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'{{Short description|British Labour Co-op politician}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}} {{Use British English|date=November 2019}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Dame Meg Hillier | office1 = Chair of the [[Public Accounts Committee (United Kingdom)|Public Accounts Committee]] | honorific-suffix = [[Order of the British Empire (DBE)|DBE]] [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|MP]] | image = Official portrait of Meg Hillier MP crop 2, 2024.jpg | caption = Official portrait, 2024 | predecessor1 = [[Margaret Hodge]] | successor1 = [[Geoffrey Clifton-Brown]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/127/public-accounts-committee/membership/ |title=Public Account Committee |at=Commons Select Committee |access-date=23 July 2024 |archive-date=12 September 2024 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://archive.today/20240912002306/https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/127/public-accounts-committee/membership/ |website=[[Parliament of the United Kingdom|committees.parliament.uk]] |location=Public Accounts Committee, House of Commons, [[United Kingdom]], [[London]]}}</ref> | term_start1 = 18 June 2015 | term_end1 = 30 May 2024 | office3 = [[Home Office|Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Identity]] | predecessor3 = [[Joan Ryan (politician)|Joan Ryan]] (Under-Secretary of State for Nationality, Citizenship and Immigration) | primeminister3 = [[Gordon Brown]] | party = [[Labour and Co-operative]] | leader2 = [[Ed Miliband]] | office2 = [[Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change]] | predecessor2 = [[Ed Miliband]] | successor2 = [[Caroline Flint]] | successor3 = [[Damian Green]] (Minister of State for Immigration) | birth_name = Margaret Olivia Hillier | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1969|02|14|df=y}} | birth_place = [[Hampstead]], [[London]], England | death_date = | death_place = | spouse = Joe Simpson | children = 3 | alma_mater = [[St Hilda's College, Oxford]] | term_start2 = 8 October 2010 | term_end2 = 7 October 2011 | term_start3 = 28 June 2007 | term_end3 = 12 May 2010 | office4 = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]]<br />for [[Hackney South and Shoreditch (UK Parliament constituency)|Hackney South and Shoreditch]] | term_start4 = 5 May 2005<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://members.parliament.uk/member/1524/contact|title=Contact information for Meg Hillier - MPs and Lords - UK Parliament|website=members.parliament.uk}}</ref> | term_end4 = | predecessor4 = [[Brian Sedgemore]] | successor4 = | majority4 = 14,737 (35.4%) | constituency_AM5 = [[North East (London Assembly constituency)|North East]] | assembly5 = London | term_start5 = 4 May 2000 | term_end5 = 10 June 2004 | predecessor5 = ''Constituency established'' | successor5 = [[Jennette Arnold]] | office6 = Mayor of Islington | term_start6 = May 1998 | term_end6 = May 1999 | deputy6 = | predecessor6 = Rupert Perry | successor6 = Jenny Sands | office7 = [[Islington London Borough Council|Islington Borough Councillor]]<br />for Sussex Ward | term_start7 = 5 May 1994 | term_end7 = 2 May 2002 | predecessor7 = | successor7 = ''Ward abolished'' | website = {{URL|https://www.meghillier.com/}} | office = Chair of the [[Treasury Select Committee]] | term_start = 9 September 2024 | predecessor = [[Harriett Baldwin]] }} '''Dame Margaret Olivia Hillier''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|DBE}} (born 14 February 1969), known as '''Meg Hillier''', is a British [[Labour and Co-operative]] [[politician]] who has been the [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for [[Hackney South and Shoreditch (UK Parliament constituency)|Hackney South and Shoreditch]] since [[2005 United Kingdom general election|2005]]. Hillier was a junior [[Minister (government)|government minister]] from 2007 until 2010 and was succeeded by [[Caroline Flint]] as [[Shadow cabinet|Shadow]] [[Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change]] in the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] October 2011 reshuffle.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Stratton|first1=Allegra|last2=Sparrow|first2=Andrew|last3=Wintour|first3=Patrick|title=Labour reshuffle: Miliband promotes newly elected MPs|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2011/oct/07/labour-reshuffle-miliband-former-ministers|archive-date=11 September 2024|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240911061817/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2011/oct/07/labour-reshuffle-miliband-former-ministers|access-date=18 September 2015|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=7 October 2011}}</ref> She has been the chair of the [[Treasury Select Committee]] since 2024, having previously chaired the [[Public Accounts Committee (United Kingdom)|Public Accounts Committee]] from 2015 to 2024. ==Early life and career== Margaret Hillier was born on 14 February 1969 in [[Hampstead]], and educated at [[Portsmouth High School (Southsea)|Portsmouth High School]], a private school for girls in [[Southsea]], [[Hampshire]]. She then went to [[St Hilda's College, Oxford|St Hilda's College]] at the [[University of Oxford]], where she read [[Philosophy, Politics and Economics]].