Jump to content

Samantha Cameron: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
unwiki dup link
Copyediting, plus removing unsourced material
Line 4: Line 4:
|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1971|4|18|df=yes}}
|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1971|4|18|df=yes}}
|birth_place = [[North Lincolnshire]], England
|birth_place = [[North Lincolnshire]], England
|image =
|image = [[File:Irish_Goat.jpg|270px]]
|imagesize =
|imagesize =
|caption =
|caption =

Revision as of 12:11, 15 May 2010

Samantha Cameron
Spouse of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Assumed office
11 May 2010
MonarchElizabeth II
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded bySarah Brown
Personal details
Born
Samantha Gwendoline Sheffield

(1971-04-18) 18 April 1971 (age 53)
North Lincolnshire, England
Political partyConservative
Spouse(s)David Cameron
(m.1996–present)
ChildrenIvan Reginald Ian (deceased)
Nancy Gwen
Arthur Elwen
Residence10 Downing Street
Alma materUniversity of the West of England

Samantha Gwendoline Cameron (née Sheffield, born 18 April 1971)[1] is a British business executive and wife of the Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron.[2][3][4] Until 13 May 2010 she was the creative director of Smythson of Bond Street, a stationery firm. She took on a part time consultancy role within the firm after David Cameron was elected Prime Minister.

Early life

Cameron is the eldest daughter of Sir Reginald Adrian Berkeley Sheffield, 8th Baronet[5] (a landowner and three times a descendant of King Charles II of England) and his first wife Annabel Lucy Veronica Jones. Samantha's parents divorced after five years of marriage. Her mother remarried, to William Astor, 4th Viscount Astor, a Minister in John Major's government, and is now styled as Viscountess Astor.

Samantha grew up on the 300 acre (121 hectare) estate of Normanby Hall,[6] five miles (8 km) north of Scunthorpe in North Lincolnshire. Her family also owns a large Yorkshire estate called Sutton Park. She went to the private School of St Helen and St Katharine in Abingdon, Oxfordshire[7] and then took her A levels at Marlborough College in Wiltshire. She did an art foundation at Camberwell College of Arts and then went on to study Fine Art at Bristol Polytechnic (now the University of the West of England). It was while she was a student there that she met David Cameron through her acquaintance with his sister, Clare Cameron.

Family

Samantha Sheffield and David Cameron married on 1 June 1996 in Oxfordshire. The couple have had three children: Ivan Reginald Ian (8 April 2002 Hammersmith and Fulham, London – 25 February 2009, Paddington, London); Nancy Gwen (born 19 January 2004, Westminster, London) and Arthur Elwen (born 14 February 2006, Westminster).[8] Ivan was born with a rare combination of cerebral palsy and severe epilepsy and died at the age of six at St Mary's Hospital, London.[9] They are expecting their fourth child in September 2010.[10]

Work and politics

Her work as the head of Smythson of Bond Street has recently won her a British Glamour Magazine Award for Best Accessory Designer. She has been noted as turning the company around and establishing it as a fashionable and popular brand. She also worked as a spokesperson for Shiatzy Chen.[11] On May13, 2010 she announced she was stepping down from her full time role to take on a consultancy role within Smythson's for two days a week. She said that choice was hers alone and had been made after she discovered she was pregnant again and after what she described as an "understandably difficult year." The decision was also in part attributed to the death of her first child Ivan the previous year.[12]

During March 2010, the Daily Mail reported that Samantha Cameron may have voted for Tony Blair's Labour party, and that she may vote for Gordon Brown in the general election to be held in 2010, following comments made by Shadow Arts Minister, Ed Vaizey to Andrew Rawnsley during the making of a documentary for Channel 4.[13] However, a Conservative spokesman issued a statement to blogger Iain Dale, stating that "The Mail on Sunday story is not true. Sam has never voted Labour and never will. She took five weeks off work to campaign for the Tories in Stafford in the 97 election".[14] Samantha Cameron then issued her own statement "I did not vote for Tony Blair in 1997 and I have never voted Labour".[15]

Cameron is credited with coining the phrase "There is such a thing as society, it's just not the same thing as the state",[15] which has been said several times by David Cameron, including in his victory speech following his victory in the Conservative party leadership election in 2005.[16] This is a reference to Margaret Thatcher's often misquoted phrase "There is no such thing as society".[17]

