Jump to content

Andrea Leadsom

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 198.8.160.26 (talk) at 13:24, 7 July 2016 (minor changes to punctuation). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Andrea Leadsom
MP
Minister of State for Energy
Incumbent
Assumed office
11 May 2015
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded byAmber Rudd
Economic Secretary to the Treasury
In office
9 April 2014 – 11 May 2015
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded byNicky Morgan
Succeeded byHarriett Baldwin
Member of Parliament
for South Northamptonshire
Incumbent
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded byConstituency established
Majority26,416 (43.4%)
Personal details
Born
Andrea Jacqueline Salmon

(1963-05-13) 13 May 1963 (age 61)
Aylesbury, England, UK
Political partyConservative
SpouseBen Leadsom
Children3
Alma materUniversity of Warwick

Andrea Jacqueline Leadsom (pronounced /ˈlɛdsəm/;[1] née Salmon; born 13 May 1963)[2][3][4] is a British politician.

She was first elected as the Conservative Member of Parliament for South Northamptonshire at the 2010 general election.[5][6] Leadsom has served as Minister of State for Energy at the Department of Energy and Climate Change since 11 May 2015, having held the post of Economic Secretary to the Treasury from April 2014.[7] She supported the Leave campaign during the 2016 EU referendum. Following the victory of the Leave campaign and David Cameron's resignation, she became one of five candidates in the election for the leadership of the Tory party and to become the next Prime Minister; she came in a distant second to Theresa May in the first vote. Leadsom said she would conduct swift negotiations with the European Union if she became PM.[8]

Early life and career

Leadsom was born in Aylesbury, the daughter of Richard and Judy Salmon. She attended Tonbridge Girls' Grammar School before reading Political Science at the University of Warwick.[3]

After graduating in 1987, Leadsom began a career in the financial sector as a debt trader for Barclays de Zoete Wedd, then the investment bank division of Barclays Bank.[9] For Barclays itself, claimed to have been a Director in the Financial Institutions team from 1993. In this role, she said she was given a "ringside seat" in the collapse of Barings Bank.[10] Leadsom clashed with Barclay Investments then head Bob Diamond, who tried to persuade her to return to full-time work soon after a pregnancy, and she left the company in 1997.[9] However in July 2016 she admitted that she had not been Director, Financial Institutions Group at Barclays (as she had claimed from 2006 to 2016) but only Deputy Director.[11]

Leadsom became a "director" during 1997 of her brother-in-law's hedge fund, De Putron Fund Management (DPFM), remaining in the post until 1999.[12] Peter de Putron is her sister's husband.[9] According to records at Companies House, Leadsom was registered as the Marketing Director, working for DPFM for 13 months from 1998.[13]

Leadsom was Head of Corporate Governance and a Senior Investment Officer at Invesco Perpetual from 1999 to 2009.[3][14] According to a former colleague "the problem about these claims is that they risk misleading people into believing that she has finance management skills and experience which qualify her for senior posts in government"; her actual job was to work (sometimes part-time) on “special projects”, mostly for the Chief Investment Officer, which included negotiating pay terms for senior fund managers – towards the end of her time, she advised on a number of governance issues, but she had no-one reporting to her in either role.[15] Approval for individuals to manage funds or deal with clients is needed from the financial services regulator (then the Financial Services Authority), which Leadsom held from December 2002 to February 2003.[13]

Political career

Before election to Parliament in 2010, Leadsom was a Councillor on South Oxfordshire District Council between 2003 and 2007.[3][16]

She contested Knowsley South constituency in the 2005 general election[3][16] and was a member of the Conservative A-List.[17]

Leadsom was selected to stand as the parliamentary candidate in the newly created South Northamptonshire constituency in June 2006. In 2009, ConservativeHome said that she was "defending a notional Conservative majority of 11,356."[18] At the 2010 general election in May, she was elected with a majority of more than 20,000. On entering the House of Commons she was appointed a member of the Treasury Select Committee.[16] She made her maiden speech on 22 June 2010 during the budget debate, when she spoke of restoring health to the financial sector drawing from personal experience in financial regulation, particularly with Barings Bank.[19].

