Gill Furniss | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2022 | |||||||||||||||
| Member of Parliament forSheffield Brightside and Hillsborough | |||||||||||||||
| Assumed office 5 May 2016 | |||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Harry Harpham | ||||||||||||||
| Majority | 11,600 (36.7%) | ||||||||||||||
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| Member ofSheffield 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 | (1957-03-14)14 March 1957 (age 68) Sheffield,West Riding of Yorkshire, England | ||||||||||||||
| Political party | Labour | ||||||||||||||
| Spouse | Harry Harpham (died 2016) | ||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | Leeds Beckett University (BA) | ||||||||||||||
| Website | gillfurniss | ||||||||||||||
Gillian Furniss (born 14 March 1957) is a BritishLabour Party politician who has been theMember of Parliament (MP) forSheffield Brightside and Hillsborough since2016. She was a Member ofSheffield City Council from 1999 to 2016.
Gillian Furniss was born inSheffield on 14 March 1957, the daughter of a steel worker, and was educated at theChaucer School, Sheffield. After leaving school, she worked as alibrarian, and went on to work as an administrator at theNorthern General Hospital.[1][2] In 1998 – as a mature student – she graduated BA in Library and Information Studies, fromLeeds Metropolitan University.
Furniss unsuccessfully stood as theLabour candidate in the Hillsborough Ward in1998. She was subsequently elected in the Manor ward in 1999 and re-elected in 2003. With the introduction of new ward boundaries for the2004 Sheffield City Council election, she was elected to representSouthey ward. She was re-elected in2006,2010 and2014 before standing down in2016 upon her election as an MP.[3][4]
As a councillor, in 2015 Furniss endorsedAndy Burnham in the Labour leadership contest.[5]
Furniss stood as the Labour candidate inSheffield Hallam at the2001 general election, coming third with 12.4% of the vote behind the incumbentLiberal Democrat MPRichard Allan and theConservative candidate.[6]
At the2016 Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough by-election, caused by the death of her husbandHarry Harpham[7] Furniss was elected to Parliament as MP forSheffield Brightside and Hillsborough with 62.5% of the vote and a majority of 9,590.[8]
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.[9]
Furniss was re-elected as MP for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough at the snap2017 general election with an increased vote share of 67.3% and an increased majority of 19,143.[10] She was again re-elected at the2019 general election, with a decreased vote share of 56.5% and a decreased majority of 12,274.[11]
Following the election ofKeir Starmer as Labour leader in April 2020, she became Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities.[12] She moved to become anOpposition Whip in July 2020, and served in the role until her appointment as Shadow Roads Minister in January 2022.[13] Her shadow transport brief covered green transport, transport decarbonisation, future transport and roads.[13]
In the2023 British shadow cabinet reshuffle, she was appointed Shadow Minister for Pensions.[14]
At the2024 general election, Furniss was again re-elected with a decreased vote share of 51.6% and a decreased majority of 11,600.[15][16]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forSheffield Brightside and Hillsborough 2016–present | Incumbent |
