Meg Munn
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Margaret Patricia Munn (born 1959) served as a Labour MP for Sheffield Heeley from
2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...
to
2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
. After leaving Parliament, she has served in a variety of roles across the public sector, academia and international bodies.


Before Parliament

Munn went to Mundella Primary School on Mundella Place in Norton Woodseats, then the comprehensive Rowlinson School on Dyche Lane in Jordanthorpe,
Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...
from 1970 to 1977, (the site became Norton College Campus of Sheffield College, but the old school transferred to
Meadowhead School Meadowhead School is a mixed secondary school and Language College with academy status in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. There are currently around 1,841 students on roll, about 120 teaching staff and approximately 50 non-teaching staff. ...
across the road in 1988). She studied languages at the
University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...
receiving a BA (Hons) in 1981, later gaining an MA in
social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...
at the
University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...
in 1986. Munn later gained a Certificate and Diploma in Management Studies from the
Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...
and in 2012 became the first MP to be awarded Chartered Manager status by the
Chartered Management Institute The Chartered Management Institute (CMI) is a professional institution for management based in the United Kingdom. It was founded as the British Institute of Management (BIM) in 1947 or 1948, merged with the Institution of Industrial Managers (I ...
, subsequently becoming a Fellow of the Institute. She worked as a social work Assistant for
Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...
County Council from 1981–84; as a social worker for
Nottinghamshire County Council Nottinghamshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Nottinghamshire in England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county; the non-metropolitan county excludes the city of ...
from 1986–90, becoming a senior social worker from 1990–92; as a district manager for
Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council is the local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley in South Yorkshire, England. It is a metropolitan borough council and provides the majority of local government services in the borough. The cou ...
Social Services from 1992–96, as a child services manager for Wakefield Metropolitan Borough Council from 1996–99; and assistant director of City of York Council Children's Services from 1999–2000. She joined the Labour Party at fifteen, and was a councillor on
Nottingham City Council Nottingham City Council is the local authority for the city of Nottingham, in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire in the East Midlands region of England. Nottingham has had a council from medieval times, which has been reformed on numerous ...
from 1987–91. Munn was on the Barnsley Regional Board of the
Co-operative Group The Co-operative Group Limited, trading as Co-op and formerly known as the Co-operative Wholesale Society, is a British consumer cooperative, consumer co-operative with a group of retail businesses, including grocery retail and wholesale, leg ...
, the UK's largest co-operative society, and the management committee of Wortley Hall, a national co-operative conference centre. She was elected
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...
of the 2006
Co-operative Congress The Co-operative Congress is the national conference of the UK Co-operative Movement. The first of the modern congresses took place in 1869 following a series of meetings called the " Owenite Congress" in the 1830s. Members of Co-operatives UK ...
She is a member of
USDAW The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (Usdaw) is a trade union in the United Kingdom, consisting of over 360,000 members. Usdaw members work in a variety of occupations and industries including: shopworkers, factory and warehouse wor ...
, the Labour Party and the
Co-operative Party The Co-operative Party () is a centre-left List of political parties in the United Kingdom, political party in the United Kingdom, supporting co-operative values and principles. The party currently has an electoral pact with the Labour Party. E ...
.


