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Melanie Onn

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Melanie Onn
MP
Official portrait, 2024
Member of Parliament
for Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes
Great Grimsby (2015–2019)
Incumbent
Assumed office
4 July 2024
Preceded byLia Nici
Majority4,803 (13.1%)
In office
7 May 2015 – 6 November 2019
Preceded byAustin Mitchell
Succeeded byLia Nici
Personal details
Born (1979-06-19) 19 June 1979 (age 45)
Grimsby, Lincolnshire, England
Political partyLabour
Alma materMiddlesex University (BA)
Websitemelanieonn.org.uk

Melanie Onn (born 19 June 1979) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes since 2024. A member of the Labour Party, she previously served as MP for Great Grimsby from 2015 to 2019.

Onn was Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Commons from 2015 to 2016, and a Shadow Minister for Housing from 2017 to 2019. At the 2019 general election, she was defeated by Lia Nici, the Conservative candidate.[1]

After leaving Parliament, Onn served as Deputy Chief Executive of RenewableUK from 2020 to 2023. At the 2024 general election, she was elected as MP for the new constituency of Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes, defeating Nici in a rematch.[2]

Early life and career

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Melanie Onn was born in Grimsby on 19 June 1979. She grew up in the town and lived in two housing estates (Nunsthorpe and Grange). Onn attended Healing School and Franklin College.[3][4][5] At the age of 17, after falling out with her aunt, with whom she had been living, Onn sought help from Doorstep, a Grimsby-based charity which provides housing support to young people.[4][6] She graduated from the University of Middlesex with a degree in politics, international studies, and philosophy.[7][8]

Onn worked for 10 years at the Labour Party's head office, becoming the head of the party's Compliance Unit.[4] In 2009, she stood in the European Parliament elections for the Yorkshire and Humber region, placed fifth on Labour's regional list.[9] From 2010, she was a regional organiser for the public sector trade union UNISON.[10]

Parliamentary career

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Onn was selected as the Labour candidate for Great Grimsby from an all-women shortlist in July 2014, following the announcement that the sitting MP, Austin Mitchell, would retire at the next election.[11] In the 2015 general election, she retained the seat for her party with a majority of 4,540, up from 714 in the previous election.[12]

After having been elected, Onn met with the then Prime Minister David Cameron, to discuss the future of a Grimsby seafood firm, Young's Seafood, which was due to cut hundreds of jobs after losing a major contract to Sainsbury's.[13]

Onn is an advocate of the renewable energy industry and has worked to promote the industry in Grimsby, which Tom Bawden in a 2016 article in The Independent newspaper described as the 'renewable energy capital of England'.[14]

On 20 July 2015, she abstained from the vote on the second reading[15] of Conservative government's Welfare Reform and Work Bill, which restricted child benefit to the first two children in a family and lowers the benefit cap from £26,000 to £20,000 per household.[16] The bill was voted to the committee stage by 308 to 124 Members of Parliament, despite 48 Labour MPs disobeying the party line of abstention by voting against the bill.[17] At the final third reading, Onn voted against the Welfare Reform and Work Bill along with all Labour MPs.[18]

In September 2015, Onn was appointed Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Commons, working alongside Shadow Leader Chris Bryant.[19]

Onn campaigned for Britain to remain in the European Union, despite her constituency voting to leave by one of the largest margins in the country.[20][21] Following the result, she voted in the House of Commons to trigger Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union, the process by which member states may withdraw from the European Union, stating that it would be 'wrong' to attempt to block the outcome of the referendum.[22] In September 2017, she voted against the EU Withdrawal Bill, in line with the Labour party whip.[23]

She was among many shadow ministers from Labour's frontbench to resign in summer 2016 in opposition to Jeremy Corbyn's leadership.[24] She supported Owen Smith in the failed attempt to replace Corbyn in the 2016 Labour leadership election.[25]

On 7 September 2016, Onn introduced a private members' bill to protect workers' rights in British law after Brexit. The bill was scheduled for its second reading in the House of Commons on 13 January 2017, but was successfully filibustered by Conservative members of Parliament.[26][27]

On 3 July 2017, she returned to the Labour front bench in the position of Shadow Housing Minister.[28]

During a Westminster Hall debate that she led in March 2018, Onn proposed that misogyny should be treated as hate crime.[29][30]

On 27 March 2019, she resigned from the Labour front bench for a second time to vote against a second Brexit referendum.[31] Onn voted for Boris Johnson's Brexit withdrawal agreement in Autumn 2019.[32]

Onn is a campaigner to change the law to give greater protection to alleged rape victims. Following the R v Evans case, she said that "going through the victim's sexual history is much more likely to put people off reporting".[33]

She chaired the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Inflammatory Bowel Disease.[34] She is a member of Labour Friends of Israel[35] and Labour Friends of Palestine & the Middle East.

At the 2019 general election, Onn stood for re-election and was one of the many Labour MPs to be defeated. Onn lost her Grimsby seat to Conservative Lia Nici. She won 10,819 votes compared with 18,150 votes for the Conservatives.[36] Although she was expecting to lose, Onn later admitted she did not expect the margin of her loss to be so large – 7,331 votes.[1]

At the 2024 general election, Onn was elected as the first MP for the redrawn constituency of Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes, winning with 15,336 votes. She had a majority of 4,803 over the second place candidate, Oliver Freeston of Reform UK. Upon being elected, Onn said "In 2015, I was elected as the first woman to represent my hometown in Parliament. Today, I stand before you as the first MP to represent this new constituency, the best constituency in the UK, Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes. Words are not enough to express how thankful I am to everyone who voted for me."[37]

Career outside of parliament

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Onn served as deputy chief executive of RenewableUK from February 2020 to January 2023.[38][39]

Personal life

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Onn married Christopher Jenkinson, a regional secretary for the trade union, UNISON,[3][40] in 2014. She has a child.

