{{Short description|British politician}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}} {{Use British English|date=April 2017}} {{Infobox officeholder | image = Official portrait of Baroness Gill crop 2.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Official portrait, 2026 | honorific_prefix = The Right Honourable | name = The Baroness Gill | honorific_suffix = {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CBE}} | party = Labour | constituency_MP = West Midlands | parliament = European | term_start = 1 July 2014 | term_end = 31 January 2020 | predecessor = Nikki Sinclaire | successor = ''Constituency abolished'' | term_start1 = 10 June 1999 | term_end1 = 4 June 2009 | predecessor1 = ''Position established'' | successor1 = Nikki Sinclaire | office3 = Member of the House of Lords | status3 = Lord Temporal | term_label3 = Life peerage | term_start3 = 14 January 2026 | term_end3 = | birth_place = Ludhiana, Punjab, India | death_date = | death_place = | partner = | relations = | spouse = {{marriage|John Towner|1982|2009|end=div}} | children = 1 | alma_mater = {{ubl|Liverpool John Moores University|London Business School}} | signature = | website = [http://www.neenagillmep.eu www.neenagillmep.eu] | footnotes = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1956|12|24}} | birth_name = Neena Gill }}
'''Neena Gill, Baroness Gill''' {{Post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CBE}} (born 24 December 1956)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Neena GILL personal appointments - Find and update company information - GOV.UK |url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/OzQTqdcPKEi7ZB2ZTPYQKDU0d4w/appointments |access-date=2026-01-14 |website=find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk |language=en}}</ref> is a British Labour Party politician. She served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the West Midlands first from 1999 to 2009, and then from 2014 to 2020.
==Early life and career== Gill was born in Ludhiana, Punjab, India.<ref name=who/> She emigrated to the UK with her family when she was ten years old. Her father was a businessman.<ref name=politico>{{cite web|url=http://www.politico.eu/article/one-of-a-kind/|title=One of a kind|date=2 April 2003|publisher=Politico|accessdate=17 September 2019}}</ref> Gill's first job was working in a library at the age of 16.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theparliamentmagazine.eu/articles/opinion/5-questions-neena-gill|title=5 questions with... Neena Gill|publisher=The Parliament Magazine|date=3 May 2017|accessdate=17 September 2019}}</ref> She graduated with a bachelor's degree in social studies from Liverpool John Moores University in 1979.<ref name=FT/> She was vice president of the students union.<ref name=CBE/> Gill later gained a postgraduate professional qualification from the Chartered Institute of Housing in 1984 and in 1996, she completed the senior executive programme at the London Business School.<ref name=FT/>
After graduation, Gill became a trainee accountant but only worked for six weeks before leaving to become a housing officer at Ealing London Borough Council.<ref name=CBE/> Aged 29, Gill became the chief executive of ASRA Group, making her the first female, first non-white and youngest chief executive of a UK housing association.<ref name=politico/><ref name=CBE/> She then worked as the chief executive of Newlon Housing Group.<ref name=FT/>
==Political career== Prior to Labour's electoral success in 1997, Gill worked with members of Labour's shadow cabinet to help develop the party's social policy.<ref name=politico/> In 1999, she was elected as the first female Asian MEP in the European Parliament.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_politics/8259036.stm|title=Harman's office Thatcher U-turn|date=16 September 2009|publisher=BBC News|access-date=17 September 2019}}</ref> Representing the West Midlands between 1999 and 2009, Gill held various positions, including President of the Delegation for Relations with India and President of the Delegation for Relations with South Asia and SAARC countries. She was also a member of The Legal Affairs Committee and of the Budgets Committee.
