Melanie Ward

Last updated

Melanie Ward
MP
Official portrait of Melanie Ward MP crop 2.jpg
Official portrait, 2024
Member of Parliament
for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy
Incumbent
Assumed office
4 July 2024
Website Official website

Melanie Claire Ward [1] is a Scottish Labour Party politician who has served as Member of Parliament for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy since 2024.

Contents

Until her election in 2024, Ward was a humanitarian aid worker, working for several prominent international charities in succession. She was chief executive officer of Medical Aid for Palestinians from 2023 to 2024.

Early life and education

Ward was born in Helensburgh on the Firth of Clyde. [2] [3] She received a Bachelor of Arts in Human Resource Management from the University of Stirling, [4] and served as President of the National Union of Students Scotland. [5] Ward received a Master of Arts in International Studies and Diplomacy from SOAS University of London in 2009.

Charity career

Ward has worked for several charities, including Christian Aid, and ActionAid UK. For a time she chaired The Circle, which is a charity that Annie Lennox founded to empower women. [3] By December 2015, Ward was the associate director of policy and advocacy for the International Rescue Committee UK. [6] She was still working for IRC in September 2021. [7]

In September 2022, MAP announced that it had appointed Ward to become its new CEO. She took up her position in January 2023. In May 2024, Time included her in its "Time100 Health" list of influential workers in the health sector. [8] In May 2024, MAP granted her leave of absence for the duration of that year's general election campaign. On 4 July she was won her election, and the next day she resigned as CEO of MAP. [9] [10]

Politics

Ward was the Labour candidate for Glenrothes in the 2015 General Election. [11] Labour had held Glenrothes since the seat was created in 2005, but in 2015 Peter Grant of the SNP won the seat from Labour with a majority of 13,987, and Ward came second.

Ward opposed Jeremy Corbyn throughout his leadership of the Labour party. In August 2015, when Corbyn was campaigning to be elected leader, she tweeted a link to an article by Leo McKinstry in The Daily Telegraph that accused Corbyn of being an "unreconstructed Trotskyite", and in her tweet she urged party members to "think again". [12] In June 2016 she called for Corbyn to resign as Leader of the Labour Party, [13] and encouraged other members and supporters of the party to petition him to do so. [14]

Ward opposed Brexit, and supported the People's Vote campaign for another referendum on UK membership of the European Union. [15] In 2018 and 2019 she criticised Corbyn for not calling for another referendum. [16] [17]

The day after Labour lost the 2019 General Election, Ward tweeted "Corbyn and his hard left band of supporters control every part of the Labour Party. This is their failure. They need to own it, take responsibility and get out of the way. Our country and our most vulnerable people will pay the price for what they have done. Gutted." [18] When Corbyn stepped down as leader in April 2020, Ward tweeted "Farewell to Jeremy Corbyn, who really was a truly terrible Labour Party Leader. He will be missed not one little bit by those of us who want to see Labour in government again". [19]

In November 2023, Ward applied to be the Labour candidate for Beckenham and Penge. [20] She was not selected.

In May 2024 the National Executive Committee of the Labour Party appointed her as the Labour candidate for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy, [11] which the party had lost to Neale Hanvey in the 2019 General Election. [21] On 4 July 2024 she was elected with a majority of 7,248, winning the seat back for Labour. [22] [23] She was appointed as Parliamentary Private Secretary for Secretary of State for Scotland Ian Murray on 21 July. [24] Her name was included in the Time 2024 list of influential people in health. [25]