<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Waller|first1=Robert|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oLGpTZB2_w4C&pg=PA494|title=The Almanac of British Politics|last2=Criddle|first2=Byron|date=2007-05-07|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-20683-3|language=en}}</ref> During her time there she was elected Librarian of the [[Oxford Union Society]].<ref>{{cite news |title=John Evelyn: Hacking |work=[[Cherwell (newspaper)|Cherwell]] |volume=196 |issue=4 |date=2 February 1990 |page=14}}</ref> 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 Islington Council election|1994]], representing the [[Sussex|Sussex ward]] and serving as [[Mayor]] of [[Islington]] in [[1998 Islington Council election|1998]], before standing down from the Council in [[2002 Islington Council election|2002]]. She was elected as a founding Member of the [[London Assembly]] for [[North East (London Assembly constituency)|North East London]] at the first [[2000 London Assembly election|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 of the United Kingdom|Parliament]]. Hillier served as [[Trustee]] of the [[War Memorials Trust]] from November 2001 until 2016.<ref>{{cite web |title=Trustees |url=http://www.warmemorials.org/trustees/ |access-date=18 September 2015 |website=[[War Memorials Trust]] |archive-date=15 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315162512/http://www.warmemorials.org/trustees/ |url-status=deviated}}</ref> ==Parliamentary career== In 2004, Hillier was [[Preselection|selected]] as the Labour [[prospective parliamentary candidate]] to contest [[Hackney South and Shoreditch (UK Parliament constituency)|Hackney South and Shoreditch]] through an [[all-women shortlist]].<ref name=":0">{{cite report |number=5057 |url=https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN05057/SN05057.pdf |title=All–women shortlists |first1=Richard |last1=Kelly |last2=White |first2=Isobel |chapter=Appendix 1: Labour candidates, selected through all–women shortlists |at=Table B: 2005 |url-status=live |archive-date=7 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231007213221/https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN05057/SN05057.pdf|work=Briefing Paper |via=[[House of Commons Library]] |access-date=11 September 2024 |date=7 March 2016 }}</ref> At the [[2005 United Kingdom general election|2005 general election]], she was elected to the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] as MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch, winning with 52.9% of the vote and a majority of 10,204.<ref name=":0" /> 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 [[:Category:British female MPs|women MPs]].<ref>{{cite Hansard|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmhansrd/vo050524/debtext/50524-19.htm#50524-19_spnew1 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/7C8h1 |column_start=612 |archive-date=11 September 2024 |url-status=live |jurisdiction=[[Parliament of the United Kingdom]] |date=24 May 2005 |house=House of Commons |volume=434 |column_end=615 |title=Oral Answers to Questions |speaker=Meg Hillier}}</ref> 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 [[London Borough of Hackney|Hackney]], of which her constituency forms a part.<ref>[http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/division.php?date=2008-03-19&number=131&mpn=Meg_Hillier&mpc=Hackney+South+%26amp%3B+Shoreditch "Post Office Closures"] .The Public Whip website.</ref> In December 2009, while promoting the [[National identity card (United Kingdom)|National Identity Card]] scheme as Identity Minister<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8175139.stm UK's national ID card unveiled]. BBC News (30 July 2009). Retrieved on 24 November 2015.</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/7736588.stm Holyrood rejects identity cards]. BBC News (19 November 2008). Retrieved on 24 November 2015.</ref> in [[Liverpool]], she admitted she had forgotten her own ID card,<ref>Williams, Christopher. (16 December 2009) [https://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/16/hillier_launch ID card minister forgets ID card], ''The Register''. Accessed 12 May 2015.</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8415099.stm Identity minister forgets ID card], ''BBC News'', 16 December 2009</ref> attributing the error to the demands of looking after her baby.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/red-faced-minister-meg-hillier-forgets-3436684|title=Red-faced Minister Meg Hillier forgets her identity card for Liverpool roll-out|date=15 December 2009|access-date=15 August 2021|work=[[Liverpool Echo]]}}</ref> At the [[2010 United Kingdom general election|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.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/election2010/results/constituency/b93.stm ''Hackney South & Shoreditch (results)''] (BBC News) accessed 7 May 2010</ref> She was again re-elected at the [[2015 United Kingdom general election|2015 general election]] with an increased vote share of 64.4% and an increased majority of 24,213.