual increase in ministerial salary."[8]
In the aftermath of the United Kingdom Parliamentary expenses scandal, Sir Thomas Legg recommended that Gillian Merron repay £6,305.17. [9] She repaid this amount in full.[10]
Post-parliamentary career
Since her defeat at the 2010 general election, Merron has become Chair of Bus Users UK[11] formerly known as The National Federation of Bus Users.[12]
In May 2014, it was announced that Merron would become Chief Executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews the following July.[13][14] Since February 2013, she has served as a Vice-President of the Jewish Leadership Council[15] and served as external affairs officer on the board of Liberal Judaism from July 2012 to May 2014.[16]
In December 2020, it was announced Merron would be conferred a life peerage after a nomination by Labour Party leader Keir Starmer.[17]
References
- ^ Gillian Merron MP - Working for Lincoln - About Your MP Archived 17 July 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Rentoul, John; Stephen Ward; Donald MacIntyre (9 January 1996). "Labour blow as all-women lists outlawed". The Independent. London. Retrieved 10 July 2009.
- ^ Gillian Merron MP, Lincoln (TheyWorkForYou.com)
- ^ "Gillian Merron MP". TheyWorkForYou. mySociety is a project of UK Citizens Online Democracy (UKCOD). UKCOD is a registered charity in England and Wales, no. 1076346. Retrieved 12 May 2009.
- ^ "How your MP voted on the FOI Bill". The Times. London. 20 May 2007. Retrieved 3 May 2010.
- ^ Policy #996: "Transparency of Parliament" — The Public Whip
- ^ 'I will do what I always do, my best for Lincoln'
- ^ http://www.gillianmerron.co.uk/mps-allowances[permanent dead link ]
- ^ "Expenses: The MPs paying over £1K". politics.co.uk.
- ^ Cohen, Justin (7 May 2014). "Former Foreign Office minister appointed to lead the Board". Jewish News. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
- ^ "New Chair for Bus Users UK". Bus Users UK website. Shepperton, Middlesex: Bus Users UK. 4 April 2011. Archived from the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
[Gillian Merron] is now a strategic advisor to the transport industry and will be bringing new strategic direction to Bus Users UK.
, - ^ As of 23 April 2012[update] the name "Bus Users UK" appears on the official register of companies.
- ^ Rocker, Simon (7 May 2014). "Board of Deputies new chief executive revealed". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
- ^ "Chief Executive : Gillian Merron". Board of Deputies of British Jews. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
- ^ "New Jewish Leadership Council members". The Jewish Chronicle. 15 February 2013. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
- ^ Rocker, Simon (12 July 2012). "Ex-MP joins Liberal Judaism board". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
- ^ "Political Peerages 2020". Gov.uk. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
External links
- 1959 births
- Living people
- Alumni of Lancaster University
- Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
- Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
- British trade unionists
- English Jews
- People from Ilford
- UK MPs 1997–2001
- UK MPs 2001–2005
- UK MPs 2005–2010
- Politics of Lincoln, England
- Jewish British politicians
- Jewish women politicians
- Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Lincoln
- Women trade unionists
- 20th-century British women politicians
- 21st-century British women politicians
- Parliamentary Private Secretaries to the Cabinet Office
- Parliamentary Private Secretaries to the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
- Parliamentary Private Secretaries to the Northern Ireland Office