Gillian Merron Explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Right Honourable
The Baroness Merron
Office:Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Patient Safety, Women's Health and Mental Health
Term Start:10 July 2024
Office1:Minister of State for Public Health
Term Start1:10 June 2009
Term End1:11 May 2010
Predecessor1:Dawn Primarolo
Successor1:Anne Milton
Primeminister1:Gordon Brown
Office2:Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
Term Start2:6 October 2008
Term End2:10 June 2009
Predecessor2:Meg Munn
Successor2:Chris Bryant
Primeminister2:Gordon Brown
Office3:Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development
Term Start3:25 January 2008
Term End3:6 October 2008
Predecessor3:Shriti Vadera
Successor3:Ivan Lewis
Primeminister3:Gordon Brown
Office4:Minister for the East Midlands
Term Start4:28 June 2007
Term End4:25 January 2008
Predecessor4:Office established
Successor4:Phil Hope
Primeminister4:Gordon Brown
Office5:Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office
Term Start5:28 June 2007
Term End5:24 January 2008
Predecessor5:Pat McFadden
Successor5:Tom Watson
Primeminister5:Gordon Brown
Office6:Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport
Term Start6:8 May 2006
Term End6:27 June 2007
Predecessor6:Karen Buck
Successor6:Jim Fitzpatrick
Primeminister6:Tony Blair
Office7:Lord Commissioner of the Treasury
Term Start7:17 December 2004
Term End7:8 May 2006
Primeminister7:Tony Blair
Predecessor7:Derek Twigg
Successor7:Claire Ward
Embed:yes
Office:Member of the House of Lords
Status:Lord Temporal
Termlabel:Life peerage
Term Start:8 February 2021
Office1:Member of Parliament
for Lincoln
Term Start1:1 May 1997
Term End1:12 April 2010
Predecessor1:Kenneth Carlisle
Successor1:Karl McCartney
Birth Date:12 April 1959
Birth Place:Ilford, Essex
Nationality:British
Party:Labour
Alma Mater:Lancaster University
Signature:Gillian Signature.JPG
Awards: Life peer
Primeminister:Keir Starmer
Status:Incumbent
Predecessor:Maria Caulfield

Gillian Joanna Merron, Baroness Merron (born 12 April 1959) is a British politician and life peer serving as Chief Executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews since 2014. A member of the Labour Party, she has been serving as the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Patient Safety, Women's Health and Mental Health since 2024. She served as the shadow spokesperson for Health and Social Care from 2021 to 2024. She was previously Member of Parliament (MP) for Lincoln from 1997 till 2010 and held several ministerial offices in the Blair and Brown governments.

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 coordinated the shadow cabinet central region campaign in the 1992 general election and the 1994 European Parliament election.

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 July 1998 to July 1999, she served as Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to Doug Henderson as Minister of State for the Armed Forces and, from July 1999 to June 2001, she was PPS to Baroness Symons as Minister of State for Defence Procurement.

From June 2001 to October 2002, Merron served as PPS to John Reid as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. From October 2002 to May 2006, she was a government whip and was a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury from December 2004. At the 2005 general election, her majority was 4,613.

Merron was appointed to the Department for Transport in May 2006, where she worked until the reshuffle on 29 June 2007, when she became Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office and the first ever minister of the East Midlands.

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 and Commonwealth Office. A promotion to Minister of State for Public Health soon followed.

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 lost her seat to the Conservative candidate Karl McCartney in the 2010 general election. From 1997 until 2007, when Quentin Davies defected to the Labour Party, she had been Lincolnshire's only Labour MP – and the first since Margaret Beckett had the seat from 1974 to 1979.

Expenses

Merron’s expenses as an MP 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]

Total expenses claimed!Year!!Total Expenses!!Ranking!!out of
2001/02£94,459joint 178th657
2002/03£123,95487th657
2003/04£136,70655th658
2004/05£139,85464th659
2005/06£133,480--
2006/07£144,914176th645
2007/08£155,972172nd645

On 19 June 2009, MPs' 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] She served as external affairs officer on the board of Liberal Judaism from July 2012 to May 2014.[16]

House of Lords

In December 2020, it was announced Merron would be conferred a life peerage after a nomination by Labour Party leader Keir Starmer. She took her seat on 8 February 2021, and made her maiden speech on 13 May during that year's Queen's Speech debate.[17]

In the May shadow cabinet reshuffle, she was appointed to the Shadow Health Team. In the November shadow cabinet reshuffle, she became Shadow Culture Minister.[18]

As part of the coronation of King Charles III, Baroness Merron presented the imperial mantle as a representative of the Jewish community.

Personal life

Merron, who is Vice-President of Liberal Judaism, is a member of the South London Liberal Synagogue and of the Lincolnshire Jewish Community.[19]

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://www.gillianmerron.labour.co.uk/aboutyourmp Gillian Merron MP – Working for Lincoln – About Your MP
  2. News: Labour blow as all-women lists outlawed . John . Rentoul . Stephen Ward . Donald MacIntyre . The Independent . 9 January 1996 . 10 July 2009. London.
  3. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/gillian_merron/lincoln Gillian Merron MP, Lincoln (TheyWorkForYou.com)
  4. Web site: 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. . 12 May 2009.
  5. News: How your MP voted on the FOI Bill . The Times . London . 20 May 2007 . 3 May 2010.
  6. http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/policy.php?id=996&display=motions Policy #996: "Transparency of Parliament" — The Public Whip
  7. https://archive.today/20120913005333/http://www.thisislincolnshire.co.uk/news/best-Lincoln/article-1091098-detail/article.html 'I will do what I always do, my best for Lincoln'
  8. http://www.gillianmerron.co.uk/mps-allowances{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
  9. Web site: Expenses: The MPs paying over £1K. https://archive.today/20120919031458/http://www.politics.co.uk/feature/legal-and-constitutional/expenses-the-mps-paying-over-1k-$1357745.htm. dead. 19 September 2012. politics.co.uk.
  10. News: Cohen. Justin. Former Foreign Office minister appointed to lead the Board. Jewish News. 7 May 2014. 3 December 2016.
  11. Web site: New Chair for Bus Users UK . Bus Users UK website . Bus Users UK . Shepperton, Middlesex . 4 April 2011 . 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. . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131224101557/http://www.bususers.org/news/scripts/news_story_pub.asp?StoryID=167 . 24 December 2013 . dmy .,
  12. the name "Bus Users UK" appears on the official register of companies.
  13. News: Rocker. Simon. 7 May 2014. Board of Deputies new chief executive revealed. The Jewish Chronicle. 3 December 2016.
  14. Web site: Chief Executive : Gillian Merron. Board of Deputies of British Jews. 3 December 2016. 2 September 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170902032026/https://www.bod.org.uk/who-we-are/meet-the-staff/. dead.
  15. News: New Jewish Leadership Council members. The Jewish Chronicle. 15 February 2013. 3 December 2016.
  16. News: Rocker. Simon. Ex-MP joins Liberal Judaism board. The Jewish Chronicle. 12 July 2012. 3 December 2016.
  17. Web site: Political Peerages 2020. 22 December 2020. Gov.uk.
  18. Web site: Rodgers . Sienna . Keir Starmer unveils new frontbench team after wider reshuffle . 2022-05-19 . LabourList . 4 December 2021 . en-GB.
  19. Web site: July 2024 . News from across Progressive Judaism . 12 July 2024 . Movement for Reform Judaism.