Margaret Patricia Munn (born 1959) is a British politician and served as a Labour MP for Sheffield Heeley from 2001 to 2015. After leaving Parliament,she has served in a variety of roles across the public sector,academia and international bodies.
Munn went to Mundella Primary School on Mundella Place in Norton Woodseats,then the comprehensive Rowlinson School on Dyche Lane in Jordanthorpe,Sheffield from 1970 to 1977,[2] (the site became Norton College Campus of Sheffield College,but the old school transferred to Meadowhead School across the road in 1988).
She studied languages at the University of York receiving a BA (Hons) in 1981,later gaining an MA in social work at the University of Nottingham in 1986. Munn later gained a Certificate and Diploma in Management Studies from the Open University and in 2012 became the first MP to be awarded Chartered Manager status by the Chartered Management Institute,subsequently becoming a Fellow of the Institute.
Munn attending the Policy Network Progressive Governance Conference 2009
Munn was Patron of Heeley City Farm,Patron of Home-Start Sheffield and Patron of Sheffield Young Carers.
As a backbencher,Munn served on the Education and Skills Select Committee 2001–03,and the Procedure Select Committee 2001–02. She was closely involved with the Adoption and Children Act 2002;changing national regulations to allow Local Authorities to register body-piercing studios;supporting small business,including co-operative and mutual enterprises;encouraging women to go into business;and House of Lord's reform. She also served as Chair of the Women's Committee of the Parliamentary Labour Party (2003–05) and Chair of the Parliamentary Co-operative Group (2004–05). She has been Vice-Chair of Labour Friends of Israel,a vice-chair of the group Progress[4] and Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Voice group.
Munn argued strongly in support of the coalition government's plan to participate in military strikes against the Syrian Government in the wake of a chemical-weapons attack at Ghouta in the vote on 29 August 2013,contrary to the Labour Party's position.[7][8] She was one of four Labour MPs who did not vote against the government motion,which the government lost.[9] Ultimately a negotiated agreement was reached to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons.
She was Chair of the UK government-funded Westminster Foundation for Democracy from October 2008 to July 2010,and Vice-Chair July 2010 to October 2012. With the Foundation,Munn worked on the Middle East and North Africa,leading workshops and mentoring MPs on Egypt,the Kurdistan region of Iraq,Morocco and Jordan. The Foundation was established in 1992 to promote democracy mainly in Eastern Europe,the Middle East and Africa. It is a cross-party political organisation that provides support and funding to establish and maintain democratic forms of government.
Munn established and was chair of the Child Protection All-Party Parliamentary Group,[11] Chair of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq All-Party Parliamentary Group,Chair of the Methodist All-Party Parliamentary Group,Vice-Chair of the Women in Enterprise All-Party Parliamentary Group,Vice-Chair of the Engineering and Information Technology All-Party Parliamentary Group,Vice-Chair of the Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire All-Party Parliamentary Group,and Vice-Chair of the Mexican All-Party Parliamentary Group.
On 24 January 2014 she advised Heeley Constituency Labour Party that she had decided not to seek reselection to stand at the 2015 general election.
On 26 May 2009, Meg Munn was criticised after The Daily Telegraph published an article reporting that her husband, who was employed part-time as her parliamentary aide, was paid more than £5,000 from public funds over four years for professional services in connection with their personal taxation affairs to at least five government ministers, and his wife.[12] The article reported that when Munn published her receipt for these services on her website, she blacked out the portion indicating that her husband was the beneficiary of her expenses.[13] Munn said on her website that the blacking out had been done by the House of Commons, which deleted details considered to be a personal security risk; her husband's name was deleted for one year, presumably in error, but published for three other years. Munn said that neither she nor her staff had redacted details.[14]
Labour MPs argued that tax advice relating to their work as MPs was a legitimate expense, and the Labour Party issued a statement supporting this view. Business groups expressed concerns that MPs might be being "treated differently" to other taxpayers, saying, "If entrepreneurs sought professional tax advice, they had to pay the fee themselves and offset it against any profits on which they paid tax".[15] Munn was one of 98 MPs who voted in favour of legislation which would have kept MPs' expense details secret.[16]
Post-Parliamentary career
From August 2015 to July 2023, Munn served as pro-chancellor and Deputy Chair of the Board of Governors of Sheffield Hallam University[17] and the Senior Independent Director of the Phone-paid Services Authority.[18] Previously she was Chair of the British Council's Society Advisory Group (2017–2021) and a Non-Executive Director of the Esh Group (2015–2018).
