Gillian Merron

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title: "Gillian Merron" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1959-births", "living-people", "20th-century-british-jews", "20th-century-english-women-politicians", "21st-century-british-jews", "21st-century-english-women-politicians", "alumni-of-lancaster-university", "british-trade-unionists", "british-women-trade-unionists", "jewish-english-politicians", "female-members-of-the-parliament-of-the-united-kingdom-for-english-constituencies", "jewish-women-politicians", "labour-party-(uk)-life-peers", "labour-party-(uk)-mps-for-english-constituencies", "life-peeresses-created-by-elizabeth-ii", "life-peers-created-by-elizabeth-ii", "members-of-the-parliament-of-the-united-kingdom-for-lincoln", "people-from-ilford", "politics-of-lincoln,-england", "uk-mps-1997–2001", "uk-mps-2001–2005", "uk-mps-2005–2010"] description: "British Labour politician (born 1959)" topic_path: "politics" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gillian_Merron" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary British Labour politician (born 1959) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
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 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
titlestyle	border:1px dashed lightgrey}}{{Infobox officeholder
office	Member of the House of Lords
status	Lord Temporal
termlabel	Life peerage
term_start	28 January 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
birth_place	Ilford, Essex, England
nationality	British
party	Labour
alma_mater	Lancaster University
signature	Gillian Signature.JPG
awards	[[File:Coronet of a British Baron.svg
primeminister	Keir Starmer
status	Incumbent
predecessor	Maria Caulfield
::

| 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 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 | titlestyle = border:1px dashed lightgrey}}{{Infobox officeholder| embed = yes | office = Member of the House of Lords | status = Lord Temporal | termlabel = Life peerage | term_start = 28 January 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_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 = [[File:Coronet of a British Baron.svg|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. 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. 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

::data[format=table title="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. 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."

In the aftermath of the United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal, Sir Thomas Legg recommended that Gillian Merron repay £6,305.17. She repaid this amount in full.

Post-parliamentary career

Since her defeat at the 2010 general election, Merron has become Chair of Bus Users UK (formerly known as The National Federation of Bus Users).

In May 2014, it was announced that Merron would become Chief Executive of the Board of Deputies of British Jews the following July. Since February 2013, she has served as a Vice-President of the Jewish Leadership Council. She served as external affairs officer on the board of Liberal Judaism from July 2012 to May 2014.

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.

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.

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.

References

References

1. [http://www.gillianmerron.labour.co.uk/aboutyourmp Gillian Merron MP – Working for Lincoln – About Your MP] {{webarchive. link. (17 July 2009)
2. [https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/gillian_merron/lincoln Gillian Merron MP, Lincoln (TheyWorkForYou.com)]
3. (20 May 2007). "How your MP voted on the FOI Bill". The Times.
4. [http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/policy.php?id=996&display=motions Policy #996: "Transparency of Parliament" — The Public Whip]
5. [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']
6. http://www.gillianmerron.co.uk/mps-allowances{{dead link. (November 2017)
7. "Expenses: The MPs paying over £1K". politics.co.uk.
8. Cohen, Justin. (7 May 2014). "Former Foreign Office minister appointed to lead the Board". Jewish News.
9. (4 April 2011). "New Chair for Bus Users UK". Bus Users UK.
10. {{As of. 2012. 4. 23 the name "Bus Users UK" appears on the official register of companies.
11. Rocker, Simon. (7 May 2014). "Board of Deputies new chief executive revealed". The Jewish Chronicle.
12. "Chief Executive : Gillian Merron". Board of Deputies of British Jews.
13. (15 February 2013). "New Jewish Leadership Council members". The Jewish Chronicle.
14. Rocker, Simon. (12 July 2012). "Ex-MP joins Liberal Judaism board". The Jewish Chronicle.
15. "Political Peerages 2020".
16. Rodgers, Sienna. (4 December 2021). "Keir Starmer unveils new frontbench team after wider reshuffle".
17. (July 2024). "News from across Progressive Judaism".

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