Madeleine Moon Explained

Madeleine Moon
Office:President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly
Term Start:19 November 2018
Term End:16 December 2019
Predecessor:Rasa Juknevičienė
Successor:Attila Mesterházy
Office2:Member of Parliament
for Bridgend
Predecessor2:Win Griffiths
Successor2:Jamie Wallis
Term Start2:5 May 2005
Term End2:6 November 2019
Birth Date:1950 3, df=yes
Birth Place:Sunderland, County Durham, England
Nationality:British
Party:Labour
Children:Dr David Moon
Alma Mater:Keele University
Profession:Social worker

Madeleine Moon (born 27 March 1950) is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bridgend from 2005 to 2019, when she lost her seat to the Welsh Conservative candidate Jamie Wallis.

Early life

Born in North East England, Madeleine attended Whinney Hill Secondary Modern Girls' School (now part of Durham Johnston Comprehensive School) then Durham Girls' Grammar School (became the sixth form of Durham Gilesgate Sports College and Sixth Form Centre). She went to Madeley College of Education (later part of North Staffordshire Polytechnic), gaining a Cert Ed in 1971, then Keele University, where she gained a BEd in 1972. From University College, Cardiff she gained a CQSW and Diploma in Social Work (DipSW) in 1980.[1]

She worked in social services for Mid Glamorgan County Council from 1980 to 1996, then for Swansea Council from 1996 to 2002.

She launched Crossroads (a charity that supports carers) in Porthcawl. She represented Bridgend Council on the Sports Council for Wales, on Tourism South and West Wales and was National Chair of the British Resorts Association from 1999 to 2001.

Parliamentary career

Moon has lived and worked around Bridgend for over 29 years, is a former mayor of Porthcawl and was a councillor for Porthcawl for 13 years. She was elected MP for the Bridgend constituency at the 2005 general election.

Madeleine Moon was Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to Lord Drayson, Minister for Science in the Department for Science, Innovation and Skills.

In 2007 and 2008, Moon received a higher public profile due to an increased number of suicides of young people in her constituency. She agreed with South Wales Police that the suicides are not connected but has been critical of media coverage.[2]

Madeleine Moon has written and spoken extensively on prison reform and policing. In 2014 she called for the armed forces to overhaul their policies on investigating bullying.[3]

She supported Owen Smith in the failed attempt to replace Jeremy Corbyn in the 2016 Labour leadership election.[4]

In November 2018 she was elected in Halifax, Nova Scotia as President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. She also became a member of the UK Delegation to the Assembly in 2010.[5] [6]

She stood in the 2019 general election but lost her seat to Conservative Jamie Wallis.[7]

Expenses

The Daily Telegraph, which extensively covered MPs' expenses during the United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal, reported that Moon had claimed for furniture items bought near her primary residence in Wales; claims are allowed for her second home in London but not for her primary residence in Wales. She said that the furniture, though bought in Wales, was indeed for her second home in London.[8]

Personal life

She married the ecologist Steve Moon in 1983 in Ogwr, Mid Glamorgan; the couple had one son David, born in May 1984. Her husband died in March 2015.[9]

External links

News articles
Audio clips
Video clips

Notes and References

  1. Book: Waller, Robert . Criddle, Byron . The Almanac of British Politics . 12 February 2009. 9780415378246 . 2007 .
  2. Web site: MP attacks Bridgend coverage . Mark . Sweney . 7 February 2008 . 7 August 2009 . The Guardian . https://web.archive.org/web/20141006202804/http://www.theguardian.com/media/2008/feb/07/pressandpublishing.television . 6 October 2014 . live .
  3. News: Armed services bullying action call by MP Madeleine Moon. 1 April 2015. BBC. 3 February 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140311022316/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-26013101. 11 March 2014. live.
  4. Web site: Full list of MPs and MEPs backing challenger Owen Smith. 21 July 2016. LabourList. en-GB. 15 July 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190715214543/https://labourlist.org/2016/07/which-mps-and-meps-have-nominated-owen-smith/. 15 July 2019. live.
  5. Web site: President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly . 3 January 2018 . nato-pa.int . https://web.archive.org/web/20171119040413/https://www.nato-pa.int/content/president-nato-parliamentary-assembly . 19 November 2017 . dead .
  6. News: UK MP Madeleine Moon elected President of NATO Parliamentary Assembly . Parliament website . 19 November 2018 . 26 September 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190926002356/https://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/offices/commons/media-relations-group/news/uk-mp-madeleine-moon-elected-president-of-nato-parliamentary-assembly/ . 26 September 2019 . live .
  7. News: Blow to Labour as seat goes blue after 32 years. 13 December 2019. 13 December 2019. en-GB. https://web.archive.org/web/20191213125537/https://www.bbc.com/news/election-2019-50767653. 13 December 2019. live.
  8. News: Prince. Rosa. Madeleine Moon shopped in Wales 'for London flat': MPs expenses. 31 October 2011. The Telegraph. 18 May 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20110202043521/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/5340058/Madeleine-Moon-shopped-in-Wales-for-London-flat-MPs-expenses.html. 2 February 2011. live.
  9. News: Lewis. Carys. 'Remember the passionate environmentalist, the man with a twinkle in his eye...' Madeleine Moon pays moving tribute to husband Steve. Wales Online. 1 April 2015. 11 February 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160101161222/http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/local-news/madeleine-moon-tribute-husband-steve-8962771. 1 January 2016. live.