Rebecca Pow

Last updated

Charles Clark
​
​
(m. 1992;died 2019)​
Rebecca Pow
Official portrait of Rebecca Pow MP crop 2.jpg
Official portrait, 2020
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Nature [lower-alpha 1]
In office
14 November 2023 –4 July 2024
Children3
Website Official website

Rebecca Pow [1] (born 10 October 1960), is a British Conservative politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Taunton Deane from 2015 to 2024. She also served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Nature from November 2023 to 4 July 2024. [2] [3] Pow lost her bid to be elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the revised Taunton and Wellington seat to Gideon Amos of the Liberal Democrats in the 2024 United Kingdom General Election. Pow previously served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2019 to 2022.

Contents

Early life and career

Rebecca Pow was born on 10 October 1960 in Inglesbatch, the daughter of Michael Pow, a farmer. She was brought up on the family farm, working there as a teenager and was an active member of both Bath and Taunton Young Farmers Clubs. [4]

After attending Priston village school, Pow continued her education at La Sainte Union Convent in Bath. [5] Pow studied Rural Environment Studies at Wye College, University of London, graduating in 1982. [6] [5]

She had a 20-year career in radio and television, specialising in the environment, farming and gardening, including working for HTV in Bristol and BBC Radio 4. [5] Around 2005 she set up her own public relations consultancy, Pow Productions, as well as continuing to write on gardening and country living. [5]

Pow was previously a parish councillor for Stoke St Mary and trustee of the Somerset Wildlife Trust. After working for the National Farmers Union, she became a journalist specialising in environment, farming and gardening and has reported for BBC, ITV and Channel 4. [7] [8] [9] [10] She stepped down as vice-president of Somerset Wildlife Trust in June 2018, following an online petition criticising her support for badger culling. [11]

Parliamentary career

Pow speaking at the 2014 Conservative Party Conference Rebecca Pow - Conservative Party Conference 2014.jpeg
Pow speaking at the 2014 Conservative Party Conference

At the 2015 general election, Pow was elected to Parliament as MP for Taunton Deane with 48.1% of the vote and a majority of 15,491. [12] [13]

She declared that she would vote Remain in the 2016 Brexit referendum. [14]

During the 2015–17 Parliament, Pow sat on the Environmental Audit Select Committee and Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee. [15]

Pow was re-elected as MP for Taunton Deane at the snap 2017 general election with an increased vote share of 52.9% and an increased majority of 15,887. [16] [17]

Pow received local and national criticism for stating during the 2017 Budget debate that people in Taunton have "thousands of extra pounds in their pockets". [18] [19]

In April 2018, Pow was awarded a Green Heart Hero Award by The Climate Coalition, a coalition of over 100 charities and community groups across the UK, for being the "Greenest New MP" for her environmental work. [20] A constituent recognising the award nevertheless criticised Pow's record on low carbon measures. [21]

Pow was appointed in September 2018 as a Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Ministerial team, before serving as PPS to Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Esther McVey until her Ministerial appointment in May 2019. [22] [23]

In May 2019, it was alleged that Pow was one of a number of MPs who had legally claimed parliamentary expenses for an 'accommodation uplift' contrary to the measure's original purpose. [24]

On 10 September 2019, during the first Johnson ministry, Pow was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Her ministerial portfolio included the domestic natural environment, climate change adaptation, land use and floods and water. [25] She resigned from this position on 7 July 2022, as part of the July 2022 United Kingdom government crisis. [26]

At the 2019 general election, Pow was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 53.6% and a decreased majority of 11,700. [27] [28]

Prior to the 2024 general election, Pow's constituency of Taunton Deane was abolished, and replaced with Taunton and Wellington. In March 2024, Pow was selected as the Conservative candidate for Taunton and Wellington at the 2024 general election. [29]

Personal life

Pow met her late husband, Charles Clark, at a Young Farmers Club event. They were married for 27 years, until his death in 2019, and had three children together. [4]

Notes

  1. ↑ Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Nature Recovery and the Domestic Environment from 10 September 2019 to 7 July 2022

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taunton Deane (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 2010-2024

Taunton Deane was a constituency in Somerset represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chloe Smith</span> British politician (born 1982)

Chloe Rebecca Smith is a British Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Norwich North from 2009 to 2024. She previously served as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions from September to October 2022 and Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology from April to July 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tessa Munt</span> British politician (born 1959)