She was once described by her husband in an interview as "very unconventional. She went to a day school."[18]

Ancestry

Cameron's maternal great-grandparents were Sir Roderick Jones (a Chairman of Reuters) and the novelist Enid Bagnold. Both her mother and maternal grandmother, Pandora Clifford, married a member of the Astor family (Pandora was the second wife of Michael Astor). Her stepfather is William Astor, 4th Viscount Astor. Her grandfather, Sir William Mount, was MP for South Berkshire, which he inherited from his father, also William Mount. Her cousin is Sir Ferdinand Mount who was head of Margaret Thatcher's policy unit in the 1980s.

Family of Samantha Cameron
16. Sir Robert Sheffield, 5th Bt.
8. Sir Berkeley Digby George Sheffield, 6th Bt.
17. Priscilla Isabel Laura Dumaresq
4. Sir Edmund Charles Reginald Sheffield, 7th Bt.
18.
9. Julia Mary de Tuyll
19.
2. Sir Reginald Adrian Berkeley Sheffield, 8th Bt
20.
10. Edward Roland Soames
21.
5. Nancie Miriel Denise Soames
22.
11. Eleanor Corisande Astley
23.
1. Samantha Gwendoline Sheffield
24.
12. Sir Roderick Jones
25.
6. Timothy Angus Jones
26. Colonel Arthur Henry Bagnold
13. Enid Bagnold
27.
3. Annabel Lucy Veronica Jones
28. William Hugh Clifford, 10th Baron Clifford of Chudleigh
14. Hon. Sir Bede Edmund Hugh Clifford
29. Catherine Mary Bassett
7. Patricia David "Pandora" Clifford.
30.
15. Alice Devin Gundry
31.

References

  1. ^ McDougall, Linda (26 September 2008). "Tory party conference: Is Samantha Cameron ready for the spotlight?". Telegraph. Retrieved 16 April 2010.
  2. ^ Odone, Cristina (22 March 2010). "Samantha Cameron pregnant: with Sam Cam expecting a baby in September, the Tories are unbeatable". Telegraph Blogs. Retrieved 16 April 2010.
  3. ^ Reporter, Staff (22 March 2010). "Samantha Cameron is pregnant". The Sun. Retrieved 16 April 2010.
  4. ^ "Sam Cam tells how she fell for 'Dave the politician'". Telegraph. 13 March 2010. Retrieved 16 April 2010.
  5. ^ When David Cameron was 'the new whizz kid of politics' BBC News - Newsnight, 6 October 2005
  6. ^ Gammell, Caroline (12 May 2010). "Samantha Cameron is youngest 'First Lady' for half a century". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 12 May 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ "The First Wives' Club: Miriam and Samantha wake up to a very new role in life". Daily Mail. 12 May 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2010. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ "Births England and Wales 1984-2006". Findmypast.com. Retrieved 16 April 2010.
  9. ^ "Cameron's eldest son Ivan dies". BBC News. 25 February 2009. Retrieved 25 February 2009.
  10. ^ "David Cameron's wife Samantha pregnant". BBC News. 22 March 2010.
  11. ^ Glamour Award Winners 2009 Glamour Magazine
  12. ^ "Samantha Cameron to step down from full time job". BBC News. 13 May 2010. Retrieved 13 May 2010.
  13. ^ Walters, Simon. "Mrs Cameron 'might have voted Labour': Source suggests Tory leader's wife voted for Blair... and might vote for Brown". Mail Online. Retrieved 16 April 2010.
  14. ^ "Iain Dale's Diary: SamCam Does NOT Vote Labour!". Iain Dale's Diary. 6 March 2010. Retrieved 16 April 2010.
  15. ^ a b Sparrow, Andrew. "Tories red-faced after 'Samantha for Labour' gaffe". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 April 2010.
  16. ^ "In full: Cameron victory speech". BBC News. 6 December 2005. Retrieved 16 April 2010.
  17. ^ "Interview for Woman's Own ("no such thing as society")". Margaret Thatcher Foundation. Retrieved 16 April 2010.
  18. ^ "I could never be comfortable on the left — there's just too much hate there". The Spectator.

External links

Honorary titles
Preceded by Spouse of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
2010– 		Succeeded by
Current
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Samantha_Cameron&oldid=362251802"