She supports women to consider non-traditional careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), and construction. She is Patron of the Women's Engineering Society and has edited Building the future: women in construction, Smith Institute (2014) and Unlocking Potential: perspectives on women in science, engineering & technology, Smith Institute (2011).[citation needed]
She was the first independent Chair of the Church of England's National Safeguarding Panel and then the acting Chair of the Independent Safeguarding Board.[19] She resigned from both positions on 12 July 2023.[20]
Personal life
Munn is fluent in German and French, conversational Italian and Spanish. She has long been an active member of the Methodist Church.[citation needed] She has been married to Dennis Bates since 1989.[21]
Hazel Anne Blears is a British former Labour Party politician, who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) successively for the constituencies of Salford and Salford and Eccles between 1997 and 2015.
Ifor Huw Irranca-Davies is a Welsh Labour and Co-operative politician, who has been the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Ogmore since 2016. He was previously the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ogmore from 2002 to 2016.
Sandra Currie Osborne is a Scottish Labour politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock from the 2005 to 2015 general elections. She was first elected as MP for the Ayr constituency in 1997, and resigned from a government job in 2003 over the Iraq War. She was a member of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee from 2005 to 2010 and again from 2013. She was a member of the Defence Select Committee 2010-13 and was a member of the Council of Europe.
Gillian Joanna Merron, Baroness Merron 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 a shadow spokesperson for Health and Social Care since 2021. She was previously Member of Parliament (MP) for Lincoln from 1997 to 2010 and held several ministerial offices in the Blair and Brown governments.
Dame Margaret Olivia Hillier, known as Meg Hillier, is a British Labour and Co-operative politician who was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hackney South and Shoreditch at the 2005 general election, was a junior government minister (2007–10) and was succeeded by Caroline Flint as Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change in the Labour Party October 2011 reshuffle. She has chaired the Public Accounts Committee since 2015.
Dame Diana Ruth Johnson is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kingston upon Hull North since the 2005 general election. A member of the Labour Party, she was elected as Chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee on 15 December 2021, replacing Yvette Cooper.
William Michie was a British politician.
Joyce Shore Butler was a British Labour Co-operative politician. She was the long serving MP for Wood Green and was the first woman to chair an ad hoc committee.
Julie Elliott is a British Labour Party politician, who was first elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Sunderland Central in 2010. Elliott served as Shadow Minister for Energy and Climate Change from October 2013 to September 2015, with specific responsibility for renewable energy, the Green Investment Bank, and skills and supply chain issues. She has also served as chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Rugby Union and vice-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on State Pension Inequality for Women. Elliott was re-elected for the Labour Party in Sunderland Central at the 2019 general election with a majority of 2,964.
Katherine Anne Green OBE JP is a British politician serving as Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester for Policing and Crime since 2023. She previously served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Stretford and Urmston between 2010 and 2022. A member of the Labour Party, she served as Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities from 2015 to 2016, Chair of the Committees on Privileges and Standards from 2018 to 2020, and Shadow Secretary of State for Education from 2020 to 2021.
Dame Jacqueline Doyle-Price is a British Conservative Party politician and former civil servant. She was first elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Thurrock in the 2010 general election.
Olivia Frances Blake is a British Labour politician. She was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sheffield Hallam at the 2019 general election.
Sarah Deborah Champion is a British Labour Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rotherham since 2012.
Helen Olivia Bicknell Whately is a British politician serving as Minister of State for Social Care since October 2022, and previously from 2020 to 2021. She also served as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury from 2021 to 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, she has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Faversham and Mid Kent since 2015.
Maria Colette Caulfield is a British politician and nurse serving as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Mental Health and Women's Health Strategy and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Women since October 2022.
Louise Margaret Haigh is a British politician serving as Shadow Secretary of State for Transport since 2021. A member of the Labour Party, she was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sheffield Heeley at the 2015 general election, as the youngest Labour member of that parliament. She served as Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2020 to 2021.
Preet Kaur Gill is a British politician serving as Shadow Minister for Primary Care and Public Health since 2023. A member of the Labour Party, she has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Edgbaston since 2017.
Rachel Helen Maclean is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Redditch in Worcestershire since 2017. A member of the Conservative Party, she currently serves as its Deputy Chairman. She has previously served as Minister of State for Housing and Planning and has held ministerial roles in the Department for Transport and Home Office.
Lloyd Cameron Russell-Moyle is a British Labour and Co-operative Party politician who was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Brighton Kemptown in the 2017 general election. He retained his seat in the 2019 general election. He is a member of the left-wing Socialist Campaign Group parliamentary caucus.
Antonia Louise Antoniazzi is a British Labour Party politician. She was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Gower at the 2017 general election.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
