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Soubry voiced criticism in August 2013 over plans to not hold a public consultation meeting in the constituency, calling on HS2 Ltd to hold an event in Toton where the proposed East Midlands Hub is to be built.<ref>{{cite news|last=|first=|url=http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/MP-Soubry-protests-lack-local-HS2-consultation/story-19637771-detail/story.html#axzz2cnsoP3ta |title=MP Soubry protests at lack of local HS2 consultation events |work=Nottingham Post |date=9 August 2013}}</ref>
Soubry voiced criticism in August 2013 over plans to not hold a public consultation meeting in the constituency, calling on HS2 Ltd to hold an event in Toton where the proposed East Midlands Hub is to be built.<ref>{{cite news|last=|first=|url=http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk/MP-Soubry-protests-lack-local-HS2-consultation/story-19637771-detail/story.html#axzz2cnsoP3ta |title=MP Soubry protests at lack of local HS2 consultation events |work=Nottingham Post |date=9 August 2013}}</ref>

====Email expressing concern about the running of Kimberley Town Council====
In November 2014 the chair of Kimberley Town Council demanded an apology after criticism in Soubry’s August email to constituents. This warned of a meeting "amidst growing concerns about the running" of Kimberley Town Council and concern that "the council's reserves have all but been spent and councillors are consistently denied financial details". The council showed reserves of over £250k. Soubry claimed she was representing views from a meeting and not suggesting corruption.<ref>{{cite news|url= http://www.nottinghampost.com/Town-council-demands-MP-says-sorry/story-24507200-detail/story.html|title= Town council demands MP Anna Soubry says she is sorry|work=Nottingham Post|date=10 November 2014|accessdate=10 November 2014}}</ref>


===Anonymity (Arrested Persons) Private Member's Bill===
===Anonymity (Arrested Persons) Private Member's Bill===
Line 103: Line 100:
|df=dmy
|df=dmy
}}</ref> The press coverage of the arrest of the landlord of [[Joanna Yeates]] in December 2010 was criticised by both police and the [[Attorney General]] and seemed a good example of the mischief which the bill could remedy. The second reading took place in February 2011.<ref name=pmb/> MPs of all parties alluded to the Yeates murder.
}}</ref> The press coverage of the arrest of the landlord of [[Joanna Yeates]] in December 2010 was criticised by both police and the [[Attorney General]] and seemed a good example of the mischief which the bill could remedy. The second reading took place in February 2011.<ref name=pmb/> MPs of all parties alluded to the Yeates murder.
[[Mike Freer]], referring to "the landlord in Bristol", said "it was the castigation, the crawling over of that gentleman's background, the questioning of his looks, his eccentricity and his sexuality that were abhorrent and that will follow him around for ever."<ref name=mik>{{cite web|url=http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2011-02-04a.1160.0#g1162.0|publisher=theyworkforyou.com|title=Anonymity (Arrested Persons) Bill:House of Commons debates| date=4 February 2011|accessdate=10 February 2011}}</ref>
Soubry replied, "What we saw in Bristol was, in effect, a feeding frenzy and vilification. Much of the coverage was not only completely irrelevant, but there was a homophobic tone to it which I found deeply offensive. The slurs on the man were out of order."<ref name=mik/> She also said that the Contempt of Court Act 1981 which the Attorney-General hadn't been able to use to "stop the salacious and vilifying nature of the coverage of the man arrested in Bristol" could be amended.<ref name=frenz>{{cite web|url=http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debate/?id=2011-02-04a.1167.2
|publisher=theyworkforyou.com|title=Anonymity (Arrested Persons) Bill:House of Commons debates| date=4 February 2011|accessdate=10 February 2011}}</ref>

[[Robert Flello]] said that many members had alluded to "the media's dreadful treatment of her landlord". The shameful way in which that man was portrayed in the press-from "weird-looking" to "strange", and with questions raised about his sexuality, his teaching practices and even his hairstyle-should embarrass and shame our media.<ref name=rob>{{cite web|url=http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debate/?id=2011-02-04a.1190.2|publisher=theyworkforyou.com|title=Anonymity (Arrested Persons) Bill:House of Commons debates| date=4 February 2011|accessdate=10 February 2011}}</ref>
[[Philip Davies]] was one of a number of MPs to raise the problems with websites. He pointed out that even if the bill applied to the UK, there would be no way of effectively controlling what was put out by websites based abroad.<ref name=fil>{{cite web|url=http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debate/?id=2011-02-04a.1174.0|title=Anonymity (Arrested Persons) Bill:House of Commons debates| date=4 February 2011|accessdate=10 February 2011}}</ref>