In July 2010, while questioning Mervyn King in her capacity as a member of the Treasury Select Committee, she claimed that "15 years ago... I was running the investment team at Barclays"[20]. However she was not actually ‘running the investment team’ in 1995... [but] was a ‘Deputy Financial Institutions Director'[21]

Leadsom campaigned for EU reform. In September 2011, she co-founded the Fresh Start Project with Conservative MPs Chris Heaton-Harris and George Eustice to "research and build support for realistic and far-reaching proposals for reforming the EU".[22][23] On 25 October 2011, Leadsom was one of 81 Conservative MPs to defy the party whip and vote in favour of holding a referendum on the UK's membership of the European Union.[24]

In July 2012, during the Libor scandal, she was widely reported on for her effective investigation of mismanagement of risk in banks, during the Treasury Committee's questioning of Bob Diamond.[25] At a subsequent hearing she questioned Paul Tucker, who stated that the previous government had not conspired with the Bank to fix rates. In a BBC interview, Leadsom stated that the suggestion "has now been completely squashed by Paul Tucker", and that on that specific point, George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, might want to apologise to Ed Balls for "suggesting he was implicated in rate fixing", although she also pointed out that Balls "still [had] a huge amount to answer for in relation to the scandal and his time in office".[26] Mike Smithson suggested this could be a reason for Osborne to overlook her for a promotion in the 2012 cabinet reshuffle, despite the fact that "in terms of talent she must be right at the top of the list of 2010 newbies who should be promoted."[27] In 2012, Leadsom was ranked 91 on Iain Dale's list of top 100 most influential figures from the right.[28]

Leadsom was one of five MPs to abstain from the Government's Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill by voting in both lobbies.[29] Leadsom had earlier said she found the wording of the legislation "unacceptable", and that voting no reflected the views of "so many" of her constituents, who felt that the bill was "deeply wrong",[30] but ultimately chose to abstain, saying

"I find myself genuinely torn...I cannot vote against a measure that would mean so much to the minority of homosexual couples for whom marriage is the ultimate recognition for their genuine feelings for each other. Yet nor can I vote for a measure that risks centuries of faith-based belief in marriage."

In October 2013, Leadsom was appointed by David Cameron to serve on the board of the Number 10 Policy Unit, with responsibility for part of the public services brief.[31][32]

Economic Secretary to the Treasury

On 9 April 2014 Leadsom was appointed Economic Secretary to the Treasury following Maria Miller's resignation from the Cabinet. According to the Financial Times Her period as City minister was seen by departmental officials as "a disaster" ... "The worst minister we ever had" ... "She found it difficult to understand issues or take decisions. She was monomaniacal, seeing the EU as the source of every problem. She alienated officials by continually complaining about poor drafting".[33]

Inheritance tax

Around 1997, she formed the company Bandal with her husband, and invested in a buy-to-let dwellings in Oxford and Surrey. Bandal was financed by offshore bank loans from the Jersey arm of Kleinwort Benson, a private bank.[9] Following her appointment, it was discovered that Leadsom had transferred her shares in the property company, which she had started with her husband in 2003, into a trust fund for her children to avoid inheritance tax, albeit legally.[9] The offshore banking arrangements for the property company, however, were in apparent contradiction to George Osborne's attempts to crack down on tax avoidance.[34] A spokesperson for Leadsom said: “This is a normal corporate situation and all tax that is due is being paid. None of the loans for the properties are based offshore”.

Donations from family firm

There was further criticism when it was revealed that she had received a series of donations totalling £70,000 from a firm based in London but owned by her Guernsey-based brother-in-law, Peter de Putron, via a holding company in the British Virgin Islands tax haven.[35] Leadsom's husband Ben is a director of the firm which made the donations, which were used to pay the salaries of staff in Leadsom's Westminster office after her election as MP; the firm has also made donations of £816,000 to the Conservative party.[36] Because the firm making the donations, Gloucester Research (later becoming GR Software and Research), was based in London, the donations conformed to the rule banning political donations from abroad. The Labour MP Tom Watson said: “These very large donations might be within the rules, but it certainly isn’t right that a Treasury minister has been taking money in this way. Most reasonable people will see this as completely unreasonable”.[35]

Minister of State at DECC

Leadsom was re-elected as MP for South Northamptonshire on 7 May 2015 with 36,607 votes, compared to her nearest rival Lucy Mills (Labour), with 10,191 votes. On 11 May 2015, Leadsom was moved from Economic Secretary to the Treasury, to be appointed Minister of State at the Department of Energy and Climate Change.[37] This was despite her previous opposition to wind farms and European renewable energy targets.[38]

