Amanda Solloway
This article's subject stood for re-election to the British House of Commons on 4 July. This article may be out of date during and after this period. |
Amanda Solloway | |
---|---|
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Affordability and Skills[a] | |
Assumed office 7 February 2023 | |
Prime Minister | Rishi Sunak |
Preceded by | Office established |
Lord Commissioner of the Treasury | |
Assumed office 20 September 2022 | |
Prime Minister | Liz Truss Rishi Sunak |
In office 17 September 2021 – 8 July 2022 | |
Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
Preceded by | Maggie Throup |
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equalities | |
In office 8 July 2022 – 20 September 2022 | |
Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
Preceded by | Mike Freer |
Succeeded by | The Baroness Stedman-Scott |
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Safeguarding | |
In office 8 July 2022 – 20 September 2022 | |
Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
Preceded by | Rachel Maclean |
Succeeded by | Mims Davies |
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Science, Research and Innovation | |
In office 14 February 2020 – 16 September 2021 | |
Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
Preceded by | Chris Skidmore[b] |
Succeeded by | George Freeman |
Member of Parliament for Derby North | |
In office 12 December 2019 – 30 May 2024 | |
Preceded by | Chris Williamson |
Majority | 2,540 (5.4%) |
In office 7 May 2015 – 3 May 2017 | |
Preceded by | Chris Williamson |
Succeeded by | Chris Williamson |
Personal details | |
Born | Amanda Jane Solloway 6 June 1961 Nottingham, England |
Political party | Conservative |
Website | amandasolloway |
Amanda Jane Solloway (née Edghill, 6 June 1961) is a British politician serving as Lord Commissioner of the Treasury since September 2022 and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Affordability and Skills[a] since February 2023.[1][2] A member of the Conservative Party, she was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Derby North between 2019 and 2024, having previously served from 2015 to 2017.
Solloway previously served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equalities and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Safeguarding from July to September 2022.[3][4] She was also Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Science, Research and Innovation from February 2020 to September 2021.
Education and pre-parliamentary career
Amanda Jane Edghill was born on 6 June 1961[5] in Nottingham. She has a younger sister and brother.[citation needed] She was educated at Bramcote Hills Grammar School in Bramcote, Nottinghamshire,[5] which became comprehensive in 1978.
She started working at the age of 16 behind the counter of an off-licence before working as a management trainee at Sainsbury's supermarket where she stayed for 13 years. She then spent 15 years in human resources at charities Help the Aged and Save the Children, and in the private sector at Baird Clothing Group.[6] In 2008 she founded her own management consultancy Amanda Solloway Limited.
Parliamentary career
First term (2015-17)
Solloway was first elected at the 2015 general election for the Derby North constituency, with a majority of 41 votes, unseating the Labour MP Chris Williamson, who had been the MP for the seat since 2010. She became a parliamentary private secretary to the minister of state for the Department of International Development.[7]
Solloway campaigned for improving provision for mental health and [[Homelessness in England|homelessness] in Derby North and in Parliament.[8]
Solloway lost her seat at the 2017 general election to Williamson,[9] on a night where Labour made gains across the United Kingdom. She continued to be active in Derby North, including in the 2018 Derby City Council election and 2019 Derby City Council election, where the Conservatives made gains in the Derby North constituency wards.
Second Term (2019-24)
She regained Derby North for the Conservatives at the 2019 general election with a majority of 2,540, with Williamson (standing as an independent) in sixth place.[10]
On 14 February 2020, Solloway was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Science, Research and Innovation at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy during the first cabinet reshuffle of the second Johnson ministry.[11] On 17 September 2021, Solloway was appointed a lord commissioner of the Treasury (Government whip) during the second cabinet reshuffle of the second Johnson ministry.[12]
Between July 5, 2022 and the 21st of March 2023, Solloway successfully campaigned for Derby to be chosen as the location for the Department for Transport's Great British Railways Headquarters.[13] Her efforts included asking constituents to vote for Derby by scanning a QR code printed on a T-shirt she wore at constituency events and by holding meetings with the Secretary of State for Transport Mark Harper and Minister of State for Rail and HS2 Huw Merriman.[14][15]
In October 2023, rollingstock manufacture Alstom announced that its Derby factory Litchurch Lane could close if orders were not found to fill a production gap at the site, putting over 1,000 jobs at risk of redundancy.[16] Solloway described her work to address this as her "main priority" over the following eight months until, in June 2024, a deal between Alstom and Transport for London, financed by £220 million of Department for Transport funding was agreed for an order of 10 Elizabeth Line trains.[17] Over this period Solloway routinely met with the Secretary of State for Transport Mark Harper who stated Solloway "deserved a lot of credit for her absolutely tenacious campaigning" for a solution for Alstom's production gap. [18][19]
Personal life
Solloway lives in Derbyshire and was patron of the Friends Of The Baby Unit at Royal Derby Hospital.[20] She ran the London Marathon, in 2016 and 2017, and, in doing so, raised money for the hospital's baby unit.