Soubry withdrew the bill after its second reading, when Justice Minister [[Crispin Blunt]] promised the Attorney General would examine the area of concern.<ref name=pmb/><ref name=crisp>{{cite web|url=http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debate/?id=2011-02-04a.1214.1|publisher=theyworkforyou.com|title=Anonymity (Arrested Persons) Bill:House of Commons debates| date=4 February 2011|accessdate=10 February 2011}}</ref>
Soubry withdrew the bill after its second reading, when Justice Minister [[Crispin Blunt]] promised the Attorney General would examine the area of concern.<ref name=pmb/><ref name=crisp>{{cite web|url=http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debate/?id=2011-02-04a.1214.1|publisher=theyworkforyou.com|title=Anonymity (Arrested Persons) Bill:House of Commons debates| date=4 February 2011|accessdate=10 February 2011}}</ref>

Revision as of 09:28, 29 March 2017

The Right Honourable
Anna Soubry
MP
Minister of State for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise
In office
11 May 2015 – 15 July 2016
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded byMatt Hancock (Business and Enterprise)
Succeeded byMargot James (Minister for Small Business, Consumers and Corporate Responsibility)
Minister of State for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans
In office
14 July 2014 – 11 May 2015
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Sec. of StateMichael Fallon
Preceded byAndrew Murrison
Succeeded byMark Lancaster
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans
In office
7 October 2013 – 14 July 2014
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded byMark Francois
Succeeded byMark Lancaster
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Public Health
In office
4 September 2012 – 7 October 2013
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded byAnne Milton
Succeeded byJane Ellison
Member of Parliament
for Broxtowe
Incumbent
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded byNick Palmer
Majority4,287 (8.0%)
Personal details
Born (1956-12-07) 7 December 1956 (age 67)
Lincoln, England
Political partyConservative (Before 1981; 1988–present)
Social Democrats (1981–1988)
Children2
Alma materUniversity of Birmingham
WebsiteOfficial website

Anna Mary Soubry[1] (/ˈsuːbri/; born 7 December 1956) is a British Conservative Party politician. She has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Broxtowe in Nottinghamshire since the 2010 general election.

Soubry was Minister for Small Business from the 2015 general election until July 2016, also attending meetings of the Cabinet, but has now returned to the backbenches. She had previously served as a junior minister at the Ministry of Defence (from 2013 to 2015) and the Department of Health (2012 to 2013). The Independent's Simon Carr has stated that "she has a record of unusually free speech".[2]

Early life

Soubry was born, the daughter of David Soubry,[3] a Nottinghamshire garage-owner, in Lincoln Hospital, Lincolnshire (where her mother, Frances Coward/Soubry, worked) and was brought up in Dunham-on-Trent and Clumber Park, Nottinghamshire.[4] Soubry attended the Henry Hartland Grammar school from 1968 to 1970. In 1970 it became the Hartland Comprehensive and she stayed there until 1975. She graduated in law from the University of Birmingham in 1979.[5]

Soubry was involved in student politics in the 1970s, becoming the only Conservative member of the National Union of Students' executive committee.[6]

Early career

Soubry was a journalist from 1981 until 1995 and also reported on and presented several regional and networked TV programmes, including Grampian Television's North Tonight in the North of Scotland and the East Midlands regional news programme, Central News East. Soubry also presented and reported Granada Television's This Morning in the late 1980s. She returned to Liverpool's Albert Dock in October 2013 for the This Morning 25-year anniversary party.[7] She was called to the bar in 1995 and is a member of the Criminal Bar Association.[8]

Soubry was the Conservative Party candidate for the Gedling constituency in the United Kingdom general election of 2005. During the campaign she said she was "ashamed" of living in Nottingham because it had a bad reputation for crime.[9] She said she wasn't ashamed of the people of Nottingham, but was ashamed of what had happened to the city.[9]

Soubry was chosen as an "A-List candidate" and in 2006 was selected for the nearby Broxtowe Parliamentary seat.[10]

Parliamentary career

Soubry was one of the 49% of Conservative MPs who were elected to Parliament at the 2010 general election. She was considered "one of the most formidable communicators of the new intake" by Nicholas Watt of The Guardian, but is not a 'Thatcherite'.[11]

In June 2010, Soubry was elected as a Conservative member of the Justice Select Committee,[12] but is no longer on it.[13]

