Bill Olner
William John Olner was a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Nuneaton from 1992 until 2010. Previously, he had been Leader of Nuneaton Borough Council.
Education and early career
Olner was educated at Nuneaton Technical College and trained as an engineer. He became a shop steward, and later area secretary for the AEEU.Local government
Olner was a councillor for the Labour group on Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council for 21 years, and was the council leader from 1982–87. In 1987 he became Mayor of Nuneaton and Bedworth, serving a 1-year term.House of Commons
Olner was first elected to the House of Commons in 1992, as the Member of Parliament for Nuneaton. He was re-elected in the 1997 general election, 2001 general election and 2005 general election.Committees
From 2005–2009 he was a member of the Communities and Local Government Committee and was a member of the Chairmen's Panel Committee. From 1997 he was Chairman of the Associate Parliamentary Engineering Group, a group that seeks to promote the contribution of engineering.Previously he was a member of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee and of the Select Committee on Environment, Transport and the Regions and chairman of the Transport, Telematics and Cable and satellite Parliamentary Group.
Performance; attendance and questions
Olner was very loyal to the Labour Party during his time in Parliament, although he did not often speak on radio, TV or in the House of Commons he did have a good attendance record. His voting record from 2001–2010 was:- Moderately against introducing a smoking ban;
- Very strongly for introducing ID cards;
- Moderately for introducing foundation hospitals;
- Quite strongly for introducing student top-up fees;
- Very strongly for Labour's anti-terrorism laws;
- Very strongly for the Iraq War;
- Very strongly for investigating the Iraq war;
- Very strongly for the fox hunting ban;
- Moderately for equal gay rights.
Register of Members' Interests
Overseas visits
- Between 7 and 9 October 2005 Olner attended the launch event for Cryosat, UK science-led climate change satellite, ESRIN, in Rome, Italy. His accommodation was provided by the European Space Agency and travel by EADS Astrium Ltd.
- Between 15 and 18 June 2005 Olner visited Paris, France to attend the European Interparliamentary Space Conference. Travel and accommodation costs provided by the UK Industrial Space Committee.
- Between 27 September to 4 October 2005 he visited Hong Kong for meetings with senior representatives of both the public and private sector to be informed of the current economic and political aspects of Hong Kong. Flights and hotel accommodation provided by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government.
- Between 20 and 26 September 2004 he visited Western Canada with the All-Party Parliamentary Rail Group, organised by the Rail Freight Group. The Rail Freight Group provided travel and accommodation including travel within Canada.
- Between 25 and 27 June 2003 he visited Finland under the auspices of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Nuclear Energy. Travel and accommodation paid for by BNFL and Nirex Ltd.
- Between 16 May and 18 May 2003 Olner, together with his wife, attended the National Association of Funeral Directors' 2003 Annual Conference at the Ramside Hall Hotel and Golf Club, Carville, Durham, at their expense.
- Between 3 and 6 September 2002 he visited Germany with the All-Party Parliamentary Rail Group. The Rail Freight Group provided travel, accommodation and hospitality.
- Between 10 and 11 June 2002 he visited Betzdorf, Luxembourg, with All-Party Cable, Satellite and Digital Group study trip to view technology. Travel and accommodation provided by Astra Marketing Ltd.
- Between 19 and 20 June 2001 he visited Paris Air Show with the Parliamentary Space Committee. Travel and accommodation provided by the UK Industrial Space Committee and hospitality by the European Space Agency and EUTELSAT.
- Between 10 and 13 September 2001 he visited Southern France and Spain, costs met by the Rail Freight Group, French Railways, Transfesa and the Port of Barcelona.
- Between 20 and 31 March 2000 he visited the People's Republic of China and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Flights paid for by All-Party Britain China Parliamentary Group, costs in China paid for by People's Republic of China, costs in Hong Kong paid for by Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.
- Between 12 and 15 September 2000 he visited Brussels, Antwerp and Rotterdam. Visit arranged and funded by the Rail Freight Group to provide information and experience of rail freight connections to the ports and to meet officials and parliamentarians in Brussels to discuss these matters.
- Between 11 and 12 February 1999 he visited Turin and Milan as part of a West Coast Main Line All Party Group delegation to receive briefing on high speed train technology and to travel on the 'pendolino', as a guest of Fiat UK Ltd.
- Between 28 and 30 April 1999 he visited Paris, with Parliamentary Space Committee delegation to attend Inter-parliamentary Space Committees Conference in the Assemblée Nationale. Travel and accommodation provided by the Parliamentary Space Committee and the UK Industrial Space Committee. Other hospitality organised by the French Parliamentary Space Committee.
- On 17 June 1999 he visited Paris, for study trip to headquarters of Eutelsat, to learn about technological developments in satellite transmission and operations, including digital technology. Visit jointly sponsored by Parliamentary Cable and Satellite Group and Eutelsat; all transport provided by Eutelsat.
- Between 6 and 9 September 1999 he visited Switzerland and Northern Italy with All Party Parliamentary Rail Freight Group, to study rail freight services across the Alps and to the United Kingdom. Accommodation and travel costs were met by the Rail Freight Group.
Parliamentary expenses
| Type | 2005/06 | 2004/05 | 2003/04 | 2002/03 | 2001/02 |
| Additional Costs Allowance | £19,746 | £19,783 | £18,505 | £17,496 | £15,450 |
| Incidental Expenses Provision | £16,194 | £13,452 | £12,157 | £14,834 | £10,912 |
| Staffing Allowance | £72,581 | £69,589 | £64,598 | £59,086 | £37,413 |
| Members' Travel | £7,851 | £8,492 | £7,842 | £9,133 | £6,665 |
| Members' Staff Travel | £942 | £960 | £576 | £856 | £945 |
| Centrally Purchased Stationery | £466 | £188 | £656 | £572 | £713 |
| Stationery: Associated Postage Costs | £1,233 | £263 | £2,201 | N/A | N/A |
| Centrally Provided Computer Equipment | £0 | £1,883 | £1,883 | £1,883 | £1,883 |
| Other Costs | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 | £0 |
| Expenses Total | £119,013 | £114,610 | £108,418 | £103,860 | £73,981 |
Offices
As in common with most members of parliament, Olner maintained two offices: one at the House of Commons, the other in his constituency. His constituency office was in Queens Road, Nuneaton.Labour Party and trade union
Olner was a member of the AEEU and the Co-operative Party. He was Vice-Chair of the Parliamentary Labour Party Employment Committee from 1992 until 1997.Announcement of retirement as MP
Olner declared his retirement as MP for Nuneaton on 25 March 2007, he served until the 2010 General Election where Labour's new candidate, Jayne Innes, was defeated by Conservative Marcus Jones.Return to local politics
Olner decided 3 years after leaving parliament to stand in the 2013 Warwickshire County Council Elections for the Arbury and Stockingford constituency in Nuneaton. Olner duly won the seat with 2092 votes, which kept him in office until May 2017.Following County Council boundary changes, Olner decided to stand in the new Nuneaton Abbey County Division in May 2017. The division is currently the safest Labour seat in Warwickshire.
Personal life and death
Olner had a pet dog and lived with his wife Jill, who in the past has been a school governor.Olner died from complications of COVID-19 at George Eliot Hospital in Nuneaton on 18 May 2020, at age 78.