Tonia Antoniazzi

Tonia Antoniazzi has been Labour MP for Gower since 2017 and is the only current Member of Parliament with international rugby credentials. Born in Llanelli in October 1971 to a Welsh mother and an Italian father, she read French and Italian at the University of Exeter, took her PGCE at Cardiff, and was Head of Languages at Bryngwyn Comprehensive in Llanelli, a Welsh Italian linguist whose career path her languages background explains.

She won nine caps for Wales as a tighthead prop, played in the inaugural 1998 Women's Rugby World Cup, and turned out for Benetton Treviso's women's team while studying in Italy. She chairs the All Party Parliamentary Group on Rugby Union and in 2024 joined the board of the Scarlets, the professional Welsh region based in her home town.

She has shown repeated independence. In June 2018 she resigned from the frontbench over Labour's Brexit stance, voting to keep the UK in the European Economic Area, and she later called for Keir Starmer to set a departure timetable. She chairs the APPGs on Cancer and on Medical Cannabis under Prescription, the latter built on cases such as that of Billy Caldwell, aged 12, whose epilepsy was eased by cannabis, and on the gap between the 2018 legalisation and actual NHS prescribing. She has also criticised the LGBT charity Stonewall, accusing the Welsh government of promoting an "ideological culture", and has advocated for sex based rights.

She was elected unopposed as chair of the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee in September 2024 and sits on the Liaison Committee, having nominated Jess Phillips for leader in 2020. She has voted in 354 divisions with zero rebellions and was elected again in 2024 with a majority of 11,567 (24.5 per cent).