Tessa Jane Muntnée Vasey is a British Liberal Democrat politician. She is the Member of Parliament for Wells and Mendip Hills in Somerset, having previously been elected as the MP for Wells from 2010 to 2015 and serving as the Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Vince Cable. As a councillor on Somerset Council, she was the executive member for Children, Families and Education from 2022 until 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Rutley</span> British politician

David Henry Rutley is a former British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Macclesfield from 2010 until 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, he was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Americas and Caribbean from October 2022 until July 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott Mann (politician)</span> British Conservative politician

Scott Leslie Mann is a former British Conservative politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Cornwall from 2015 to 2024. He served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Growth and Rural Affairs from September to October 2022 and a Government Whip. Between 2009 and 2016 he represented the Wadebridge West ward on Cornwall Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maria Caulfield</span> British politician (born 1973)

Maria Colette Caulfield is a former British politician. She served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Mental Health and Women's Health Strategy and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Women from October 2022 to July 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ranil Jayawardena</span> British politician

Ranil Malcolm Jayawardena is a British Conservative politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Hampshire from 2015 until 2024, when he lost his seat to the Liberal Democrats. He served under Prime Minister Liz Truss as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from September to October 2022. He previously served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Trade from 2020 to 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jo Churchill</span> British politician (born 1964)

Johanna Peta Churchill is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bury St Edmunds from 2015 to 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, she served as Minister of State in the Department for Work and Pensions from November 2023 until July 2024. She previously served as Vice-Chamberlain of the Household from 2022 to 2023. In that role, she took part in the 2023 Coronation and the 2023 State Opening of Parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Heappey</span> British politician (born 1981)

Major James Stephen Heappey is a British politician and former soldier who served as Minister of State for the Armed Forces from 2020 to 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wells in Somerset from 2015 to 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin Foster (politician)</span> British Conservative politician

Kevin John Foster is a British Conservative Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Torbay from 2015 to 2024. He served as Minister of State for Transport from September 2022 until October 2022. Foster served under Home Secretary Priti Patel as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Safe and Legal Migration from 2019 until September 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trudy Harrison</span> British Conservative politician

Trudy Lynne Harrison is a British Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Copeland from the February 2017 by-election to the 2024 general election. Her election marked the first time Copeland had elected a Conservative MP since 1931, and the first time the constituency had elected a female MP. Three months after her by-election victory, Harrison was re-elected in the 2017 general election and held her seat in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gillian Keegan</span> British politician (born 1968)

Gillian Keegan is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Education from 2022 to 2024. She previously served as Minister of State for Care and Mental Health from 2021 to 2022, and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Africa from September to October 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, Keegan served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Chichester from 2017 to 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rachel Maclean (politician)</span> British Conservative politician

Rachel Helen Maclean is a British politician who was the Member of Parliament for Redditch in Worcestershire from 2017 to 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, she currently serves as its Deputy Chairman for Women. She has previously served as Minister of State for Housing and Planning and has held ministerial roles in the Department for Transport and Home Office.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joy Morrissey</span> American-British politician (born 1981)

Joyce Rebekah "Joy" Morrissey is an American-born British Conservative Party politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Beaconsfield since 2019. She was a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury from November 2023 until July 2024. She has been Shadow Minister of State for Energy Security and Net Zero and an Opposition whip since July 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Felicity Buchan</span> British Conservative politician

Felicity Christiana Buchan is a British politician and former banker who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kensington in London from 2019 until the seat's abolition in 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, she served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing and Homelessness in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities from October 2022 to July 2024. Prior to this, Buchan served as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury from September to October 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angela Richardson</span> British politician

Angela Joy Richardson is a British Conservative Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Guildford from 2019 until 2024. She served as a Deputy Chairwoman of the Conservative Party until she lost her seat in the 2024 United Kingdom general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fay Jones (politician)</span> British politician (born 1985)

Fay Alicia Jones is a British former politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Brecon and Radnorshire from 2019 to 2024. She is a member of the Conservative Party and a former junior government minister.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taunton and Wellington (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 2024 onwards

Taunton and Wellington is a constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament. Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, it was first contested at the 2024 general election, with Gideon Amos of the Liberal Democrats taking the seat with a majority of 11,939. The predecessor seat, Taunton Deane, had been held by Rebecca Pow of the Conservative Party since 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gideon Amos</span> British politician

Gideon John Amos is a British Liberal Democrat politician, architect, and urban designer who has been the Member of Parliament for Taunton and Wellington since 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Nature</span> United Kingdom government ministerial position in the Environment Department

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Nature, formerly the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Nature Recovery and the Domestic Environment and the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Natural Environment and Land Use, is a junior ministerial position in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. The incumbent holder is Member of Parliament (MP) Mary Creagh.