She is also a Trustee at the Landau Forte Charitable Trust which runs 6 school academies across the Midlands.[21]
Controversies
In May 2023, Solloway paid a £80 fixed penalty notice which was issued on 2 July 2020 for a missed congestion charge payment, which had been paid through her expenses, according to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority's (IPSA) expenses register.[22][23]
Notes
- ^ a b As Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Consumers and Affordability until January 2024.
- ^ As Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation.
References
- ^ "Ministerial Appointments: September 2022". GOV.UK. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
- ^ "Ministerial Appointments commencing: 25 October 2022". GOV.UK. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
- ^ "Amanda Solloway MP". GOV.UK. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
- ^ "Ministerial appointments: July 2022". GOV.UK. 7 July 2022. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
- ^ a b "Solloway, Amanda Jane, (born 6 June 1961), MP (C) Derby North, 2015–17 and since 2019; Amanda previously served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, in early 2020 until becoming a Government Whip". WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u283952. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
- ^ "Amanda Solloway, former MP, Derby North – TheyWorkForYou". TheyWorkForYou. mySociety. Archived from the original on 19 April 2017.
- ^ "About me". Amanda Solloway. Archived from the original on 19 April 2017.
- ^ "Amanda Solloway: We need to tackle mental health issues head on". Derby Telegraph. 21 August 2015. Archived from the original on 26 September 2015. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
- ^ "Election Results 2017: Derby North won by Labour's Chris Williamson". BBC News. 9 June 2017. Archived from the original on 14 June 2017. Retrieved 3 June 2021.
- ^ Hawley, Zena (13 December 2019). "Amanda Solloway jumps for joy as she takes Derby North from Labour". Derby Telegraph. Archived from the original on 14 December 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
- ^ "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State - GOV.UK". Archived from the original on 18 February 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
- ^ "Ministerial appointments: September 2021". GOV.UK. 16 September 2021.
- ^ "Last chance to vote to help bring Great British Railways HQ to Derby".
- ^ "Amanda Solloway on Facebook".
- ^ "Amanda Solloway on Facebook".
- ^ "City factory working on 'production gap' that threatens 2,000 jobs". Derbyshire Live. 12 September 2023. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
- ^ "Alstom signs £370m deal and train making in Derby is saved". Derbyshire Live. 14 June 2024. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
- ^ Mark Harper (1.30 minute/2.12) https://www.facebook.com/AmandaSollowayOfficial/posts/pfbid02AFbZ7khnTL78hGuD7oUp4no6C58AYXKj9ijQfre1CcHLogCyY7ERsLskbcWfyw9ql
- ^ "Urgent talks with national Government over factory job cuts threat". Derbyshire Live. 22 November 2023. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
- ^ "FOBU is delighted to announce MP Amanda Solloway as Patron – Friends of the Baby Unit Derby". fobuderby.co.uk. Archived from the original on 25 April 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
- ^ //https://lfct.org.uk/about/governance/
- ^ "MPS asked to repay driving fines claimed on expenses". BBC News. 28 May 2023.
- ^ Stone, Jon (1 June 2023). "Tory minister 'devastated' over claiming driving fine on expenses". The Independent. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
External links
- 21st-century British women politicians
- Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
- Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
- Living people
- Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Derbyshire
- People from the Borough of Erewash
- Politicians from Nottingham
- Politicians from Derby
- Politics of Derby
- UK MPs 2015–2017
- UK MPs 2019–2024
- British charity and campaign group workers
- Mental health activists
- 1961 births
- 21st-century English women
- 21st-century English people