The subject of this article is standing for re-election to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom on 4 July, and has not been an incumbent MP since Parliament was dissolved on 30 May. Some parts of this article may be out of date during this period. |
Gillian Furniss (born 14 March 1957) is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough since 2016. She was a Member of Sheffield City Council from 1999 to 2016.
Gill Furniss | |||||||||||||||
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 Official portrait, 2022 | |||||||||||||||
| Member of Parliament for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough | |||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 5 May 2016 | |||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Harry Harpham | ||||||||||||||
| Majority | 12,274 (31.0%) | ||||||||||||||
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| Member of Sheffield City Council | |||||||||||||||
| In office 6 May 1999 – 5 May 2016 | |||||||||||||||
| Ward | Manor (1999–2004) Southey (2004–2016) | ||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | William Jordan | ||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Jayne Dunn | ||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||
| Born | 14 March 1957 Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire, England | ||||||||||||||
| Political party | Labour | ||||||||||||||
| Spouse | Harry Harpham (died 2016) | ||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | Leeds Beckett University (BA) | ||||||||||||||
| Website | gillfurniss | ||||||||||||||
Early life and career edit
Gillian Furniss was born in Sheffield on 14 March 1957, the daughter of a steel worker. She was educated at the Chaucer School, Sheffield, and graduated from Leeds Metropolitan University with a BA in Library and Information Studies as a mature student in 1998. After leaving school, she worked as a librarian and went on to work as an administrator at the Northern General Hospital.[1][2]
Political career edit
Furniss unsuccessfully stood as the Labour candidate in the Hillsborough Ward in 1998. She was subsequently elected in the Manor ward in 1999 and re-elected in 2003. With the introduction of new ward boundaries for the 2004 Sheffield City Council election, she was elected to represent Southey ward. She was re-elected in 2006, 2010 and 2014 before standing down in 2016 upon her election as an MP.[3][4]
As a councillor, in 2015 Furniss endorsed Andy Burnham in the Labour leadership contest.[5]
Parliamentary career edit
Furniss stood as the Labour candidate in Sheffield Hallam at the 2001 general election, coming third with 12.4% of the vote behind the incumbent Liberal Democrat MP Richard Allan and the Conservative candidate.[6]
At the 2016 Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough by-election, Furniss was elected to Parliament as MP for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough with 62.5% of the vote and a majority of 9,590.[7]
In the October 2016 opposition front bench reshuffle, Furniss was appointed to the new position of Shadow Minister for Steel, Postal Affairs and Consumer Protection.[8]
Furniss was re-elected as MP for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough at the snap 2017 general election with an increased vote share of 67.3% and an increased majority of 19,143.[9] She was again re-elected at the 2019 general election, with a decreased vote share of 56.5% and a decreased majority of 12,274.[10]
Following the election of Keir Starmer as Labour leader in April 2020, she became Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities.[11] She moved to become an Opposition Whip in July 2020, and served in the role until her appointment as Shadow Roads Minister in January 2022.[12] Her shadow transport brief covered green transport, transport decarbonisation, future transport and roads.[12]
In the 2023 British shadow cabinet reshuffle, she was appointed Shadow Minister for Pensions.[13]
References edit
- ^ Perraudin, Frances (4 May 2016). "Antisemitism row makes no mark in Sheffield as voters focus on cuts". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
- ^ "About Gill". Personal website. Archived from the original on 22 November 2018. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
- ^ "Election Results" (PDF). Sheffield City Council. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
- ^ "Gill Furniss to contest Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough by-election". BBC News. 4 March 2016. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
- ^ "Andy's 'thank you' to the 500+ councillors supporting him". Andy Burnham leadership website. 21 August 2015.
- ^ "Election Data 2001". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 15 October 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2015.
- ^ "Brightside and Hillsborough by-election result 2016". Sheffield City Council. Archived from the original on 4 June 2016. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
- ^ "Gill Furniss MP". GOV.UK. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
- ^ "Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough". Sheffield City Council. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
- ^ "Sheffield Brightside & Hillsborough parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". BBC News. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
- ^ Rodgers, Sienna (9 April 2020). "Shadow ministers appointed as Starmer completes frontbench". LabourList. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
- ^ a b Chappell, Elliot; Rodgers, Sienna. "Labour frontbench undergoes mini-reshuffle after death of Jack Dromey". LabourList. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
- ^ "Meet our Shadow Cabinet". The Labour Party. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
External links edit
- Gill Furniss MP official constituency website
- Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
- Contributions in Parliament at Hansard
- Voting record at Public Whip
- Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou