Julie Elliott

A Labour party member since 1984, Julie Elliott began as a regional organiser, joining the National Asthma Campaign in 1998 and the GMB union in 1999. Her work during this period involved working to ban smoking in public places and to gain compensation for victims of asbestos-related diseases. Elliott was elected as MP for Sunderland Central at the 2010 general election, joining the European Scrutiny Committee and later the Business, Regulatory Reform and Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) committees. In 2013, she became shadow minister for energy and climate change, as well as campaigning against the use of zero-hours contracts. Elliott was strongly in favour of remaining in the European Union and in 2018 called the referendum “null and void” after the electoral watchdog found the Leave campaign had spent above the legal limit. She currently serves as chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Rugby Union as well as vice-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on State Pension Inequality for Women. Elliott is active in the Commons, still serving on the DCMS and Regulatory Reform committees, the DCMS Sub-Committee on Online Harms and Disinformation and on the Panel of Chairs.