The Baroness Elliott of Whitburn Bay | |||||||||||
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 Official portrait, 2025 | |||||||||||
| Member of the House of Lords Lord Temporal | |||||||||||
| Assumed office 27 January 2025 Life peerage | |||||||||||
| Member of Parliament forSunderland Central | |||||||||||
| In office 6 May 2010 – 30 May 2024 | |||||||||||
| Preceded by | New constituency | ||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Lewis Atkinson | ||||||||||
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| Personal details | |||||||||||
| Born | Julie Elliott (1963-07-29)29 July 1963 (age 62) Sunderland, England | ||||||||||
| Political party | Labour | ||||||||||
| Spouse | |||||||||||
| Children | 4 | ||||||||||
| Alma mater | Newcastle Polytechnic (BA) | ||||||||||
Julie Elliott, Baroness Elliott of Whitburn Bay (born 29 July 1963), is a BritishLabour Party politician who served asMember of Parliament (MP) forSunderland Central from 2010 to 2024. Elliott served as Shadow Minister for Energy and Climate Change from 2013 to 2015, with specific responsibility for renewable energy, the Green Investment Bank, and skills and supply chain issues. She was a member of theEuropean Scrutiny;Business, Innovation and Skills;Digital, Culture, Media and Sport; andRegulatory Reform Committees. Elliott stood down as an MP at the2024 general election and was subsequently appointed to theHouse of Lords in 2025.
Julie Elliott was born inWhitburn, Sunderland, on 29 July 1963.[1] Her father, Harold, served as an apprenticejoiner atSunderland Shipbuilders before working as ablacksmith striker atWearmouth Colliery.[2][3][4]
Elliott was educated atSeaham Northlea Comprehensive School, and later gained aBachelor of Arts (BA) degree in government and public policy atNewcastle Polytechnic.[2][3][5]
Elliott served as aschool governor forWhitburn Comprehensive from 1991 to 2004, including a stint as chair. She also served as a governor at primary schools across Sunderland andSouth Tyneside.[6]
She worked for theNational Asthma Campaign in 1998 and 1999 as a regional organiser. From 1999 to 2010, Elliott became a regional organizer for the trade unionGMB, responsible for political matters, representing members in employment tribunals and regional pay negotiations.[2][3][5]
Elliott became a member of theLabour Party in 1984 and worked as a regional organizer from 1993 to 1998. She served as anelection agent forTynemouth at the1997 general election.[3][5]
Elected as MP for Sunderland Central at the2010 general election with a majority of 6,725,[7] Elliott served on theEuropean Scrutiny Committee and theBusiness, Innovation and Skills Committee.[8]
In October 2013, Elliott became ashadow minister for theDepartment for Energy and Climate Change, with specific responsibility forrenewable energy.[8] She also served as theparliamentary private secretary toCaroline Flint.[3]
Elliott was re-elected as MP for Sunderland Central at the2015 general election with an increased majority of 11,179 votes.[9] Following her departure from the frontbench in September 2015, she became a member of theCulture, Media and Sport Committee.[8] She nominatedLiz Kendall in the2015 Labour Party leadership election andCaroline Flint in thedeputy leadership election.[10][11] Elliott was elected as chair of theParliamentary Labour Party's Backbench Housing and Planning Committee in November 2015, and served as a member of theNational Policy Forum.[12] She endorsedOwen Smith in the failed attempt to replaceJeremy Corbyn in the2016 Labour Party (UK) leadership election.[13]
Elliott was re-elected as MP for Sunderland Central at the2017 general election with a slightly reduced majority of 9,997 votes,[9][14] and again at the2019 general election with a smaller majority of 2,964 votes.[9] In addition to the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee, Elliott also served on theRegulatory Reform Committee from 2017 to 2021 and thePanel of Chairs from 2020 to 2024.[5][8]
Elliott nominatedJess Phillips in the2020 Labour Party leadership election andIan Murray in thedeputy leadership election.[15][16]
In the House of Commons, Elliott voted in favour of the removal ofhereditary peers from theHouse of Lords, equalgay rights, andsame-sex marriage. She voted against university tuition fees, proposed reductions in spending on welfare benefits and culling badgers to tacklebovine tuberculosis. Elliott campaigned toremain in the European Union and consistently voted againstwithdrawal agreements put forward to Parliament despite her constituents voting to leave.[17]
On 28 May 2024, Elliott announced that she would stand down at the2024 general election.[18]
In late 2024, Elliott was nominated for alife peerage by Prime MinisterKeir Starmer.[19][20] She was createdBaroness Elliott of Whitburn Bay, of Whitburn Bay in the City of Sunderland, on 27 January 2025,[21] and wasintroduced to the House of Lords on 10 February.[22]
Elliott took on roles in several campaigns over the decades, both before and after becoming an MP.[23][24][25][26]
While working with the National Asthma Campaign in 1998, Elliott urged the government to ban smoking in public places.[27] She later worked with the GMB to change the law around compensation paid to victims ofasbestos-related diseases,[26] led a campaign against the use of zero-hour contracts in 2013.[25]
After becoming an MP, Elliott joined forces with theSunderland Echo to campaign against the closure of Sunderland Central Fire Station in 2014.[23] She campaigned for a transformation ofSunderland's "rundown railway station"[28] and for a new court complex for the city.[29]
During the2016 Brexit referendum, Elliott supported the campaign for the United Kingdom to remain in the European Union.[30]
Elliott has one son and three daughters.[4][5][31] On 21 August 2021, she married her long-term partner Andy Fletcher.[32][33]
After standing down as an MP, Elliott was named apro-chancellor of theUniversity of Sunderland. She is scheduled to assume the role in July 2025.[34]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| New constituency | Member of Parliament forSunderland Central 2010–2024 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Shadow Minister for Sustainable Energy 2013–2015 | Succeeded by |