Gill was unsuccessful in her bid to be re-elected for a third term as MEP in 2009.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/eu/5291344/European-elections-2009-West-Midlands-region.html|work=The Daily Telegraph|title=European elections 2009: West Midlands region|accessdate=17 September 2019|date=26 May 2009}}</ref> During her time outside of parliament, she worked as the vice president for corporate affairs (Europe and Asia Pacific) for software company SAS.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://warwick.ac.uk/about/partnerships/europe/who/eab1/gill1/|publisher=University of Warwick|title=Neena Gill, Member of European Parliament for the West Midlands (Labour)|accessdate=17 September 2019|archive-date=2 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190102160326/https://warwick.ac.uk/about/partnerships/europe/who/eab1/gill1|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wef.org.in/neena-gill/|title=Neena Gill|date=21 January 2017 |publisher=Women Economic Forum|accessdate=17 September 2019}}</ref> thumb|left|Gill in 2017 discussing Brexit and India
In 2014, she was re-elected as one of two Labour MEPs (the other being Siôn Simon) for the West Midlands.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/eu-regions/E15000005|title=West Midlands|publisher=BBC News|accessdate=17 September 2019}}</ref> During this term, she was a member of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, special committee on tax rulings, financial crimes, tax evasion and avoidance, and part of the delegation for relations with India and the United States.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/4533/NEENA_GILL/history/8#mep-card-content|title=8th parliamentary term|publisher=European Parliament|accessdate=17 September 2019}}</ref> She was particularly active on financial regulation and was the rapporteur for the 2015 European Money Market Funds (MMF) Regulation.<ref name=FT>{{cite news|title=Political animal stalks EU money funds|url=https://www.ft.com/content/0fa1f43c-6e7e-11e4-a65a-00144feabdc0 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/0fa1f43c-6e7e-11e4-a65a-00144feabdc0 |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription|work=Financial Times|date=23 November 2014|last=Johnson|first=Steve|accessdate=17 September 2019}}</ref>
In 2017, Gill was one of two UK winners (the other being Conservative MP Priti Patel) of the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman, the highest honour given to NRIs by the Indian government.<ref>{{cite web|title=Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards-2017|url=https://www.mea.gov.in/press-releases.htm?dtl/27911/Pravasi_Bharatiya_Samman_Awards2017|publisher=Ministry of External Affairs|accessdate=17 September 2019|date=9 January 2017}}</ref> In the same year, she was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/581000/new-years-honours-2017-full-list-csv.csv/preview|title=New Year's Honours 2017: CSV|date=30 December 2016|accessdate=17 September 2019|publisher=gov.uk|archive-date=16 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181016032759/https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/581000/new-years-honours-2017-full-list-csv.csv/preview|url-status=dead}}</ref> In July 2018, Gill became an honorary fellow of Liverpool John Moores University.<ref name=CBE>{{cite web|url=https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/about-us/news/articles/2018/7/13/honorary-fellow-neena-gill|publisher=Liverpool John Moores University|date=13 July 2018|accessdate=17 September 2019|title=Honorary Fellow Neena Gill CBE}}</ref>
She was re-elected in the 2019 European parliamentary election as the sole Labour MEP for the West Midlands.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-48417494|title=European election 2019: Brexit Party tops West Midlands polls|publisher=BC News|date=27 May 2019|accessdate=17 September 2019}}</ref> Gill remained a member of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. In September 2019, Gill joined the delegation for relations with Japan as Chair and the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly as Vice-Chair and S&D Co-ordinator.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/4533/NEENA_GILL/history/9#mep-card-content|title=9th parliamentary term|publisher=European Parliament|accessdate=17 September 2019}}</ref>
In 2024, she was selected as the Labour Party candidate in the Bromsgrove constituency at the 2024 general election.<ref>{{cite web |title=Labour's parliamentary candidate Neena Gill joins campaign trail in Bromsgrove |url=https://bromsgrovestandard.co.uk/news/labours-parliamentary-candidate-neena-gill-joins-campaign-trail-in-bromsgrove/ |website=Bromsgrove Standard |access-date=14 June 2024}}</ref> She came second in the contest, receiving 26.8% of the vote share.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Bromsgrove - General election results 2024 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/election/2024/uk/constituencies/E14001138 |access-date=2024-07-05 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref>
In December 2025, as part of the 2025 Political Peerages, Gill was nominated for a life peerage to sit in the House of Lords as a Labour peer; she was created as '''Baroness Gill''', of the Jewellery Quarter in the City of Birmingham and of Southall in the London Borough of Ealing on 14 January 2026.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Political Peerages December 2025 |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/political-peerages-december-2025 |access-date=2025-12-10 |website=GOV.UK |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=64968|page=846|date=20 January 2026}}</ref>
==Personal life== She married Dr. John Towner, an environmental consultant, in 1982 and they have one son. They divorced in 2009.<ref name=who>{{cite book|url=https://www.ukwhoswho.com/view/10.1093/ww/9780199540884.001.0001/ww-9780199540884-e-17141|title=Gill, Neena|publisher=UK Who's Who|doi=10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U17141 |isbn=978-0-19-954088-4 |accessdate=17 September 2019}}</ref><ref name=politico/>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category}} *[http://www.europarl.europa.eu/members/public/geoSearch/view.do?country=GB&partNumber=1&zone=West+Midlands&language=EN&id=4533 Profile at European Parliament website]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gill, Neena}} Category:1956 births Category:Living people Category:Alumni of Liverpool John Moores University Category:Alumni of London Business School Category:Labour Party (UK) life peers Category:Labour Party (UK) MEPs Category:MEPs for England 1999–2004 Category:MEPs for England 2004–2009 Category:MEPs for England 2014–2019 Category:MEPs for England 2019–2020 Category:20th-century women MEPs for England Category:21st-century women MEPs for England Category:Politicians from Ludhiana Category:Indian emigrants to England Category:Life peers created by Charles III Category:Life peeresses created by Charles III Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Category:English people of Indian descent Category:English people of Punjabi descent Category:Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Category:Recipients of Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Category:British people of Punjabi descent