References

  1. ↑ "No. 61230". The London Gazette . 18 May 2015. p. 9125.
  2. ↑ "Ministerial Appointments commencing: 25 October 2022". GOV.UK. Archived from the original on 29 October 2022. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  3. ↑ "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Environmental Quality and Resilience)". GOV.UK. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
  4. 1 2 Taylor, Michael (21 June 2019). "Taunton MP Rebecca Pow's tribute to 'greatest man I know' after death of husband Charles Clark". SomersetLive. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Carr, Tim, ed. (18 May 2015). The Politicos Guide to the New House of Commons 2015: Profiles of the New MPs and Analysis of the 2015 General Election Results. Biteback Publishing. ISBN   978-1-84954-924-0.
  6. ↑ Proctor, Kate (30 April 2021). "Green Ker-Pow: The Rebecca Pow interview". Politics Home. Archived from the original on 17 May 2021. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  7. ↑ "Election Taunton Deane result: Conservative Rebecca Pow". Western Daily Press. 8 May 2015. Archived from the original on 10 May 2015. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  8. ↑ "Rebecca Pow". Conservative Party. Retrieved 9 May 2015.[ dead link ]
  9. ↑ Wright, Oliver (6 May 2014). "Why it's harder than it looks to evict a Liberal Democrat MP". Independent. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  10. ↑ "Rebecca Pow". Garden Media Guild. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  11. ↑ Cole, Amy (22 June 2018). "Taunton's MP and Michael Eavis resign as vice presidents of wildlife trust amid badger cull row". Somerset County Gazette. Archived from the original on 27 April 2023.
  12. ↑ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  13. ↑ "Taunton Deane Parliamentary constituency". BBC News . Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  14. ↑ "European Referendum". Rebecca Pow. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  15. ↑ "Rebecca Pow MP". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 9 November 2015. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  16. ↑ "General Election 2017: these are the Taunton Deane candidates". somersetlive.co.uk. 12 May 2017. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  17. ↑ "Taunton Deane". BBC News. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  18. ↑ Linham, Laura (24 November 2017). "Here's why everyone is mad at Taunton Deane MP Rebecca Pow for comments she made about the budget". Somerset Live. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  19. ↑ Williams, Zoe (27 November 2017). "Such is the poverty of Tory ideas that they deny poverty even exists". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  20. ↑ "Green Heart Hero Awards". The Climate Coalition. Archived from the original on 9 April 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  21. ↑ "LETTER: Is MP Rebecca Pow really that green?". Somerset County Gazette. 24 May 2018.
  22. ↑ "List of Parliamentary Private Secretaries (PPS): June 2019" (PDF). Cabinet Office. Gov UK. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  23. ↑ "List of Parliamentary Private Secretaries (PPS): September 2018" (PDF). Cabinet Office. Gov UK. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  24. ↑ Mikhailova, Anna; Young, Charles (10 May 2019). "MPs claim expenses for adult children: allowances topped up under rule originally intended to help young families". The Telegraph– via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  25. ↑ "Rebecca Pow MP". gov.uk.
  26. ↑ Evans, James (7 July 2022). "Rebecca Pow resigns as environment minister". SomersetLive. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  27. ↑ "Statement of Persons Nominated" (PDF).
  28. ↑ BBC Election Results 2019 GE https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/constituencies/E14000988
  29. ↑ "Conservatives choose MP Rebecca Pow to fight next General Election election". West Somerset Free Press . Retrieved 4 March 2024.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Taunton Deane
2015–2024 		Succeeded by
Constituency abolished
Political offices
Preceded by Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Arts, Heritage and Tourism
2019		Succeeded by
Preceded by Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Rural Affairs and Biosecurity
2019–2022		Succeeded by
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.