Gill Furniss

Gill Furniss was elected to her seat after the death of the previous MP, Harry Harpham, who was her husband. Harpham had served nine months before dying from terminal cancer. Her career began as a library assistant and then as an administrator at the Northern General Hospital. She began her political career working in local government, being born and raised in Sheffield. In 1998, she unsuccessfully stood as the Labour candidate in the Hillsborough ward of Sheffield City Council, before being elected for the Manor ward in 1999. Furniss would later represent Southey ward before finally standing down from the council in 2016. Furniss was the unsuccessful Labour Party candidate for Sheffield Hallam in the 2001 general election, coming in third place. Soon after entering parliament, Furniss joined the Women and Equalities Committee and in October 2016 she was appointed shadow minister for postal affairs and consumer protection and in 2020, shadow minister for women and equalities. In 2020, Furniss created and became leader of the APPG for left behind neighborhoods in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Since 2020, she has been an opposition whip. Furniss describes herself as a “proud trade unionist”.