Gillian Merron

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix = The Right Honourable

| name = The Baroness Merron

| image = Official portrait of Baroness Merron crop 2, 2021.jpg

| caption = Official portrait, 2021

| 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

{{Collapsed infobox section begin|last=yes|Parliamentary offices

| titlestyle = border:1px dashed lightgrey}}{{Infobox officeholder| embed = yes

| office = Member of the House of Lords

| status = Lord Temporal

| termlabel = Life peerage

| term_start = 8 February 2021

| term_end =

| office1 = Member of Parliament
for Lincoln

| term_start1 = 1 May 1997

| term_end1 = 12 April 2010

| predecessor1 = Kenneth Carlisle

| successor1 = Karl McCartney

}}

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1959|04|12|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Ilford, Essex, England

| death_date =

| death_place =

| nationality = British

| spouse =

| party = Labour

| relations =

| children =

| residence =

| alma_mater = Lancaster University

| occupation =

| profession =

| religion =

| website =

| footnotes =

| signature = Gillian Signature.JPG

| awards = 25px 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.[http://www.gillianmerron.labour.co.uk/aboutyourmp Gillian Merron MP – Working for Lincoln – About Your MP] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090717182132/http://www.gillianmerron.labour.co.uk/aboutyourmp |date=17 July 2009 }} 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,{{cite news

| title = Labour blow as all-women lists outlawed

| first = John

| last = Rentoul

| authorlink =

| author2 = Stephen Ward

| author3 = Donald MacIntyre

| url = https://www.independent.co.uk/news/labour-blow-as-allwomen-lists-outlawed-1323046.html

| work = The Independent

| date = 9 January 1996

| accessdate = 10 July 2009

| location=London}} 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.[https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/gillian_merron/lincoln Gillian Merron MP, Lincoln (TheyWorkForYou.com)] 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.{{cite web

| title = Gillian Merron MP

| url = https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/gillian_merron/lincoln#expenses

| work = TheyWorkForYou

| publisher = mySociety is a project of UK Citizens Online Democracy (UKCOD). UKCOD is a registered charity in England and Wales, no. 1076346. | accessdate = 12 May 2009

}} She is one of 98 MPs who voted to support Conservative MP David Maclean's [https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/pabills/200607/freedom_of_information_amendment.htm bill] to keep their expenses and correspondence secret.{{cite news| url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article1816072.ece | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090508020947/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article1816072.ece | url-status=dead | archive-date=8 May 2009 | work=The Times | location=London | title=How your MP voted on the FOI Bill | date=20 May 2007 | accessdate=3 May 2010}}[http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/policy.php?id=996&display=motions Policy #996: "Transparency of Parliament" — The Public Whip]

class="wikitable sortable" \|+Total expenses claimed !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, 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.[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'] 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."http://www.gillianmerron.co.uk/mps-allowances{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

In the aftermath of the United Kingdom Parliamentary expenses scandal, Sir Thomas Legg recommended that Gillian Merron repay £6,305.17.{{cite web|url=http://www.politics.co.uk/feature/legal-and-constitutional/expenses-the-mps-paying-over-1k-$1357745.htm|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120919031458/http://www.politics.co.uk/feature/legal-and-constitutional/expenses-the-mps-paying-over-1k-$1357745.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 September 2012|title=Expenses: The MPs paying over £1K|publisher=politics.co.uk}} She repaid this amount in full.{{cite news|last=Cohen|first=Justin|url=http://jewishnews.timesofisrael.com/former-foreign-office-minister-appointed-lead-board/|title=Former Foreign Office minister appointed to lead the Board|work=Jewish News|date=7 May 2014|accessdate=3 December 2016}}

Post-parliamentary career

Since her defeat at the 2010 general election, Merron has become Chair of Bus Users UK{{cite web|title=New Chair for Bus Users UK |url=http://www.bususers.org/news/scripts/news_story_pub.asp?StoryID=167 |work=Bus Users UK website |publisher=Bus Users UK |location=Shepperton, Middlesex |date=4 April 2011 |accessdate=23 April 2012 |quote=[Gillian Merron] is now a strategic advisor to the transport industry and will be bringing new strategic direction to Bus Users UK. |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224101557/http://www.bususers.org/news/scripts/news_story_pub.asp?StoryID=167 |archivedate=24 December 2013 |df=dmy }}, (formerly known as The National Federation of Bus Users).{{As of|2012|4|23}} the name "Bus Users UK" appears on the official register of companies.

In May 2014, it was announced that Merron would become Chief Executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews the following July.{{cite news|last=Rocker|first=Simon|date=7 May 2014|title=Board of Deputies new chief executive revealed|work=The Jewish Chronicle|url=http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/117870/board-deputies-new-chief-executive-revealed|accessdate=3 December 2016}}{{cite web|url=https://www.bod.org.uk/who-we-are/meet-the-staff/|title=Chief Executive : Gillian Merron|publisher=Board of Deputies of British Jews|accessdate=3 December 2016|archive-date=2 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170902032026/https://www.bod.org.uk/who-we-are/meet-the-staff/|url-status=dead}} Since February 2013, she has served as a Vice-President of the Jewish Leadership Council.{{cite news|url=http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/102560/new-jewish-leadership-council-members|title=New Jewish Leadership Council members|work=The Jewish Chronicle|date=15 February 2013|accessdate=3 December 2016}} She served as external affairs officer on the board of Liberal Judaism from July 2012 to May 2014.{{cite news|last=Rocker|first=Simon|url=http://www.thejc.com/community/community-life/69885/ex-mp-joins-liberal-judaism-board|title=Ex-MP joins Liberal Judaism board|work=The Jewish Chronicle|date=12 July 2012|accessdate=3 December 2016}}

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.{{cite web|title=Political Peerages 2020|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/political-peerages-2020|access-date=22 December 2020|website=Gov.uk}}

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.{{Cite web |last=Rodgers |first=Sienna |title=Keir Starmer unveils new frontbench team after wider reshuffle |url=https://labourlist.org/2021/12/keir-starmer-unveils-new-frontbench-team-after-wider-reshuffle/ |access-date=2022-05-19 |website=LabourList |date=4 December 2021 |language=en-GB}}

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.{{Cite web |date=July 2024 |title=News from across Progressive Judaism |url=https://mailchi.mp/reformjudaism/12-07-2024?e=8a8fb27d83 |access-date=12 July 2024 |website=Movement for Reform Judaism}}

References

External links

[http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-3603,00.html Guardian Unlimited Politics – Ask Aristotle: Gillian Merron MP]
[https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/gillian_merron/lincoln TheyWorkForYou.com – Gillian Merron MP]

{{succession box

| before = Kenneth Carlisle

| title = Member of Parliament for Lincoln

| years = 1997–2010

| after = Karl McCartney

}}

{{Succession box

| before = Pat McFadden

| title = Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office

| years = 2007–2008

| after = Tom Watson

}}