Brexit referendum

Leadsom took a prominent role in the campaign to leave the EU in the June 2016 referendum campaign. Leadsom argued that the Bank of England's governor, Mark Carney, had destabilised financial markets and jeopardised the Bank's independence by warning of short-term negative effects on the economy caused by leaving the EU.[39][40]

In the BBC two-hour televised debate on the EU referendum, Leadsom appeared on the "Leave" panel, along with Gisela Stuart and Boris Johnson.[41] Leadsom disputed claims that the UK should pursue single market membership, saying that 80% of the world's economy, and most EU free-trade deals, are not within the single market. She also said that the UK economy is too large to need the single market, but is hindered by the slowness of EU trade procedures.[42]

Conservative leadership election

Immediately following the referendum vote on 23 June 2016 for Britain to leave the EU, David Cameron announced that he would resign as Prime Minister by October. Soon Leadsom emerged amongst the early favourites with the bookies to become the next Prime Minister, and was also strongly linked with a possible role as Chancellor.[43] On 30 June 2016 she announced her candidacy to become leader of the Conservative Party.

In the first round of voting on 5 July 2016, Theresa May received support from 165 MPs, while Leadsom came second with 66 votes.[44]

Exaggeration of job responsibilities

On 6 July 2016, The Times published an article which asserted that Leadsom had overstated her experience and responsibilities while working in the private sector.[13] The article quoted a former co-worker who indicated she had exaggerated her CV and a comment from a Leadsom spokesperson: "anyone who reads Andrea’s CV and attaches a lot of weight to that particular role may actually be under some slight misapprehension as to what it was she actually did." The Independent repeated the claim that "during her time at Invesco Perpetual Ms Leadsom was only approved by the financial services regulator for three months". Penny Mordaunt, a Leadsom supporter, suggested this was "a concerted effort to rubbish a stellar career".[45][46] and the Financial Times suggested that "Mrs Leadsom may have been playing her own minor game of Catch Me If You Can."[45][47]

The Daily Telegraph suggested "Judging by this morning's headlines, there's an attempt being made to rubbish Andrea Leadsom. Allegations she massaged her qualifications in the financial world have been vigorously denied by her team. They're also being asked to explain comments she made on her blog about homosexuality, and questions are being asked about her religious beliefs."[48]

Leadsom published her CV later the same day and this indicated some exaggeration about prior job responsibilities. For example, "Her job title at Barclays, ... is given as deputy financial institutions director, not — as previously stated — financial institutions director." Another discrepancy: "Stating she was a senior investment officer at fund management firm Invesco Perpetual for 10 years, though she was only authorised as an investment manager for a three-month period." As well, "The CV describing her position at a hedge fund run by her brother-in-law, De Putron Fund Management, as managing director while company filings give her role as marketing director." Former employers declined to discuss job responsibilities, or had difficulty remembering specifics, when contacted by The Guardian.[49]

In a 7 July 2016 BBC interview, Leadsom defended her CV, saying claims of it being exaggerated were "ridiculous". She also spoke about "plotting" in the leadership race which she found "disappointing" and said she wanted an "honourable contest".[50]

Views on the European Union

Leadsom in 2013

In April 2013 at the Hansard Society’s annual parliamentary affairs lecture, Leadsom warned against the UK leaving the European Union, stating that "I think it would be a disaster for our economy and it would lead to a decade of economic and political uncertainty at a time when the tectonic plates of global success are moving.[51][52]

However, in 2016 Andrea Leadsom campaigned for leave in the UK referendum on European Union membership. The Mail on Sunday reproduced her earlier comments in its issue of 3 July 2016.[51] After her comments were read out by Andrew Marr on his Sunday morning BBC programme, she explained to Marr how she reached her more recent position: "It has been a journey. When I came into Parliament, like most people in the country I'd grown up as part of the EU and it's absolutely part of our DNA and I came into Parliament, set up something called the Fresh Start Project, which took hundreds and hundreds of hours of evidence about how the EU impacts on the UK – on everything from immigration to fisheries and so on... During that process I travelled all across Europe with lots of parliamentary colleagues – up to 100 Conservative colleagues supporting this work – to try and get a really decent, fundamental reform of the EU."[51]

