Gillian Merron

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 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 co-ordinated the shadow cabinet central region campaign in the 1992 general election and the 1994 European Parliamentary Election.

Parliamentary career

Merron was made a prospective parliamentary candidate (PPC) through an all-women shortlist, 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.

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.

Merron followed the party line in votes on equal gay rights, the hunting ban, foundation hospitals, a ban on smoking in public places, the Iraq war, 'laws to stop climate change', and The Digital Economy Bill.

She held the following positions:

Expenses

Merron MP's expense claims have always been higher than average. She is one of 98 MPs who voted to support Conservative MP David Maclean's bill to keep their expenses and correspondence secret.

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. 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 and served as external affairs officer on the board of Liberal Judaism from July 2012 to May 2014.