Melanie Ward | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2024 | |
| Member of Parliament forCowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy | |
| Assumed office 4 July 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Neale Hanvey |
| Majority | 7,248 (17.7%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | February 1981 (age 44–45) Helensburgh,Dunbartonshire, Scotland |
| Party | Labour |
| Alma mater | University of Stirling (BA) SOAS University of London (MA) |
| Occupation |
|
| Website | Official website |
Melanie Claire Ward[1] (born February 1981) is a BritishLabour Party politician who has served asMember of Parliament forCowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy since 2024.
Until her election in 2024, Ward was ahumanitarian aid worker, working for several prominent international charities in succession. She waschief executive officer ofMedical Aid for Palestinians from 2023 to 2024.
Ward was born inHelensburgh on theFirth of Clyde.[2][3] She attended the localHermitage Academy.[4] She received aBachelor of Arts in Human Resource Management from theUniversity of Stirling,[5] and served as President of theNational Union of Students Scotland.[6] Ward received aMaster of Arts in International Studies and Diplomacy fromSOAS University of London in 2009.
Ward has worked for several charities, includingChristian Aid, andActionAid UK. For a time she chaired The Circle, which is a charity thatAnnie Lennox founded to empower women.[3] By December 2015, Ward was the associate director of policy and advocacy for the International Rescue Committee UK.[7] She was still working for IRC in September 2021.[8]
In September 2022, MAP announced that it had appointed Ward to become its new CEO.[9] She took up her position in January 2023. In May 2024,Time included her in its "Time100 Health" list of influential workers in the health sector.[10] In May 2024, MAP granted herleave of absence for the duration of that year's general election campaign. On 4 July she was elected as an MP and the next day she resigned as CEO of MAP.[11][12]
Ward was the Labour candidate forGlenrothes in the2015 General Election.[13] Labour had held Glenrothes since the seat was created in 2005, but in 2015Peter Grant of the SNP won the seat from Labour with a majority of 13,987, and Ward came second.[citation needed]
Ward opposedJeremy Corbyn throughout his leadership of the Labour party. In August 2015, when Corbyn was campaigning to be elected leader, she tweeted a link to an article byLeo McKinstry inThe Daily Telegraph that accused Corbyn of being an "unreconstructedTrotskyite", and in her tweet she urged party members to "think again".[14] In June 2016 she called for Corbyn to resign asLeader of the Labour Party,[15] and encouraged other members and supporters of the party to petition him to do so.[16]
Ward opposedBrexit, and supported thePeople's Vote campaign for another referendum on UK membership of theEuropean Union.[17] In 2018 and 2019 she criticised Corbyn for not calling for another referendum.[18][19]
The day after Labour lost the 2019 General Election, Ward tweeted "Corbyn and his hard left band of supporters control every part of the Labour Party. This is their failure. They need to own it, take responsibility and get out of the way. Our country and our most vulnerable people will pay the price for what they have done. Gutted."[20] When Corbyn stepped down as leader in April 2020, Ward tweeted "Farewell to Jeremy Corbyn, who really was a truly terrible Labour Party Leader. He will be missed not one little bit by those of us who want to see Labour in government again".[21]
In November 2023, Ward applied to be the Labour candidate forBeckenham and Penge.[22]
In May 2024 theNational Executive Committee of the Labour Party appointed her as the Labour candidate for Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy,[13] which the party had lost toNeale Hanvey in the2019 General Election.[23] On 4 July 2024 she was elected with a majority of 7,248, winning the seat back for Labour.[24][25] She was appointed asParliamentary Private Secretary forSecretary of State for ScotlandIan Murray on 21 July.[26] Her name was included in the Time 2024 list of influential people in health.[27]
In February 2025, MP Melanie Ward spoke in Parliament in support of nurseSandie Peggie, stating: “Women’s sex-based rights are hard fought, and we give them up at our peril.” Peggie had been suspended after objecting to Dr Beth Upton, atransgender woman, herself for using the female changing rooms at her workplace. She later brought a tribunal case againstNHS Fife, alleging sexual harassment and discrimination under the Equality Act 2010.[28]
The IRC's @melanie_ward has a powerful message on how the UK Government's aid cuts will impact families in #Afghanistan.
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forCowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy 2024–present | Incumbent |
