biography

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Mary Theresa Glindon (born 13 January 1957, Newcastle upon Tyne) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Tyneside since 2010.

She was born Mary Theresa Mulgrove. She attended Sacred Heart Grammar School, an RC girls' direct grant grammar school in Fenham, now known as Sacred Heart Catholic High School, Newcastle upon Tyne.

Mary was selected in February 2010 as Labour candidate for the safe seat, while a Councillor for Battle Hill Ward on North Tyneside Council, after the previous MP Stephen Byers announced in November 2009 that he would not contest the next election.

At the general election in May 2010, she beat Liberal Democrat Councillor David Ord in to a distant second place to hold the seat with 50.7% of the votes, despite an 8.7% swing away from Labour. Glindon is a member of the Labour Friends of Israel and a member of the Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East.

As an MP her parliamentary voting record has included opposing the 'bedroom tax' and increasing welfare support for those unable to work due to illness or disability. She voted against raising tuition fees to £9000 and against the cut in the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) for 16- to 19-year-olds. She has voted for measures to curb climate change and for measures to raise the level of income tax for those earning over £150,000.

In 2013 she was one of 161 MPs to oppose the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013, though this was partially due to the fact the act was not 'equal' in that members of the public sector same sex couples would not be eligible for the same pension rights, which she stated during the debate. She is also a listed member of the House of Commons' All-Party Parliamentary Pro-Life Group, opposing abortion.

She was a member of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee, and the Communities and Local Government Select Committee, as of 2010 and 2013, respectively. She was Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to Mary Creagh when she was Shadow Secretary of State for Transport until 2014. Mary was re-elected on 8 May 2015, with 26,191 votes and 55.9% share of the votes cast.  Mary has been a member of the Her Majesty’s Opposition Whips Team since April 2020.

Mary married Ray Glindon, also a Councillor, in 2000, however, Ray sadly died in April 2021.