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Meg Hillier

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Dame Meg Hillier
DBE MP
Official portrait, 2024
Chair of the Public Accounts Committee
In office
18 June 2015 – 30 May 2024
Preceded byMargaret Hodge
Succeeded byTBD [1]
Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change
In office
8 October 2010 – 7 October 2011
LeaderEd Miliband
Preceded byEd Miliband
Succeeded byCaroline Flint
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Identity
In office
28 June 2007 – 12 May 2010
Prime MinisterGordon Brown
Preceded byJoan Ryan (Under-Secretary of State for Nationality, Citizenship and Immigration)
Succeeded byDamian Green (Minister of State for Immigration)
Member of Parliament
for Hackney South and Shoreditch
Assumed office
5 May 2005[2]
Preceded byBrian Sedgemore
Majority14,737 (35.4%)
Member of the London Assembly
for North East
In office
4 May 2000 – 10 June 2004
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byJennette Arnold
Mayor of Islington
In office
May 1998 – May 1999
Preceded byRupert Perry
Succeeded byJenny Sands
Islington Borough Councillor
for Sussex Ward
In office
5 May 1994 – 2 May 2002
Succeeded byWard abolished
Personal details
Born
Margaret Olivia Hillier

(1969-02-14) 14 February 1969 (age 55)
Hampstead, London, England
Political partyLabour and Co-operative
SpouseJoe Simpson
Children3
Alma materSt Hilda's College, Oxford
Websitewww.meghillier.com

Dame Margaret Olivia Hillier DBE (born 14 February 1969), known as Meg Hillier, is a British Labour and Co-operative politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hackney South and Shoreditch since 2005. Hillier 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.[3] She chaired the Public Accounts Committee from 2015 until 2024.

Early life and career

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Margaret Hillier was born on 14 February 1969 in Hampstead, and educated at Portsmouth High School, a private school for girls in Southsea, Hampshire. She then went to St Hilda's College at the University of Oxford, where she read Philosophy, Politics and Economics.[4] During her time there she was elected Librarian of the Oxford Union Society.[5]

Hillier worked as a journalist in regional press and social housing media and was elected as a Councillor in the London Borough of Islington in 1994, representing the Sussex ward and serving as Mayor of Islington in 1998, before standing down from the Council in 2002. She was elected as a founding Member of the London Assembly for North East London at the first London Assembly election of 2000, serving on the Assembly until 2004, and was a board member of Transport for London until her election to Parliament.

Hillier has served as Trustee of the War Memorials Trust since 2001.[6]

Parliamentary career

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In 2004, Hillier was selected as the Labour prospective parliamentary candidate to contest Hackney South and Shoreditch through an all-women shortlist.[7] At the 2005 general election, she was elected to the House of Commons as MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch, winning with 52.9% of the vote and a majority of 10,204.[7] Hillier made her maiden speech on 24 May 2005, noting there were more men in the House of Commons that day than there had ever been women MPs.[8]

Hillier served as member of the Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee for a year until she was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Ruth Kelly in 2006. In June 2007, she was appointed a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Home Office.

During maternity leave beginning in March 2009, her ministerial role was taken over by Shahid Malik. In March 2008, Hillier voted with the Government in favour of nationwide Post Office closures, including seven in Hackney, of which her constituency forms a part.[9]

In December 2009, while promoting the unpopular National Identity Card scheme as Identity Minister[10][11] in Liverpool, she admitted she had forgotten her own ID card,[12][13] attributing the error to the demands of looking after her baby.[14][15]

At the 2010 general election, Hillier was re-elected as MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch with an increased vote share of 55.7% and an increased majority of 14,288.[16] She was again re-elected at the 2015 general election with an increased vote share of 64.4% and an increased majority of 24,213.[17][18][19]

In June 2015, Hillier was elected Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee in succession to Margaret Hodge.[20] She was, as a result, among the 100 most influential people in the NHS according to the Health Service Journal in 2016.[21] As chair, she has been critical of the Troubled Families programme, saying that the PAC's conclusions on the programme were "far more serious" than "a slap on the wrist" for ministers.[22]

An ardent supporter of the Remain campaign during the 2016 EU referendum, Meg Hillier announced that she was "devastated" that the UK voted to leave the EU and that the decision was fuelled by "xenophobic undertones".[23]

She supported Owen Smith in the failed attempt to replace Jeremy Corbyn in the 2016 Labour Party leadership election.[24]

Hillier was again re-elected at the snap 2017 general election with an increased vote share of 79.4% and an increased majority of 37,931.[25][26]

She stood for election as Speaker of the House of Commons during the 2019 Speaker election. However, she was unsuccessful, securing 10 votes (or 1.8%) in the first round, and coming in 7th out of seven candidates.

