Antonia Louise Antoniazzi (born 5 October 1971) is a Welsh Labour Party politician. She was elected as the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

(MP) for Gower at the

2017 general election This national electoral calendar for 2017 lists the national/federal elections held in 2017 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 November ...

Early life

Antoniazzi was born and raised in

Llanelli Llanelli ("St Elli's llan (placename element), Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of ...

by a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

mother and a Welsh–Italian father. She attended

St John Lloyd Catholic Comprehensive School St. John Lloyd Catholic Comprehensive School is located in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, Wales. It is a mixed, community comprehensive school of around 500 pupils, catering for all abilities across an age range of 11 to 16 years. It is dedicated t ...

and

Gorseinon College Coleg Gorseinon College was a further education college situated to the west of Swansea, in the suburb of Upper Loughor in Gorseinon. It was frequently ranked as one of the best sixth-form colleges in Wales and the United Kingdom. Recently the co ...

. After studying French and Italian at

Exeter University , mottoeng = "We Follow the Light" , established = 1838 - St Luke's College1855 - Exeter School of Art1863 - Exeter School of Science 1955 - University of Exeter (received royal charter) , type = Public ...

, she gained a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) from

Cardiff University , latin_name = , image_name = Shield of the University of Cardiff.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University , motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord , mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord , established = 1 ...

. She has been head of languages at Bryngwyn Comprehensive School in Llanelli. She won nine caps as a prop forward for the

Wales women's national rugby union team The Wales women's national rugby union team first played in 1987. Wales plays in the Women's Rugby World Cup and the Women's Six Nations Championship History Wales Women have played as a team officially since 5 April 1987 when a Wales Women te ...

Parliamentary career

Antoniazzi contested the regional seat of Mid and West Wales in the 2016 National Assembly for Wales election. She then stood for parliament at the

for the Gower constituency, which was held at the time by the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

's Byron Davies with a 27-vote majority, making it the UK's most marginal seat. She was successful, turning the seat Labour by gaining a 3,269 majority. On her election, she stated that she intended to be a strong constituency MP, and that "Gower is and always will be my first priority". Antoniazzi delivered her maiden speech on 29 June 2017. In her speech she outlined how Italian immigration had shaped

cafe culture Coffee culture is the set of traditions and social behaviors that surround the consumption of coffee, particularly as a social lubricant. The term also refers to the cultural diffusion and adoption of coffee as a widely consumed stimulant. In the l ...

in Wales and the UK. Antoniazzi is Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on Medical Cannabis under Prescription and on Cancer. In June 2019, Antoniazzi urged ministers to allow the use of

medical cannabis Medical cannabis, or medical marijuana (MMJ), is cannabis and cannabinoids that are prescribed by physicians for their patients. The use of cannabis as medicine has not been rigorously tested due to production and governmental restriction ...

by "all who need it", citing the case of 12-year-old Billy Caldwell whose

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrical ...

was alleviated through use of the drug. Also in June 2019, Antoniazzi securing a debate in parliament about the health risks of

electromagnetic field An electromagnetic field (also EM field or EMF) is a classical (i.e. non-quantum) field produced by (stationary or moving) electric charges. It is the field described by classical electrodynamics (a classical field theory) and is the classica ...

s, particularly 5G technology, in which she asked the government to commit to ensuring that

Public Health England Public Health England (PHE) was an executive agency of the Department of Health and Social Care in England which began operating on 1 April 2013 to protect and improve health and wellbeing and reduce health inequalities. Its formation came as a ...

informed the public that all radio frequency signals are a possible

human carcinogen A carcinogen is any substance, radionuclide, or radiation that promotes carcinogenesis (the formation of cancer). This may be due to the ability to damage the genome or to the disruption of cellular metabolic processes. Several radioactive substan ...

. She was subsequently accused in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'' of spreading "

junk science The expression junk science is used to describe scientific data, research, or analysis considered by the person using the phrase to be spurious or fraudulent. The concept is often invoked in political and legal contexts where facts and scientif ...

". In the 2019 General Election, Antoniazzi was returned as the MP for Gower with a smaller majority. In the subsequent Labour leadership election, Antoniazzi nominated Jess Phillips.

Brexit

Antoniazzi has served as the

Parliamentary Private Secretary A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...

to the Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (2017–2018) and the Shadow Secretary of State for Wales (2018) before resigning. On 13 June 2018, Antoniazzi and five other Labour MPs resigned their roles as frontbenchers for the Labour Party in protest at Labour's

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAE ...

position. Leader

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the pol ...

had instructed his MPs to abstain in a vote which Britain would remain in the single market by joining the

European Economic Area The European Economic Area (EEA) was established via the ''Agreement on the European Economic Area'', an international agreement which enables the extension of the European Union's single market to member states of the European Free Trade Ass ...

(EEA). The MPs resigned and voted in favour of the EEA. In the series of Parliamentary votes on Brexit in March 2019, Antoniazzi voted against the Labour Party whip and in favour of an amendment tabled by members of The Independent Group for a second public vote.

LGBT+ rights

In October 2021, Antoniazzi criticised the LGBT charity

Stonewall Stonewall or Stone wall may refer to: * Stone wall, a kind of masonry construction * Stonewalling, engaging in uncooperative or delaying tactics * Stonewall riots, a 1969 turning point for the modern LGBTQ rights movement in Greenwich Village, Ne ...

, stating the Welsh government had promoted an "ideological culture" and were "dictated to by Stonewall". Antoniazzi has met with Fair Play for Women, Woman's Place UK and

Transgender Trend Transgender Trend is an anti-trans British pressure group, which describes itself as a group of parents, professionals and academics who are concerned about the number of children diagnosed with gender dysphoria. It was founded in 2015 by Step ...

. In January 2022, Antoniazzi and four other Labour delegates to the

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is the parliamentary arm of the Council of Europe, a 46-nation international organisation dedicated to upholding human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Assembly is made up ...

tabled ten amendments to Resolution 2417, "Combating rising hate against LGBTI people in Europe". The amendments sought to include the word "sex" alongside gender identity, de-conflate the situation in the UK from Hungary, Poland, Russia and Turkey, and remove references to alleged anti-LGBTI movements in the UK. The delegates were criticised by ''

Pink News ''PinkNews'' is a UK-based online newspaper marketed to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community (LGBT) in the UK and worldwide. It was founded by Benjamin Cohen in 2005. It closely follows political progress on LGBT rights ar ...

'' for removing references to anti-LGBTI attacks in the UK, a condemnation of anti-trans movements and a call to withdraw funding from anti-LGBTI groups or authorities; in turn the delegates were defended by Debbie Hayton, a

gender-critical Feminist views on transgender topics vary widely. Third-wave feminists and fourth-wave feminists tend to view the struggle for trans rights as an integral part of intersectional feminism. Former president of the American National Organization f ...

activist, for protesting the removal of sex-essentialist language she considered important for non-trans women.

Personal life

Antoniazzi has a son.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Antoniazzi, Tonia 1971 births Living people 21st-century British women politicians Alumni of Cardiff University Alumni of the University of Exeter British politicians of Italian descent Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Welsh constituencies People educated at Gorseinon College People educated at St John Lloyd Catholic Comprehensive School People from Llanelli Rugby union players from Llanelli UK MPs 2017–2019 UK MPs 2019–present Wales international rugby union players Welsh female rugby union players Welsh Labour Party MPs Welsh people of Italian descent Welsh rugby union players