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References

  1. ↑ "Members Sworn". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . Vol. 752. Parliament of the United Kingdom: House of Commons. 10 July 2024.
  2. ↑ Lennox Herald (11 March 2019). "Helensburgh aid worker puts her life on the line against Boko Haram regime in Nigeria". Daily Record . Reach plc . Retrieved 21 July 2024.
  3. 1 2 Carrell, Severin (10 May 2024). "Palestinian charity CEO to stand for Labour in Fife in boost for Starmer". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
  4. ↑ "It's time for change in Cowdenbeath & Kirkcaldy". Melanie Ward for Cowdenbeath & Kirkcaldy. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
  5. ↑ "The former student leaders entering Parliament". Wonkhe. Retrieved 16 July 2024.
  6. ↑ Kingsley, Patrick. "Turkey arrests 1,300 asylum seekers after £2bn EU border control deal". The Guardian . Retrieved 21 July 2024.
  7. ↑ @RESCUE_UK (12 September 2021). "Without action, 2021 will be the deadliest year of conflict for Afghans in over a decade" (Tweet). Retrieved 21 July 2024– via Twitter. The IRC's @melanie_ward has a powerful message on how the UK Government's aid cuts will impact families in #Afghanistan.
  8. ↑ "Melanie Ward A powerful presence". Time . 2 May 2024. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  9. ↑ "Melanie Ward steps down as MAP CEO". Medical Aid for Palestinians. 5 July 2024. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  10. ↑ "Medical Aid for Palestinians CEO resigns after election as UK MP". The New Arab . 5 July 2024. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  11. 1 2 Bowie, Justin (10 May 2024). "Who is Melanie Ward? The new Palestine aid charity boss standing for Labour in Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy". The Courier . Dundee: DC Thomson . Retrieved 21 July 2024.
  12. ↑ Ward, Melanie [@melanie_ward] (11 August 2015). "Thinking of voting for Jeremy Corbyn? Read this" (Tweet). Retrieved 21 July 2024– via Twitter.
  13. ↑ Ward, Melanie [@melanie_ward] (27 June 2016). "I'm one of 57 former Labour Parliamentary Candidates who have written a letter calling on Jeremy Corbyn to resign" (Tweet). Retrieved 21 July 2024– via Twitter.
  14. ↑ Ward, Melanie [@melanie_ward] (26 June 2016). "It you're a Labour member or supporter please sign this petition calling for Corbyn to resign" (Tweet). Retrieved 21 July 2024– via Twitter.
  15. ↑ Ward, Melanie [@melanie_ward] (17 August 2018). "New passport. Excited for the adventures it will take me on. And I guess at least my passport will say 'European Union' on it, come what may #StopBrexit #peoplesvote" (Tweet). Retrieved 21 July 2024– via Twitter.
  16. ↑ Ward, Melanie [@melanie_ward] (12 December 2018). "I mean, seriously?! What a truly pathetic statement from Corbyn" (Tweet). Retrieved 21 July 2024– via Twitter.
  17. ↑ Ward, Melanie [@melanie_ward] (13 March 2019). "Just imagine if Jez followed his party's democratically-decided policy etc etc, and actually fought for a #PeoplesVote. His behaviour is a massive dereliction of duty as Leader of the Opposition in a time of national crisis" (Tweet). Retrieved 21 July 2024– via Twitter.
  18. ↑ Ward, Melanie [@melanie_ward] (13 December 2019). "Corbyn and his hard left band of supporters control every part of the Labour Party. This is their failure" (Tweet). Retrieved 21 July 2024– via Twitter.
  19. ↑ Ward, Melanie [@melanie_ward] (4 April 2020). "Farewell to Jeremy Corbyn, who really was a truly terrible Labour Party Leader. He will be missed not one little bit by those of us who want to see Labour in government again" (Tweet). Retrieved 21 July 2024– via Twitter.
  20. ↑ Jones, Morgan (2 November 2023). "Exclusive: Palestine charity CEO joins high-profile race for south London seat". LabourList . Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  21. ↑ "Kirkcaldy & Cowdenbeath". BBC News. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
  22. ↑ "Cowdenbeath & Kirkcaldy". Sky News. 5 July 2024. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  23. ↑ "Fife General Election Results 2024". Fife Council. 5 July 2024. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
  24. ↑ "I was delighted to be appointed as PPS to @IanMurrayMP in the Scotland Office".
  25. ↑ "TIME100 Health". TIME. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
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for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy
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