At the 2019 general election, Hillier was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 73.3% and a decreased majority of 33,985.[27]

Hillier was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2021 Birthday Honours for political and parliamentary service.[28][29]

At the 2024 general election, Hillier was again re-elected, again with a decreased vote share of 59.3 and a decreased majority of 14,737.[30]

Personal life

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Hillier married Joe Simpson in 1997; the couple have three children.[31][32] She is a Roman Catholic.[33]

References

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  1. ^ https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/127/public-accounts-committee
  2. ^ "Contact information for Meg Hillier - MPs and Lords - UK Parliament". members.parliament.uk.
  3. ^ Stratton, Allegra; Sparrow, Andrew; Wintour, Patrick (7 October 2011). "Labour reshuffle: Miliband promotes newly elected MPs". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  4. ^ Waller, Robert; Criddle, Byron (7 May 2007). The Almanac of British Politics. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-20683-3.
  5. ^ "John Evelyn: Hacking". Cherwell. Vol. 196, no. 4. 2 February 1990. p. 14.
  6. ^ "Trustees". War Memorials Trust. War Memorials Trust. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  7. ^ a b Profile, parliament.uk
  8. ^ House of Commons Hansard Debates, 24 May 2005 (pt 19).
  9. ^ "Post Office Closures" .The Public Whip website.
  10. ^ UK's national ID card unveiled. BBC News (30 July 2009). Retrieved on 24 November 2015.
  11. ^ Holyrood rejects identity cards. BBC News (19 November 2008). Retrieved on 24 November 2015.
  12. ^ Profile, The Register, 16 December 2009; accessed 12 May 2015.
  13. ^ Identity minister forgets ID card, The Register, 16 December 2009
  14. ^ "Red-faced Minister Meg Hillier forgets her identity card for Liverpool roll-out". Liverpool Echo. 15 December 2009. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
  15. ^ Profile, biographies.parliament.uk; accessed 12 May 2015.
  16. ^ Hackney South & Shoreditch (results) (BBC News) accessed 7 May 2010
  17. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  18. ^ "Previous election results Hackney". hackney.gov.uk.
  19. ^ Jones, Jonathan (13 January 2015). "A manifesto of no ideas: artist Gordon Shrigley stands in the general election". The Guardian.
  20. ^ Frank Field elected Work and Pensions Committee chairman. BBC News (18 June 2015). Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  21. ^ "HSJ100 2016: The list in full". Health Service Journal. 11 October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  22. ^ "Troubled families turnaround claim misleading, say MPs". BBC News. UK. 20 December 2016. Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  23. ^ Bartholomew, Emma (24 June 2016). "MP Meg Hillier: 'We don't know' Brexit's implications for EU citizens in Hackney". Hackney Gazette. UK.
  24. ^ "Full list of MPs and MEPs backing challenger Owen Smith". LabourList. 21 July 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  25. ^ "Hackney South & Shoreditch parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
  26. ^ "House Of Commons Library 2017 Election report" (PDF).
  27. ^ "General election 12 December 2019 | Hackney Council". hackney.gov.uk. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  28. ^ "No. 63377". The London Gazette (Supplement). 12 June 2021. p. B8.
  29. ^ "The Queen's Birthday Honours List 2021". GOV.UK. 11 June 2021. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  30. ^ "Hackney South and Shoreditch results".
  31. ^ Notice of marriage of Hillier and Simpson, number10.gov.uk
  32. ^ "Baby Girl for MP", Hackney Gazette 21 April 2009; accessed 14 May 2009
  33. ^ Signatory to letter to Pope Francis to allow ordination of married men to the Catholic priesthood Archived 21 July 2018 at the Wayback Machine, catholicherald.co.uk; accessed 12 May 2015.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Meg Hillier.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Hackney South and Shoreditch
2005–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change
2010–2011 		Succeeded by
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