Member of Parliament

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 Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) is a group in the Parliament of the United Kingdom that advocates a strong bilateral relationship between the United Kingdom and Israel, and seeks to strengthen ties between the British Labour Party (UK), Labour ...
, a vice-chair of the group
Progress Progress is movement towards a perceived refined, improved, or otherwise desired state. It is central to the philosophy of progressivism, which interprets progress as the set of advancements in technology, science, and social organization effic ...
and Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Voice group. Munn served as Parliamentary Private Secretary at the Department for Education and Skills from July 2003 to 2004 and then continuing to be a PPS at the department attached to the Minister of State for Education until May 2005. She was Minister for Women and Equality, based at the
Department for Communities and Local Government The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for housing, communities, and local government in England. It was established in May 200 ...
from May 2005 until June 2007. Munn introduced
civil partnership A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, primarily created to provide legal recognition for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage, with ch ...
s in the UK in December 2005. She was responsible for the Equality Act 2006, and involved in the Work and Families Act 2006. She established the Equality and Human Rights Commission). She was not able to take a ministerial salary, as the maximum number of paid ministers, had been appointed. This was criticised by the opposition. 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. She was one of four Labour MPs who did not vote against the government motion, which the government lost. Ultimately a negotiated agreement was reached to eliminate Syria's chemical weapons. On 29 June 2007, Munn was appointed as the
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs was a junior position in the British government, subordinate to both the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and since 1945 also to the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. T ...
in the
Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) is the ministry of foreign affairs and a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. The office was created on 2 ...
. Amongst her responsibilities were Overseas Territories, South East Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and the Caribbean and Central America. She stood down from the government in October 2008. 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, 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 A constituency Labour Party (CLP) is an organisation of members of the British Labour Party who live in a particular parliamentary constituency. In England and Wales, CLP boundaries coincide with those for UK parliamentary constituencies. In Sc ...
that she had decided not to seek reselection to stand at the 2015 general election.


Expenses claims

On 26 May 2009, Meg Munn was criticised after ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'' 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. 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. 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. 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". Munn was one of 98 MPs who voted in favour of legislation which would have kept MPs' expense details secret.


Post-Parliamentary career

From August 2015 to July 2023 Munn served as pro-chancellor and Deputy Chair, and from July 2023 to April 2024 as Interim Chair, of the Board of Governors of
Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The university is based on two sites; the City Campus is located in the city centre near Sheffield station, Sheffield railway station, whil ...
. She is currently the Senior Independent Director of the
Phone-paid Services Authority The Phone-paid Services Authority (PSA) was the regulatory body for all premium rate phone-paid services in the United Kingdom between 2016 and 2025. It supervised the content, goods and services that consumers could buy by charging the cost to ...
. Previously she was Chair of the
British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...
's Society Advisory Group (2017–2021) and a Non-Executive Director of the Esh Group (2015–2018). She is also an international governance consultant with a focus on parliamentary processes, political party development, gender mainstreaming and women's leadership. She works with organisations such as Global Partners Governance,
Inter-Parliamentary Union The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU; , UIP) is an international organization of national parliaments. Its primary purpose is to promote democratic governance, accountability, and cooperation among its members; other initiatives include advancing g ...
,
United Nations Development Programme The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...
, the
Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) is the principal institution of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) dealing with the "three generations of human rights, human dimension" of security. The O ...
,
Commonwealth Parliamentary Association The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), previously known as the Empire Parliamentary Association, is an organisation which works to support good governance, democracy and human rights. In 1989 the patron of the CPA was the Head ...
,
UN Women The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women, is a United Nations entity charged with working for gender equality and the empowerment of women. UN Women is charged with advocating for the righ ...
, the Kenya Women Parliamentarians' Association (KEWOPA) and the Iraq Foundation to support democracy building in a number of countries. She is author of ''Participatory Gender Audits of Parliaments: a Step by Step Guidance Document'' (2022) and Lead drafter for the ''Compendium of Good Practises for Advancing Women's Political Participation in the OSCE Region'' (2016),
Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) is the principal institution of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) dealing with the "three generations of human rights, human dimension" of security. The O ...
. She supports women to consider non-traditional careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), and construction. She has been a Patron of the
Women's Engineering Society The Women's Engineering Society is a United Kingdom professional learned society and networking body for women engineers, scientists and technologists. It was the first professional body set up for women working in all areas of engineering, pred ...
and has edited ''Building the future: women in construction'',
Smith Institute The Smith Institute is a left-wing think tank in the United Kingdom. It was founded in memory of John Smith (Labour Party leader), John Smith Queen's Counsel, QC Member of Parliament, MP, former leader of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party. His ...
(2014) and ''Unlocking Potential: perspectives on women in science, engineering & technology'',
Smith Institute The Smith Institute is a left-wing think tank in the United Kingdom. It was founded in memory of John Smith (Labour Party leader), John Smith Queen's Counsel, QC Member of Parliament, MP, former leader of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party. His ...
(2011). She was the first independent Chair of the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
's National Safeguarding Panel and then the acting Chair of the Independent Safeguarding Board. She resigned from both positions on 12 July 2023.