She suffers from Crohn's disease.[41]

She is an Ambassador for the kinship care charity Mentor and a supporter of the Family Rights Group.[42]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Historic night as Grimsby elects first Tory MP in 74 years". Grimsbylive. 13 December 2019 – via www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk.
  2. ^ "Melanie Onn rebuilds Labour's red wall in Grimsby and Cleethorpes". BBC News. 5 July 2024. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  3. ^ a b "Onn, Melanie". UK Who's Who. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  4. ^ a b c Foster, Dawn (26 July 2017). "'Young people can't get the kind of help I did when I was homeless'". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  5. ^ "Election 2017: The Great Grimsby candidates looking for your vote". ITV News. 10 May 2017. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  6. ^ "Labour's General Election candidate for Grimsby Melanie Onn adjusting to taking centre stage role". Grimsby Telegraph. 20 December 2014. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  7. ^ "Melanie Onn chosen as Labour's parliamentary candidate for Great Grimsby". Grimsby Telegraph. 28 July 2014. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  8. ^ "Melanie Onn selected as Great Grimsby Labour candidate". BBC News. 27 July 2014. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  9. ^ "European elections 2009: Yorkshire & the Humber region". The Telegraph. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  10. ^ "PPC selected in key marginal seat Great Grimsby | LabourList". labourlist.org. 26 July 2014. Retrieved 10 September 2016.
  11. ^ "Melanie Onn selected as Great Grimsby Labour candidate". BBC News. 27 July 2014. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  12. ^ "Great Grimsby: Parliamentary Constituency". BBC News. 8 May 2015. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  13. ^ "Prime Minister to consider Young's support after meeting with Grimsby and Cleethorpes MPs". Grimsby Telegraph. 16 July 2015. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  14. ^ "Grimsby is being reborn as the renewable energy capital of England". The Independent. 6 February 2016. Archived from the original on 12 May 2022. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  15. ^ "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 20 July 2015 (pt 0004)". publications.parliament.uk.
  16. ^ "Welfare bill: These are the 184 Labour MPs who didn't vote against the Tories' cuts". The Independent. Archived from the original on 12 May 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  17. ^ "Welfare cuts backed amid Labour revolt". BBC News. 21 July 2015. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
  18. ^ "House of Commons Hansard Debates for 27 Oct 2015 (pt 0004)". publications.parliament.uk.
  19. ^ Chakelian, Anoosh (18 September 2015). "Jeremy Corbyn's shadow cabinet: the full list of ministers". New Statesman. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
  20. ^ "EU vote: Where the cabinet and other MPs stand". BBC News. 22 June 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  21. ^ "EU Referendum Results". BBC News. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  22. ^ "Melanie Onn: It would be 'wrong' to try to block Brexit after referendum". Grimsby Telegraph. 9 December 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  23. ^ "Grimsby MP Melanie Onn to vote against EU Withdrawal Bill as it could 'cut' workers' rights – Grimsby Live". Grimsby Telegraph. 7 September 2017. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  24. ^ "Grimsby MP Melanie Onn resigns from Shadow Cabinet post and urges Jeremy Corbyn to step down". Grimsby Telegraph. 27 June 2016. Retrieved 27 June 2016.[permanent dead link‍]
  25. ^ "Full list of MPs and MEPs backing challenger Owen Smith". LabourList. 21 July 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  26. ^ "Workers' Rights (Maintenance of EU Standards) – Hansard Online". hansard.parliament.uk. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  27. ^ "Broadcasting (Radio Multiplex Services) Bill – Hansard Online". hansard.parliament.uk. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  28. ^ "Reshuffle 2: The Maintenance of the Malcontents". New Socialist. 8 July 2017. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  29. ^ "Melanie Onn MP says misogyny hate crime call could cut Grimsby's 'excessively high rate of domestic violence' – Grimsby Live". Grimsby Telegraph. 7 March 2018. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  30. ^ Elgot, Jessica (6 March 2018). "Make catcalling a hate crime, Labour MP to urge parliament | World news". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 July 2018.
  31. ^ "Grimsby MP Melanie Onn resigns from Labour role to vote AGAINST new Brexit referendum". Grimsby Telegraph. 27 March 2019. Retrieved 28 March 2019.
  32. ^ Stewart, Heather; Walker, Peter (18 October 2019). "Labour's Melanie Onn declares intention to vote for Brexit deal". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  33. ^ "Law over rape victims could change after Ched Evans case". itv.com. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
  34. ^ "House of Commons – Register Of All-Party Parliamentary Groups as at 31 July 2019: Inflammatory Bowel Disease". publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  35. ^ "LFI Supporters in Parliament". Labour Friends of Israel. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  36. ^ "Great Grimsby parliamentary constituency – Election 2019". Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  37. ^ "Labour MP Melanie Onn names her top priorities for Grimsby and Cleethorpes". Grimsby Live. 5 July 2024. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  38. ^ Laister, David (13 February 2020). "Melanie Onn announces she has a new job". Grimsby Live. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  39. ^ "Melanie Onn to step down as RUK deputy chief executive". Renews. 27 January 2023. Retrieved 23 April 2024.
  40. ^ "Message from the regional secretary Chris Jenkinson". UNISON. 19 July 2017. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  41. ^ @OnnMel (7 September 2019). "I have Crohn's disease (no witch jokes!) & have 6wkly treatment. My friend has Type 1 diabetes. Family member takes heart drugs daily. Senior doctors (not me) explain why 'no deal' is not the way to leave the EU when it comes 2 med supplies" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  42. ^ "News & blog". mentoruk.org.uk. Retrieved 16 May 2017.
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Great Grimsby
2015–2019 		Succeeded by
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