<ref name="electoralcalculus">{{cite web |title=Election Data 2015 |url=http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/electdata_2015.txt |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151017112223/http://www.electoralcalculus.co.uk/electdata_2015.txt |archive-date=17 October 2015 |access-date=17 October 2015 |publisher=[[Electoral Calculus]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Previous election results Hackney |url=http://www.hackney.gov.uk/2015-general-election.htm#.Vb-0bXj5ndk |website=hackney.gov.uk}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Jones |first=Jonathan |date=13 January 2015 |title=A manifesto of no ideas: artist Gordon Shrigley stands in the general election |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2015/jan/13/gordon-shrigley-art-uk-election-2015-hogarth-ukip |newspaper=The Guardian}}</ref> In June 2015, Hillier was elected Chairman of the [[Public Accounts Committee (United Kingdom)|Public Accounts Committee]] (PAC) in succession to [[Margaret Hodge]].<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-33180818 Frank Field elected Work and Pensions Committee chairman]. BBC News (18 June 2015). Retrieved 24 November 2015.</ref> She was, as a result, among the 100 most influential people in the [[National Health Service|NHS]] according to the ''[[Health Service Journal]]'' in 2016.<ref>{{cite news|title=HSJ100 2016: The list in full|url=https://www.hsj.co.uk/newsletter/hsj-knowledge/top-leader-lists/hsj100/hsj100-2016-the-list-in-full/7011348.article|access-date=27 October 2016|journal=Health Service Journal|date=11 October 2016}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-38369557|date=20 December 2016|access-date=21 December 2016|title=Troubled families turnaround claim misleading, say MPs|work=BBC News}}</ref> An ardent supporter of the Remain campaign during the [[2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum|2016 EU referendum]], Hillier announced that she was "devastated" that the [[United Kingdom]] voted to leave the European Union and that the decision was fuelled by "[[Xenophobia|xenophobic]] undertones".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.hackneygazette.co.uk/news/local-council/mp-meg-hillier-we-don-t-know-brexit-s-implications-3526648|archive-date=11 September 2024|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240911052535/https://www.hackneygazette.co.uk/news/local-council/22941054.mp-meg-hillier-we-dont-know-brexits-implications-eu-citizens-hackney/|first=Emma|last=Bartholomew|title=MP Meg Hillier: 'We don't know' Brexit's implications for EU citizens in Hackney|newspaper=[[Hackney Gazette]]|date=24 June 2016}}</ref> She supported [[Owen Smith]] in the failed attempt to replace [[Jeremy Corbyn]] in the [[2016 Labour Party (UK) leadership election|2016 Labour Party leadership election]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://labourlist.org/2016/07/which-mps-and-meps-have-nominated-owen-smith/|title=Full list of MPs and MEPs backing challenger Owen Smith|date=2016-07-21|website=[[LabourList]]|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-07-15|archive-date=11 September 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240911052055/https://labourlist.org/2016/07/which-mps-and-meps-have-nominated-owen-smith/|first=Conor|last=Pope|url-status=live}}</ref> Hillier was again re-elected at the [[Snap election|snap]] [[2017 United Kingdom general election|2017 general election]] with an increased vote share of 79.4% and an increased majority of 37,931.<ref>{{cite news |title=Hackney South & Shoreditch parliamentary constituency |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/constituencies/E14000721 |work=[[BBC News Online|BBC News]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=House Of Commons Library 2017 Election report |url=http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7979/CBP-7979.pdf}}</ref> She stood for election as [[Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)|Speaker of the House of Commons]] during the [[2019 Speaker of the British House of Commons election|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 United Kingdom general election|2019 general election]], Hillier was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 73.3% and a decreased majority of 33,985.<ref>{{Cite web |title=General election 12 December 2019 |work=Hackney Council |url=https://hackney.gov.uk/general-election-2019/ |access-date=2019-11-19 |via=hackney.gov.uk}}</ref> Hillier was appointed [[Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] (DBE) in the [[2021 Birthday Honours]] for political and parliamentary service.