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Julie Minns

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Julie Minns
MP
Official portrait, 2024
Member of Parliament
for Carlisle
Incumbent
Assumed office
4 July 2024
Preceded byJohn Stevenson
Majority5,200 (11.3%)
Member of Lambeth London Borough Council for Thornton
In office
7 May 1998 – 2 May 2002
Personal details
Born (1968-12-11) 11 December 1968 (age 56)
Carlisle, Cumbria, England
Political partyLabour

Julie Minns (born 11 December 1968)[1][2] is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Carlisle since 2024. A member of the Labour Party, Minns is the first female MP to represent the constituency.

Early life

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Family

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Minns's father, who died in 2007, was a painter and decorator whilst her mother, Freda, is a former home-help.[3] Minns is a distant cousin of Ernest Lowthian, who was the first Labour politician to stand for election to the UK parliament in the Carlisle constituency, and her great grandfather John Hodgson-Minns, was a Conservative councillor and alderman of the city[4]

Childhood and education

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Minns was born in Carlisle.[5] She grew up in the Denton Holme area of the city and attended Trinity School, Carlisle.[6] She had a part-time job at a bakery and was the first member of her family to go to university.[3]

Career

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Minns was elected as a Councillor onto Lambeth Council in 1998, in the Thornton ward and held the transport portfolio whilst serving on the council.[7][8] She stepped down in 2002 to bring up her daughter as a single parent.[3]

From 2005 to 2008, Minns was a director of Living Streets (UK).[1]

Before entering Parliament, Minns worked as a freelance communications consultant.[9] Prior to this, she worked as head of customer engagement at UK Power Networks, as a parliamentary adviser for the NSPCC and as a parliamentary officer for the disability rights charity Scope.[9] Minns also worked on John Smith's Labour leadership campaign, and as a parliamentary adviser to former Streatham Labour MP Keith Hill.[9]

Minns held a part-time consultancy role at public relations, reputation management, and marketing company Bell Pottinger in 2014.[9] She then was an LLP member at the company from January 2015 to August 2016.[1] The company went out of business in 2017 following a scandal related to the Gupta Family, who had an account with the company from January 2016.[10][11] In 2023 Private Eye magazine claimed that Minns had attempted to conceal her employment by the company in her online profile. Minns responded by correcting her profile and confirming that she had left the company over a year before its closure.[10]

Minns was Chair of the Friends of Carlisle Victorian and Turkish Baths community group, which aimed to restore and reopen the baths.[12][13]

Parliamentary career (2024–present)

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Minns was selected as the Labour Party candidate for the Carlisle constituency in February 2023, through a local selection process.[14][15] She was elected to Parliament in the 2024 UK general election with a majority of 5,200 votes[16][17] and is the constituency's first female MP.[18]

On 16 July 2024, Minns requested a meeting with water regulator Ofwat after it was revealed that the regulator was expanding its investigation into how companies manage sewer treatment, and subsequently welcomed the probe into United Utilities; stating that the Labour government would not tolerate "sewage being pumped into our rivers, lakes and seas ".[19]

On 23 July, Minns voted against the SNP amendment to the King's speech to scrap the two-child benefit cap.[20]

In July 2024, Minns joined the Labour Growth Group and was amongst the original 54 MPs who wrote a letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer asking him to deliver on the party's manifesto commitment to build 1.5 million homes by the end of the current parliament.[21][22]

Following the government announcement that the Winter Fuel Allowance was to be removed from pensioners not in receipt of Pension Credit, the issue was discussed and voted on by MPs on the 10th of September 2024 with Minns voting in favour of the government position to remove the payment.[23]

In November 2024, Minns was appointed a Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Department for Transport (DfT).

Personal life

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Minns has a daughter, who is a student nurse.[3]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Julie Minns: Personal Appointments". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. Company House. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  2. ^ "Labour shadow minister visits Carlisle". cumbriacrack.com. 27 June 2024. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d "Julie Minns Labour MP for Carlisle MY STORY". Julie Minns | Your Local Labour MP for Carlisle. Archived from the original on 14 April 2024. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  4. ^ Cavanagh, Gareth (24 October 2022). "Turkish Baths campaigner hopes to contest Carlisle Parliamentary seat for Labour". News and Star. Archived from the original on 9 December 2023. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  5. ^ Rawlinson, Ollie (20 February 2023). "Labour selects Carlisle candidate for next general election". News and Star. Archived from the original on 9 December 2023. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  6. ^ "Introducing your Carlisle candidates for the 2024 General Election". Cumbria Crack. 6 July 2024. Archived from the original on 25 June 2024. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  7. ^ "Labour retakes Lambeth". News Shopper. 16 May 1998. Archived from the original on 10 July 2024. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  8. ^ Minors, Michael; Grenham, Dennis (1998). "London Borough Council Elections: 7 May 1998" (PDF). London Datastore. London Research Centre. p. 121. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 February 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  9. ^ a b c d Neame, Kate (20 February 2023). "Three more Labour parliamentary candidates selected over the weekend". Labourlist. Archived from the original on 22 February 2023. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
  10. ^ a b McTaggart, Paul (21 September 2023). "Labour candidate's criticism over 'concealed' role at Bell Pottinger". News and Star. Archived from the original on 10 June 2024. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  11. ^ "How Bell Pottinger, P.R. Firm for Despots and Rogues, Met Its End in South Africa". New York Times. Retrieved 10 September 2024.
  12. ^ McTaggart, Paul (21 April 2023). "Campaign to save Carlisle's Turkish Baths marks second anniversary". News and Star. Archived from the original on 6 July 2024. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  13. ^ "Carlisle's Turkish baths shut after 113 years due to costs". BBC News. 14 November 2022. Archived from the original on 24 March 2023. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  14. ^ Cooper, Issac (18 January 2023). "Labour begin process to find next Carlisle parliamentary candidate". News and Star. Archived from the original on 19 January 2023. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  15. ^ "Labour Party selects Julie Minns as Carlisle candidate for next general election". ITV News. 20 February 2023. Archived from the original on 19 March 2023. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  16. ^ "Carlisle results". BBC News. Archived from the original on 5 July 2024. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  17. ^ "Carlisle". Sky News. Archived from the original on 5 July 2024. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  18. ^ Henrys, Rebecca (5 July 2024). "Labour's Julie Minns takes Carlisle win in General Election". News and Star. Archived from the original on 5 July 2024. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  19. ^ "MP welcomes probe into water companies over environmental concerns". News and Star. 2024-07-17. Retrieved 2024-07-30.
  20. ^ "King's Speech (Motion for an Address): Amendment (d)". votes.parliament.uk. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  21. ^ Green, Daniel (30 July 2024). "Labour Growth Group: What is it and who are the 54 MPs who have joined?". LabourList. Archived from the original on 10 August 2024. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  22. ^ "Two Cumbrian MPs sign letter from Labour Growth Group for more house building". News and Star. 29 July 2024. Archived from the original on 5 August 2024. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
  23. ^ "Mapped: How did my MP vote in the winter fuel allowance motion?". Independent.co.uk. 11 September 2024.
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