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Maureen Burke

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Maureen Burke
MP
Official portrait, 2024
Member of Parliament
for Glasgow North East
Incumbent
Assumed office
4 July 2024
Preceded byAnne McLaughlin
Majority4,637 (13.6%)
Glasgow City Council Councillor
for North East
In office
3 May 2012 – 2 September 2024
Personal details
Political partyLabour
Alma materJohn Wheatley College

Maureen Burke (born September 1958) is a British Labour Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Glasgow North East since 2024.[1]

She was a Glasgow City Councillor, until her resignation on 2 September 2024. [2]

Political career

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Since the 2012 Glasgow City Council election, she represented the North East ward on Glasgow City Council as a Councillor,[3] and was the chair of the Glasgow City Council Operational Performance and Delivery Scrutiny Committee, until her resignation in September 2024.[4]

She was a remunerated director of Glasgow East Women's Aid[5] before its liquidation in March 2024.[6]

At the 2024 United Kingdom general election, she was elected as the Labour Member of Parliament for Glasgow North East with a majority of 4,637 votes over the SNP incumbent, Anne McLaughlin.[7]

Pre-Political Career

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Burke worked as a factory operative at A. & J. Gelfer Ltd, a tie manufacturing factory in Bridgeton, Glasgow from the age of 15,[8] before moving into administrative support for the company, which went into liquidation in December 2000.[9] She then studied an IT course at John Wheatley College, aged 40 before working as a parliamentary assistant for former Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Glasgow Baillieston and MP for Glasgow East, Margaret Curran until the 2015 general election.

Personal life

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Burke lives in the Easterhouse area of Glasgow with her husband. She has one daughter and two granddaughters.

Parliamentary Career

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One of her first votes in parliament, on 23 July 2024, was a vote against ending the Two-Child Limit to benefit payments.[10]

Burke made her Maiden Speech in the House of Commons on 15 October 2024, on the "House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill"

Controversies

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Evidence to embezzlement trial

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In 2018, as a sitting Councillor, Burke gave evidence at Glasgow Sheriff Court in the trial of an ex-Labour councillor colleague, Yvonne Kucuk, for whom Burke worked as a personal assistant.[11] The case examined the embezzlement of £8690 from local charity the 'People's Development Trust' – in 2016 Burke was in possession of a bag with £2000 in cash, a 'burner' phone and some paperwork given by Kucuk and was asked to return it to the trust; she had handed the bag over to the then, trust manager Michael Kennedy, who proceeded to count the money in front of Burke.[12]

Cruising during council budget setting

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In February 2024, Burke, then a Glasgow City Councillor missed a sitting of Full Council, where the City's £3 billion budget for 2024/27 was debated and set. This was as a result of Councillor Burke being on a luxury cruise. Although there was an option to call in remotely Councillor Burke refused to do this while away. [13] Burke, alongside all other Glasgow Labour Councillors missed the 2023 budget setting meeting, due to the Labour Group 'boycotting' the session.

References

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  1. ^ "Election 2024 > Glasgow North East results". BBC News. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  2. ^ https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/glasgow-news/glasgow-elections-held-two-labour-29853716
  3. ^ https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/article/1701/Councillor-Maureen-Burke
  4. ^ https://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/glasgow-news/glasgow-elections-held-two-labour-29853716
  5. ^ "Register of Interests: Maureen Burke". Glasgow City Council. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  6. ^ "Women's Aid staff given 'no notice' before closure amid bullying allegations". STV News. 8 March 2024.
  7. ^ "Election 2024 > Glasgow North East results". BBC News. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  8. ^ Hilley, Sarah (14 May 2021). "Glasgow Election 2022: North East candidates push for more police and more funding". glasgowlive.co.uk. Retrieved 6 July 2024.
  9. ^ "Dora Street Bridgeton".
  10. ^ "King's Speech (Motion for an Address): Amendment (d) - Commons' votes in Parliament - UK Parliament".
  11. ^ Former councillor accused of embezzling £8k from trust, Glasgow Times, 13 October 2018
  12. ^ Ex-Glasgow councillor 'handed over bag containing £2,000', BBC News, 12 October 2018
  13. ^ https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/24123423.scottish-labour-candidate-maureen-burke-fire-cruise-clash/
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