Siôn Simon
Siôn Simon | |
|---|---|
Robin Corbett | |
| Succeeded by | Jack Dromey |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Siôn Llewelyn Simon 23 December 1968 Doncaster, West Riding of Yorkshire, England |
| Political party | Labour |
| Alma mater | Magdalen College, Oxford |
| Website | www |
Siôn Llewelyn Simon (born 23 December 1968) is a British
Simon was the
Early life
Simon was born in
After university, he was a research assistant for George Robertson MP for three years.[citation needed] He worked for two years in the Guinness management team at Diageo, then a FTSE top 20 company.[citation needed] He then freelanced at speechwriting, policy and advice. His clients included Tony Blair while in opposition, Microsoft UK, the International Duty Free Confederation and various charities and communication companies.[citation needed] He then became a journalist, working for The Daily Telegraph, the Daily Express and the News of the World. He was also an associate editor at The Spectator. His columns varied from restaurant reviews to politics.[citation needed]
In the 1992 election campaign, Simon ran the European desk for the Labour Party and then, during the 1997 election campaign, the foreign press department at Labour Party headquarters.[citation needed]
Member of Parliament
Simon was first elected in the
As a backbencher he served on the
Shortly after Gordon Brown became Prime Minister in July 2007, Simon became Vice-Chair of the Labour Party, with special responsibility to draft the "Law and Order" manifesto for the upcoming 2010 general election.[citation needed]
Following the
On 3 February 2010 he announced he would not stand for re-election to Parliament, in order to campaign for a
After leaving parliament, Simon founded the website Labour Uncut in May 2010.
Member of the European Parliament
Placed second on Labour's candidate list, Simon was elected as a Member of the European Parliament for the West Midlands in the 2014 European Parliament elections alongside Neena Gill.[7] In 2014 he joined the European Parliament Committee on Employment and Social Affairs.[8] He lost his seat at the 2019 election.[9]
During the
Mayoral candidate
In 2016, Simon was
Controversies
On 5 September 2006, he and Chris Bryant co-ordinated a letter, signed by 17 Labour backbenchers, calling for Tony Blair to resign as prime minister.[11] The MPs failed to force Blair out of office, but Blair publicly pledged to stand down within 12 months.
In October 2006, Simon created a
In 2009, it was revealed that Simon had breached parliamentary rules by renting his "second home" in London from his sister, Ceri Erskine, and paying her more than £40,000 in taxpayer-funded expenses.[17][18] Simon claimed that he had inadvertently broken the rules and agreed to repay £21,000. He apologised "unreservedly". Six weeks later Simon announced that he would resign from the government and stand down as MP for Birmingham Erdington.[19]
Personal life
Simon was the boyfriend of former Labour and Change UK MP Luciana Berger in 2009-2010. Simon suffers from the rare genetic disorder choroideremia: a condition that leads to progressive deterioration in eyesight, and in its later stage, blindness.[20] He co-founded, and works as a trustee for, the Choroideremia Research Foundation.[21] In January 2014, Simon donated a kidney to Labour MP Khalid Mahmood.[22]
Simon lives in
References
- ^ "Birmingham MP to quit Commons in bid to be first mayor". BBC News. 3 February 2010. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
- ^ a b Parveen, Nazia (5 May 2017). "Andy Street elected West Midlands mayor". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
- ^ Pickard, Jim (20 May 2010). "Is Labour about to extend the leadership nominations process?". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 10 December 2022. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
- ^ ''Newsweek' article by Simon"
- ^ Simon, Siôn (10 August 2011). "High speed future". Progressonline.org.uk. Archived from the original on 17 September 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
- ^ "Contributors". Whatnextforlabour.com. Archived from the original on 21 March 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
- ^ "West Midlands (European Parliament constituency)". BBC News. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
- ^ "Labour MEPs elected to top jobs in European Parliament". Labour in Europe. Retrieved 2 July 2017.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "The UK's European elections 2019".
- ^ @sionsimon (4 June 2016). "Great mood in Kenilworth this morning. Vote Remain" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ "Minister joins Blair exit demands". BBC News. 5 September 2006. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
- ^ Branigan, Tania (13 October 2006). "Welcome to Davecam: want to sleep with my wife?". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
- ^ "MP's YouTube Cameron spoof". BBC News. 12 October 2006. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
- ^ "Tories shrug off Cameron send-up". BBC News. 12 October 2006. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
- ^ "Sion Simon: from Leftie Lickspittle to utter Berk". YouTube. BiasedBBC. 12 October 2006. Archived from the original on 12 December 2021. Retrieved 10 August 2016.
- ^ "Labour MPs 'sorry' for Tory spoof". BBC News. 13 October 2006. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
- ^ Swaine, Jon (18 December 2009). "Sion Simon: Minister in secret £40,000 payment to sister". The Telegraph. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
- ^ "Minister Sion Simon to repay second home expenses". BBC News. 17 December 2009. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
- ^ "Birmingham MP Sion Simon to stand down". Birmingham Mail. 3 February 2010. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
- ^ "Sion Simon". BBC News. 21 October 2002. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
- ^ Simon profile at Choroideremia Research Foundation website Archived 4 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "MEP's kidney donation to MP revealed". BBC News. 11 October 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
- ^ "Biography". Sion-simon.org.uk. Retrieved 10 August 2016.