Personal life

Munn is fluent in German and French, conversational Italian and Spanish. She has long been an active member of the
Methodist Church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
. She has been married to Dennis Bates since 1989.


Publications

*Author ''Participatory Gender Audits of Parliaments: a Step by Step Guidance Document''
Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) is the principal institution of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) dealing with the "three generations of human rights, human dimension" of security. The O ...
(2022). *Lead drafter "Compendium of Good Practises for Advancing Women's Political Participation in the OSCE Region",
Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) is the principal institution of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) dealing with the "three generations of human rights, human dimension" of security. The O ...
(2016). *Edited ''Building the future: women in construction'',
Smith Institute The Smith Institute is a left-wing think tank in the United Kingdom. It was founded in memory of John Smith (Labour Party leader), John Smith Queen's Counsel, QC Member of Parliament, MP, former leader of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party. His ...
(2014). *''Seminar series on child sexual abuse'', Child Protection All-Party Parliamentary Group.
NSPCC The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is a British child protection charity founded as the Liverpool Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (LSPCC) by Thomas Agnew on 19 April 1883. The NSPCC lobbies t ...
(2014). *''Making care proceedings better for children'', Child Protection All-Party Parliamentary Group.
NSPCC The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is a British child protection charity founded as the Liverpool Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (LSPCC) by Thomas Agnew on 19 April 1883. The NSPCC lobbies t ...
(2013). *Edited ''Unlocking Potential: perspectives on women in science, engineering & technology'',
Smith Institute The Smith Institute is a left-wing think tank in the United Kingdom. It was founded in memory of John Smith (Labour Party leader), John Smith Queen's Counsel, QC Member of Parliament, MP, former leader of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party. His ...
(2011). *''Vetting and Disclosures: Getting it right in practice'', Child Protection All-Party Parliamentary Group.
NSPCC The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is a British child protection charity founded as the Liverpool Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (LSPCC) by Thomas Agnew on 19 April 1883. The NSPCC lobbies t ...
(2011). *An essay in ''Making the progressive case for Israel'',
Labour Friends of Israel Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) is a group in the Parliament of the United Kingdom that advocates a strong bilateral relationship between the United Kingdom and Israel, and seeks to strengthen ties between the British Labour Party (UK), Labour ...
(2011). *''President's Address to the Co-operative Congress'',
Co-operatives UK Co-operatives UK is a British co-operative federation described as "the central membership organisation for co-operative enterprise throughout the UK". It was founded in 1870 as the Co-operative Central Board, changing its name to the Co-oper ...
(2006). *Foreword to ''Diversity and the Economy'', Tony Pilch,
Smith Institute The Smith Institute is a left-wing think tank in the United Kingdom. It was founded in memory of John Smith (Labour Party leader), John Smith Queen's Counsel, QC Member of Parliament, MP, former leader of the Labour Party (UK), Labour Party. His ...
(2006). *An essay in ''Labour Looks to Israel'', ed P.Richards,
Labour Friends of Israel Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) is a group in the Parliament of the United Kingdom that advocates a strong bilateral relationship between the United Kingdom and Israel, and seeks to strengthen ties between the British Labour Party (UK), Labour ...
(2005). *Co-edited ''Family Fortunes: the New Politics of Childhood'', eds Patrick Diamond, Sunder Katwala & Meg Munn,
Fabian Society The Fabian Society () is a History of the socialist movement in the United Kingdom, British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in ...
(2004)


References


External links


Munn's former website
Archived 12 January 2012
TheyWorkForYou.com – Meg Munn MPVoting record at the Public WhipBBC Politics page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Munn, Meg 1959 births Living people Labour Co-operative MPs for English constituencies Alumni of the University of Nottingham Politics of Sheffield Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Alumni of the Open University UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 Alumni of the University of York Presidents of Co-operative Congress UK MPs 2010–2015 Nottingham City Councillors 21st-century British women politicians 21st-century English women 21st-century English politicians Women councillors in England