A spokesperson for Leadsom told The Independent that the recording was "taken completely out of context" because she had opened the lecture by saying that the EU, however, needed major reforms in order for it to be "sustainable". She added that the democratic consent for the EU in Britain was "wafer thin".[51]

Charity

Leadsom was involved with NORPIP, the Northamptonshire Parent Infant Partnership, a charity providing therapeutic support to help parents bond with their babies who have insecure attachment, and with PIPUK, the national body for Parent Infant Partnerships which set up branches in four further counties since its inception.[53][54][55]

Personal life

She married Ben Leadsom in 1993 and has two sons and one daughter.[3] Following the birth of her first child, she suffered from postnatal depression for several months.[56]

Leadsom states that Christianity has a central role in her life. She told Tim Ross of The Daily Telegraph: "I am a very committed Christian. I think my values and everything I do is driven by that." She participates in "various Bible studies groups" with other parliamentarians and prays "all the time".[23]

References

  1. ^ Anna Firth (29 April 2016). "Andrea Leadsom on Newsnight" – via YouTube.
  2. ^ "Andrea Leadsom SALMON – Personal Appointments (free information from Companies House)". Beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  3. ^ a b c d e f 'LEADSOM, Andrea Jacqueline', Who's Who 2013, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2013; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2012 ; online edn, Nov 2012 accessed 2 Jan 2013
  4. ^ Andrea Leadsom – Parliamentary candidates – Telegraph. The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  5. ^ "No. 59418". The London Gazette. 13 May 2010.
  6. ^ Home. Andrea Leadsom. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  7. ^ "Andrea Leadsom MP". GOV.UK. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  8. ^ "Leadsom Starts U.K. Leadership Bid Vowing Short Brexit Talks". Bloomberg News. 4 July 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  9. ^ a b c d e Arnold, Martin (4 July 2016). "Leadsom forced to account for financial history". Financial Times. London. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  10. ^ Leadsom, Andrea (18 August 2009). "Andrea Leadsom: The lessons about banking regulation which stay with me from the collapse of Barings". ConservativeHome. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  11. ^ Fawkes, Guido. "Andrea's CV Mis-Led Some". Retrieved 6-7-2016. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  12. ^ Goodley, Simon (4 July 2016). "Andrea Leadsom's time in the City: high-profile roles yet under the radar". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  13. ^ a b c Kember, Billy; Wison, Harry (6 July 2016). "Leadsom admits 'misleading' claims on CV for top job". The Times. London. Retrieved 6 July 2016. (subscription required)
  14. ^ "Andrea Leadsom". UK.Gov. Retrieved 29 June 2016.
  15. ^ "Was Andrea Leadsom really such a City hotshot?". reaction.life. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  16. ^ a b c Andrea Leadsom, www.parliament.org. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
  17. ^ ConservativeHome's Seats & Candidates blog: Where are the original A-Listers now? The 18 who have been selected for Conservative seats. Conservativehome.blogs.com (21 April 2009). Retrieved 8 May 2012.
  18. ^ Leadsom, Andrea (8 June 2009). "Diary of a PPC: Andrea Leadsom (South Northamptonshire)". ConservativeHome. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  19. ^ Isaby, Jonathan (23 June 2010). "Andrea Leadsom draws on her City experience in her maiden speech to explain how to restore the financial services sector to health". ConservativeHome. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  20. ^ Treasury Select Committee proceedings Q16
  21. ^ Adams, Guy (7-7-2016). "Can we REALLY trust her? A CV that's falling apart. Murky tax affairs. Yes, she's a talent - but is Mrs Leadsom fit for No. 10?". Daily Mail. Retrieved 7-7-2016. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  22. ^ "European Reform". Andrea Leadsom. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  23. ^ a b Ross, Tim (2 July 2016). "Andrea Leadsom interview: Thatcher, God and why I should be Prime Minister". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  24. ^ "Eurosceptics: UKIP's Lord Hesketh and Andrea Leadsom MP". BBC News. 3 November 2011. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  25. ^ Wright, Oliver (9 July 2012). "'It's fair to say we were useless against Diamond' – Leadsom". The Independent.
  26. ^ "Libor scandal: William Hague rejects Ed Balls apology calls". BBC News. 10 July 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
