Political career
Milling was elected as a Conservative councillor for the Helmshore ward on the Rossendale Borough Council in Lancashire in 2009. Three years later she was promoted to deputy group leader on the council. She resigned her seat in 2014 after her selection as the Conservative candidate for the Cannock Chase constituency in Staffordshire. [6] The incumbent Conservative MP Aidan Burley had previously announced that he would be standing down at the next election. [7] [8]
In the 2015 general election,she was elected with a majority of 4,923 (10.5%). [9] The following year,Milling was one of a number of MPs investigated by the Electoral Commission and the police for allegedly breaching spending regulations in the election. [10] The Commission fined the Conservative Party £70,000 in March 2017 for "significant failures" in its reporting of campaign spending. [11] After completing their investigation,the police referred the matter to the Crown Prosecution Service who concluded that,although there was evidence of inaccuracy in the reporting of spending,they would not take further action as it was not clear that candidates or agents had knowingly acted dishonestly. [12] [13]
During the 2015–2017 parliament,Milling served on the Business,Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee,Education,Skills and the Economy Sub-Committee. [14] Parliamentary enquiries that she was part of include the collapse of BHS, [15] and the working practices at Sports Direct. [16] She also served on Bill Committees including for the Welfare Reform and Work Bill [17] and Policing and Crime Bill. [18]
Milling supported the UK remaining within the European Union in the 2016 UK EU membership referendum. [19] After the referendum,she helped to organise Boris Johnson's 2016 Conservative leadership campaign. [20] In the 2017 general election,she was re-elected with an increased majority of 8,391 (17.6%). [9] She was made an assistant government whip during the reshuffle on 9 January 2018. [21] Milling voted for then Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit withdrawal agreement in early 2019. [22]
After the election of Johnson as prime minister in July 2019,she was appointed as Deputy Chief Whip and Treasurer of the Household in his ministry. [23] She voted for Johnson's Brexit withdrawal agreement in October 2019. [24] In the 2019 general election,she was re-elected with an increased majority of 19,879 (42.9%). [9] As part of the 2020 cabinet reshuffle,Milling was promoted to Chairman of the Conservative Party and Minister without Portfolio. [25]
At the 2021 British cabinet reshuffle,Milling was made the new Minister of State for Asia and the Middle East,making her the only cabinet minister to leave the cabinet whilst remaining part of the government. [26] In May 2022,she visited the British Virgin Islands (BVI),an overseas territory,following the arrest by the Drug Enforcement Administration of former premier,Andrew Fahie,for alleged drug trafficking and smuggling in Miami,Florida. [27] [28] The following month,the government decided not to impose direct rule which had been recommended by the BVI's governor John Rankin as part of an inquiry into governance in the territory in April 2022 but instead allow time for reform by the local government overseen by Rankin. [29]
Milling endorsed Nadhim Zahawi during the July 2022 Conservative Party leadership election. [30] She was succeeded as Minister of State for Asia by Zac Goldsmith and as Minister of State for the Middle East by Tariq Ahmad,Baron Ahmad of Wimbledon in September 2022. [31] [32]
In the November 2023 British cabinet reshuffle,Milling was appointed a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury. [33]
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