Soubry was a strong supporter of the Equal Marriage Bill stating at the time that she was "very much in favour of legalising Same Sex Marriage".[14] She voted in favour of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 at both readings.[15]


HS2 (High Speed Rail)

In January 2013, Soubry welcomed the announcement of the proposed High Speed 2 East Midlands Hub station at Toton Sidings in the constituency, stating that it was "a very good news day for Broxtowe". She has held a number of public meetings on the issue.[16]

In May 2013 she took Transport Minister Simon Burns around the constituency to see the potential impact that the East Midlands hub and the railway line will have on the area.[17]

Soubry voiced criticism in August 2013 over plans to not hold a public consultation meeting in the constituency, calling on HS2 Ltd to hold an event in Toton where the proposed East Midlands Hub is to be built.[18]

Anonymity (Arrested Persons) Private Member's Bill

Soubry sponsored a private member's bill in June 2010 to provide anonymity to a person who has been arrested but not charged. A clause allowed any party to ask for anonymity to be removed if it was in the interests of justice.[19] The press coverage of the arrest of the landlord of Joanna Yeates in December 2010 was criticised by both police and the Attorney General and seemed a good example of the mischief which the bill could remedy. The second reading took place in February 2011.[19] MPs of all parties alluded to the Yeates murder.

Soubry withdrew the bill after its second reading, when Justice Minister Crispin Blunt promised the Attorney General would examine the area of concern.[19][20]


Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health

Following her appointment in September 2012, Soubry gave an interview with The Times in which she stated her support for assisted suicide for terminally ill people.[21] Both the Department of Health and the Ministry of Justice denied there were plans for reform, though her Liberal Democrat colleague Norman Lamb welcomed discussion and said he expected a private members' bill to be introduced by Lord Falconer in 2013.[21] Assisted suicide currently carries a maximum 14-year prison sentence.[21]

On 14 September 2012, speaking at an NHS Leadership Academy conference, Soubry stated that the Coalition had "screwed up" in the way it dealt with the medical profession over the NHS reforms.[22] Soubry later said that she fully supported the reforms but believed the benefits to patients could have been better explained and this would have won more support from health professionals.[22]

As Public Health Minister, Soubry criticised retailers who forced customers to pass "rows of unhealthy foods" on their way to the checkout and said that a new code of practice would urge retailers to stop this and also reduce deals on unhealthy food.[23]

In August 2013, as Public Health Minister, Soubry supported plans for a change in the law to allow HIV home-testing kits.[24]

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence

Soubry was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence in David Cameron's October 2013 reshuffle, becoming the first elected woman politician to be a Minister in the MoD. Her responsibilities included Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans.[25]

Minister of State for Defence

In Cameron's July 2014 reshuffle, Soubry was appointed Minister of State for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans.[25]

Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

She became Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills following the 2015 general election until 15 July 2016. Her partner, Neil Davidson is a director at Morrisons leading her opponents to note a potential conflict of interest when she introduced new Sunday trading laws.[26]

European Union referendum

Soubry is a strong supporter of Britain remaining in the European Union, and backed the Remain campaign during the 2016 EU membership referendum. Following the referendum's outcome, which saw a 4% majority in favour of leaving the EU, she criticised former Mayor of London Boris Johnson, who led the Leave campaign, accusing him of backing Britain's exit from the EU because he wanted to be prime minister: "My anger with Boris is that I don't honestly believe that he believed what he was saying to people".[27] She was a guest on a special edition of BBC One's Question Time that aired on 27 June, warning that some people who voted to leave the EU had disregarded tolerance, and describing it as "[not] our country's finest hour". She urged the UK to put "hope over hatred" following the result.[28]

Addressing a Brexit protest outside Parliament on 28 June she described how her 84-year-old mother, and her daughters, had "wept" on the morning that the result was announced. In an emotional and impromptu speech she told the gathering "We made a terrible, terrible mistake on Friday" and urged those wanting to stay in the European Union to continue fighting for that cause. Fellow Conservative MP Nadine Dorries, who voted to leave, caused controversy by posting a message on her Twitter account accusing Soubry of being "inebriated", but quickly deleted the comment after Soubry warned her it was "defamatory".[29]

On BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Wednesday 31 August 2016, Soubry stated categorically that she was in favour of immigration and the free movement of peoples, not just from the EU but from across the world.