  27. ^ Smithson, Mike (10 July 2012). "Will Osborne black-ball a promotion for Andrea?". Political Betting. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  28. ^ Dale, Iain (7 October 2012). "Iain Dale's Top 100 most influential figures from the Right 2012". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  29. ^ Lowther, Ed (5 March 2013). "Yes but, no but... MPs who vote both ways". BBC. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  30. ^ "Tory Northamptonshire MP: "I support the love of gay couples but it is unacceptable for them to be able to marry", www.pinknews.co.uk. Retrieved 1 February 2013
  31. ^ "New Number Ten Policy Board Job Allocation". Guido Fawkes. 21 October 2013. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  32. ^ Church, Dominic (17 October 2013). "No. 10 Policy Board – Serious Symposium or Sop?". Westminster Advisers. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
  33. ^ Mance, Henry (4 July 2016). "Andrea Leadsom seeks to play down pro-EU comments". Financial Times. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  34. ^ Harper, Tom (17 April 2014). "Revealed: how City minister Andrea Leadsom used controversial trusts to reduce her potential inheritance-tax bill". The Independent. London. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  35. ^ a b Armitage, Jim; McSmith, Andy; Harper, Tom (13 July 2014). "Andrea Leadsom received £70,000 donation from family firm with parent company controlled in tax haven". The Independent. London. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  36. ^ Leigh, David; Ball, James; Haddou, Leila (8 July 2014). "Top Tory has family link with offshore banker who gave party £800,000". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  37. ^ Private Eye (2014). “Andrea Leadsom: Family funds”, Private Eye, Issue No. 1371, 25 July – 7 August 2014.
  38. ^ Murray, James. "Andrea Leadsom appointed as Energy and Climate Change Minister". businessgreen. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  39. ^ Andrea Leadsom (29 April 2016). "Mothers should vote to leave, says Brexiteer minister Andrea Leadsom". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  40. ^ Rowena Mason (15 May 2016). "Brexit minister accuses Bank of England of 'dangerous intervention'". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
  41. ^ "Reality Check: The EU referendum". BBC News. 23 February 2016. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  42. ^ Michael Wilkinson (21 June 2016). "EU debate: Boris Johnson says Brexit will be 'Britain's independence day' as Ruth Davidson attacks 'lies' of Leave campaign in front of 6,000-strong Wembley audience". The Daily Telegraph.
  43. ^ "South Northamptonshire MP Leadsom emerges as one of the favourites to be next PM | Anglia – ITV News". Itv.com. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  44. ^ "Conservative leadership election: Theresa May wins more than half of MPs' votes as Liam Fox is knocked out of race". The Guardian. London, UK. 5 July 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  45. ^ a b Stone, Jon (6 July 2016). "Andrea Leadsom accused of 'misleading' claims on her CV". The Independent. London, UK. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  46. ^ Weaver, Matthew (6 July 2016). "Penny Mordaunt defends Leadsom Tory leadership bid". The Guardian. London, UK. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  47. ^ Green, Miranda (6 July 2016). "Finessing and fakery on CVs". Financial Times. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  48. ^ Newman, Cathy (6 July 2016). "Team Theresa might be about to hand Andrea Leadsom the very thing all politicians crave". The Telegraph. London, UK. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  49. ^ Bowers, Simon (6 July 2016). "Publication of Andrea Leadsom's CV prompts new questions about her career". The Guardian. London, UK. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  50. ^ "Andrea Leadsom on CV and 'honourable' campaign". BBC. 7 July 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
  51. ^ a b c d Cowburn, Ashley (3 July 2016). "Tory leadership contender Andrea Leadsom said leaving EU would be 'disaster' – then campaigned for Brexit". The Independent. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  52. ^ "Andrea Leadsom seeks to play down pro-EU comments". Financial Times. 3 July 2016.
  53. ^ "Our Story – pipuk".
  54. ^ "NORPIP:Board of trustees". NORPIP Northamptonshire Parent Infant partnership. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  55. ^ Rustin, Susanna (27 November 2012). "Andrea Leadsom: lobbying for more support for parents and children".
  56. ^ Rustin, Susanna (27 November 2012). "Andrea Leadsom: lobbying for more support for parents and children". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Andrea Leadsom.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
New constituency Member of Parliament
for South Northamptonshire
2010–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Economic Secretary to the Treasury
2014–2015 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of State for Energy
2015–present 		Incumbent
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Andrea_Leadsom&oldid=728760874"