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=63377|supp=y|page=B8|date=12 June 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite press release|title=The Queen's Birthday Honours List 2021|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/the-queens-birthday-honours-list-2021|archive-date=11 September 2024|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240911051703/https://www.gov.uk/government/news/the-queens-birthday-honours-list-2021|access-date=2021-06-12|website=[[Gov.uk|GOV.UK]]|date=11 June 2021|language=en|author1=[[Cabinet Office]]|author2=[[Boris Johnson|The Rt Hon Boris Johnson]]}}</ref> At the [[2024 United Kingdom general election|2024 general election]], Hillier was again re-elected, again with a decreased vote share of 59.3 and a decreased majority of 14,737.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Hackney South and Shoreditch results |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2024/uk/constituencies/E14001260}}</ref> She was elected unopposed as chair of the [[Treasury Select Committee]] on 9 September 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |date=9 September 2024 |title=Dame Meg Hillier MP elected as Chair of the Treasury Committee |url=https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/158/treasury-committee/news/202829/dame-meg-hillier-mp-elected-as-chair-of-the-treasury-committee/ |website=parliament.uk}}</ref> Hillier has written about her opposition to assisted dying, raising concerns about how it would be policed<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hillier |first=Meg |title=We all want to have a ‘good death’ – but assisted suicide is not the solution |url=https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/30886786/assisted-suicide-dame-meg-hillier/amp/ |website=The Sun}}</ref>. ==Personal life== Hillier married Joe Simpson in 1997; the couple have three children.<ref>[http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20090327152023/http%3A//www.number10.gov.uk/Page18757 Notice of marriage of Hillier and Simpson], number10.gov.uk</ref><ref>[http://www.hackneygazette.co.uk/content/hackney/gazette/news/story.aspx?brand=HKYGOnline&category=news&tBrand=northlondon24&tCategory=newshkyg&itemid=WeED21_Apr_2009_15%3A39%3A33%3A903 "Baby Girl for MP"], ''Hackney Gazette'' 21 April 2009; accessed 14 May 2009</ref>{{dead link|date=September 2024|fix-attempted=yes}} She is a [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]].<ref>Teahan, Madeline (27 March 2013). [http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2013/03/27/catholic-mps-urge-pope-francis-to-allow-ordination-of-married-men Signatory to letter to Pope Francis to allow ordination of married men to the Catholic priesthood] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721192320/http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2013/03/27/catholic-mps-urge-pope-francis-to-allow-ordination-of-married-men/ |date=21 July 2018 }}, [[Catholic Herald|catholicherald.co.uk]]; accessed 12 May 2015.</ref> ==References== {{Reflist|30em}} ==External links== {{commons category}} * [http://www.meghillier.com Meg Hillier MP official website]{{UK MP links| parliament = meg-hillier/1524 | hansard = <!-- ms-meg-hillier --> | hansardcurr = 4739 | guardian = 8735/meg-hillier | publicwhip = Meg_Hillier | theywork = meg_hillier | record = Margaret-Hillier/Hackney-South-and-Shoreditch/1371 | bbc = 35914.stm | journalisted = meg-hillier }} * [https://archive.today/20130121074431/http://www.debretts.com/people/biographies/browse/h/21266/Meg+HILLIER.aspx Debrett's People of Today] {{s-start}} {{s-par|uk}} {{s-bef|before=[[Brian Sedgemore]]}} {{s-ttl |title=[[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]]<br />for [[Hackney South and Shoreditch (UK Parliament constituency)|Hackney South and Shoreditch]] |years=[[2005 United Kingdom general election|2005]]–present }} {{s-inc}} |- {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before=[[Ed Miliband]]}} {{s-ttl|title=[[Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change]]|years=2010–2011}} {{s-aft|after=[[Caroline Flint]]}} {{s-end}} {{UKParliamentCommitteeChairs}} {{Miliband Shadow Cabinet}}{{Labour Party UK MPs}}{{One Nation Labour}}{{Labour Party shadow cabinet election, 2010}}{{Chairs of the Public Accounts Select Committee}}{{2019 Speaker of the British House of Commons election}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Hillier, Meg}} [[Category:1969 births]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:21st-century British women politicians]] [[Category:21st-century English politicians]] [[Category:21st-century English women]] [[Category:Alumni of St Hilda's College, Oxford]] [[Category:English Roman Catholics]] [[Category:Councillors in the London Borough of Islington]] [[Category:Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] [[Category:Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies]] [[Category:Hackney Members of Parliament]] [[Category:Labour Co-operative MPs for English constituencies]] [[Category:Labour Members of the London Assembly]] [[Category:Labour Co-operative Members of the London Assembly]] [[Category:People educated at Portsmouth High School (Southsea)]] [[Category:People from Hampstead]] [[Category:UK MPs 2005–2010]] [[Category:UK MPs 2010–2015]] [[Category:UK MPs 2015–2017]] [[Category:UK MPs 2017–2019]] [[Category:UK MPs 2019–2024]] [[Category:UK MPs 2024–present]] [[Category:Women councillors in England]] [[Category:One Nation Labour]] [[Category:London AMs 2000–2004]]'