Post-referendum

In September 2016, Soubry criticised members of Vote Leave when it became clear that the pledge "at the heart … of their message" of £350 million a week of extra funding for the NHS was being dropped from post-Brexit plans.[30] Following a leaked treasury report that the estimated annual cost to the UK Treasury would be around £66 billion she referenced the loss of money for schools and hospitals and insisted that Parliament should be involved in the principles guiding Brexit negotiations.[31]

Personal life

She is a single mother of two children.[6]

References

  1. ^ "No. 59418". The London Gazette. 13 May 2010.
  2. ^ "Westminster movers and shakers in 2011. 4 January 2011. accessed on 7 March 2011". The Independent. 4 January 2011. Retrieved 25 November 2011.
  3. ^ "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
  4. ^ "Anna Soubry MP Member of Parliament for Broxtowe". Anna Soubry MP. Archived from the original on 17 September 2012. Retrieved 6 September 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ That's where you are!, Birmingham University, 1 October 2000. Retrieved 12 March 2007
  6. ^ a b Bennett, Rosemary (22 July 2006). "Dave's dolls revive Tory faith in the elite list". The Times. Retrieved 26 February 2017. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |subscription= ignored (|url-access= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ Profile:Anna Soubry Archived 8 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine, KCH Barristers
  8. ^ "Kch Garden Sq Barristers:Anna Soubry". Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 10 June 2014. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ a b Political battle rages on leaflet, BBC, 15 November 2004. Retrieved 12 March 2008
  10. ^ Anna Soubry selected for Broxtowe, Conservative Home, 18 July 2006. Retrieved 12 March 2008
  11. ^ Watt, Nicholas (29 April 2012). "Conservative party's 301 radicals seek to shake up 1922 status quo". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 November 2013.
  12. ^ Pickard, Jim (24 June 2010). "Westminster select committees: Labour & Tory membership". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 1 July 2010. Retrieved 29 June 2010. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ "Justice Committee membership list". Parliament. 18 May 2011. Retrieved 18 May 2011.
  14. ^ "MP Speaks out in favour of Same-Sex Marriage legislation". Anna Soubry. 11 December 2012.
  15. ^ "Voting Record – Anna Soubry MP, Broxtowe (24772) – The Public Whip". Publicwhip.org.uk.
  16. ^ http://www.annasoubry.org.uk/sites/www.annasoubry.org.uk/files/28th_january_hs2_newsletter.pdf
  17. ^ [1][dead link]
  18. ^ "MP Soubry protests at lack of local HS2 consultation events". Nottingham Post. 9 August 2013.
  19. ^ a b c "Anonymity (Arrested Persons) Bill 2010–11". parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 10 July 2010. Retrieved 10 February 2011. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  20. ^ "Anonymity (Arrested Persons) Bill:House of Commons debates". theyworkforyou.com. 4 February 2011. Retrieved 10 February 2011.
  21. ^ a b c "Right-to-die law appalling, says Health Minister Anna Soubry". BBC News. 8 September 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
  22. ^ a b Kirkup, James (14 September 2012). "'We screwed up' – health minister on NHS reforms". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  23. ^ Philipson, Alice (15 July 2013). "Supermarkets to abolish checkout 'guilt lanes'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  24. ^ "Ministers to change law to allow HIV self-testing kits". Nursing Times. Press Association. 12 August 2013.
  25. ^ a b "Anna Soubry MP". www.parliament.uk. Retrieved 12 November 2014.
  26. ^ Christopher Hope (14 February 2016). "Partner of minister who wants to relax Sunday trading laws is on board of Morrisons". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  27. ^ Worley, Will (25 June 2016). "Boris Johnson attacked by Tory Minister Anna Soubry for placing 'leadership ambitions ahead of our children's future'". The Independent. London. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  28. ^ Agerholm, Harriet (27 June 2016). "Brexit: Conservative MP Anna Soubry warns UK must put 'hope over hatred' with immigration". The Independent. London. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  29. ^ Demianyk, Graeme (29 June 2016). "'Remain' Minister Anna Soubry Close To Tears In Rousing Speech To Anti-'Brexit' Rally". Huffington Post. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  30. ^ Helm, Toby (10 September 2016). "Brexit camp abandons £350M a week NHS funding pledge". The Observer. London. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  31. ^ Michael Wilkinson (11 October 2016). "'Hard Brexit' will cost Britain £66 billion per year, claims controversial leaked Treasury report". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Broxtowe
2010–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded byas Minister of State for Business and Enterprise Minister of State for Small Business
2015–2016 		Succeeded by
TBD
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