View source for Bill Olner

{{Short description|British politician (1942–2020)}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2025}}
{{more citations needed|date = May 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image            = Bill Olner MP.jpg
| caption          = Olner as an MP
| parliament       = United Kingdom
| constituency_MP  = Nuneaton
| majority         = 
| predecessor      = [[Lewis Stevens]]
| successor        = [[Marcus Jones (politician)|Marcus Jones]]
| term_start       = 9 April 1992
| term_end         = 12 April 2010
| birth_name       = William John Olner
| birth_date       = {{Birth date|df=yes|1942|05|9}}
| birth_place      = [[Atherstone]], Warwickshire, England
| death_date       = {{death date and age|df=yes|2020|5|18|1942|5|9}}
| death_place      = [[Nuneaton]], Warwickshire, England
| death_cause      = <!-- should only be included when the cause of death has significance for the subject's notability -->
| party            = [[Labour and Co-operative]]
| spouse           = Gill<ref name=coventrytelegraph/>
| education        = [[Nuneaton Technical College]]
| occupation       = {{hlist|[[Councillor]]|engineer|politician}}
}}

'''William John Olner''' (9 May 1942 – 18 May 2020) was a British [[Labour Co-operative]] politician who served as [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for [[Nuneaton (UK Parliament constituency)|Nuneaton]] from [[1992 United Kingdom general election|1992]] until [[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010]]. Previously, he led [[Nuneaton Borough Council]] (which later merged with Bedworth to form [[Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council]]).

==Education and early life==
{{Unreferenced section|date=May 2021}}
Olner was educated at [[Nuneaton Technical College]] and trained as an engineer. He became a [[shop steward]], and later [[area secretary]] for the [[AEEU]] (now [[Unite trade union]]).

==Political career==
Olner was a [[councillor]] for the Labour group on Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council for 21 years and was the council leader from 1982 to 1987. In 1987 he became Mayor of Nuneaton and Bedworth, serving a 1-year term.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nuneatonandbedworth.gov.uk/mayor/mayor-civic-office/5|title=The Mayor and Civic Office|first=Maria|last=Meede|website=Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council|accessdate=2 July 2025}}</ref>

Olner was first elected to the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] in 1992 as the Member of Parliament for Nuneaton. He was re-elected in the [[1997 United Kingdom general election|1997 general election]] (majority 13,540), [[2001 United Kingdom general election|2001 general election]] (majority 7,535) and [[2005 United Kingdom general election|2005 general election]] (majority 2,280).

He most frequently asked questions about: [[Mercury (element)|mercury]], the [[European Union]] (public information), [[funerals]], [[satellite dish]]es, and [[sector skills council|skills council]]s. He most frequently asked questions to, and received answers to questions from, the [[Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs]], the [[Foreign and Commonwealth Office]], the [[Office of the Deputy Prime Minister]], the [[Department of Health (United Kingdom)|Department of Health]], and the [[Department for Work and Pensions]].<ref name=TheyWorkForYou>{{cite web |title=Bill Olner MP, Nuneaton |url=http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/bill_olner/nuneaton |website=[[TheyWorkForYou]] |accessdate=11 November 2006 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060702001228/http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/bill_olner/nuneaton |archivedate=2 July 2006}}</ref>

Olner declared his retirement as MP for Nuneaton on 25 March 2007; he served until the [[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010 general election]], where Labour's new candidate, Jayne Innes, was defeated by Conservative Marcus Jones.

==Return to local politics==
{{More citations needed section|date=May 2021}}
Olner decided three years after leaving Parliament to stand in the 2013 Warwickshire County Council Elections for the Arbury and Stockingford constituency in Nuneaton. Olner won the seat with 2092 votes, keeping him in office until May 2017.<ref>{{cite web |last=Harrison |first=Claire |date=3 May 2013 |url=http://www.nuneaton-news.co.uk/News/Warwickshire-County-Council-Election-Results-20130503095028.htm |title=County Council Election Results &ndash; Nuneaton and Bedworth |work=[[Nuneaton News]] |accessdate=27 May 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130507015348/http://www.nuneaton-news.co.uk/News/Warwickshire-County-Council-Election-Results-20130503095028.htm |archivedate=7 May 2013 |url-status=dead  }}</ref>

Following County Council boundary changes, Olner decided to stand in the new Nuneaton Abbey County Division in May 2017 and won the seat until his death in 2020. The division is currently the safest Labour seat in Warwickshire.

==Personal life==
Olner lived with his wife Gill, who has been a school governor in the past.{{citation needed|date=May 2021}}

Olner died from complications of [[COVID-19]], amid the [[COVID-19 pandemic in England|pandemic in England]], at [[George Eliot Hospital]] in Nuneaton on 18 May 2020, at age 78.<ref name=coventrytelegraph>{{cite news|url = https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/local-news/tragic-death-former-nuneaton-mp-18272462|title = Tragic death of former Nuneaton MP|work = [[Coventry Telegraph]]|date = 18 May 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200519042757/https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/local-news/tragic-death-former-nuneaton-mp-18272462|archive-date = 19 May 2020|url-status = live|last = Harrison|first = Claire}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Hansard-contribs | mr-bill-olner | Bill Olner }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20010517121703/http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-3981,00.html Guardian Unlimited Politics – Ask Aristotle: Bill Olner MP]
* [https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/bill_olner/nuneaton TheyWorkForYou.com – Bill Olner MP]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20061215162530/http://www.labour.org.uk/maps/locinfo.phtml?ctid=2533 The Labour Party in your area – Nuneaton]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080627161926/http://www.jayne4nuneaton.org.uk/ Labour in Nuneaton]

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{{succession box
  | title  = Member of Parliament for [[Nuneaton (UK Parliament constituency)|Nuneaton]] 
  | years = [[1992 United Kingdom general election|1992]]–[[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010]]
  | before = [[Lewis Stevens]] 
  | after = [[Marcus Jones (politician)|Marcus Jones]]
}}
{{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olner, Bill}}
[[Category:1942 births]]
[[Category:2020 deaths]]
[[Category:Councillors in Warwickshire]]
[[Category:English trade unionists]]
[[Category:Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]]
[[Category:People from Atherstone]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1992–1997]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1997–2001]]
[[Category:UK MPs 2001–2005]]
[[Category:UK MPs 2005–2010]]
[[Category:Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in England]]