Trudy Harrison | |
---|---|
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Natural Environment and Land Use [lower-alpha 1] | |
In office 8 September 2022 –13 November 2023 | |
Prime Minister | Liz Truss Rishi Sunak |
Preceded by | Steve Double |
Succeeded by | Rebecca Pow |
Minister of State for Transport | |
In office 7 July 2022 –7 September 2022 | |
Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
Preceded by | Andrew Stephenson |
Succeeded by | Lucy Frazer |
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport | |
In office 16 September 2021 –7 July 2022 | |
Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
Preceded by | Rachel Maclean |
Succeeded by | Karl McCartney |
Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister | |
In office 16 December 2019 –16 September 2021 Servingwith Alex Burghart | |
Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
Preceded by | James Heappey |
Succeeded by | Sarah Dines Andrew Griffith |
Member of Parliament for Copeland | |
In office 23 February 2017 –30 May 2024 | |
Preceded by | Jamie Reed |
Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
Personal details | |
Born | Seascale,Cumbria,England | 19 April 1976
Political party | Conservative (since 2016) |
Other political affiliations | Independent (2004 to 2007) |
Children | 4 |
Residence(s) | Bootle,Cumbria,England London,England |
Alma mater | University of Salford |
Trudy Lynne Harrison (born 19 April 1976) 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.
In December 2019,Harrison was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to Prime Minister Boris Johnson. In September 2021,she was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Transport;she was promoted to Minister of State in the same department in July 2022.
She was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment by Prime Minister Liz Truss in September 2022. [1] [2] She was reappointed by Rishi Sunak. [3] [4]
Harrison was born and brought up in Seascale,England. She was educated at Wyndham School,Egremont. [5] After leaving school,Harrison worked for five years as a technical clerk at Sellafield,before running a childcare business for five years. After taking a four-year career break,two shorter stints of employment followed at Copeland Borough Council,where she worked as a Locality Officer and Community Regeneration Officer. During this time,she completed a Foundation Degree in Sustainable Communities at the University of Salford. [5] [6] [7]
Prior to standing for Parliament,Harrison had been working on 'Bootle2020' and 'The Wellbank Project' –a linked set of projects for bringing new development to Bootle. [6] [7] The Wellbank Project included several phases of proposed property development,with the first phase consisting of eighteen new residential units,which were due to have been built by summer 2018. [8]
Harrison served as an independent parish councillor in Bootle,Cumbria from 2004 to 2007. [9] Following the resignation of Jamie Reed,the incumbent Labour Party MP for Copeland,Harrison was selected by the Conservative Party to contest the subsequent by-election- having only joined the party one year earlier. [10] The by-election was fought by both the Conservatives and Labour over a number of local issues. Harrison campaigned on a strongly pro-nuclear stance in contrast to Jeremy Corbyn,the leader of the Labour Party. She promised to safeguard thousands of jobs in the constituency by supporting the existing Sellafield site and the possible future Moorside Nuclear Power Station. [11] She also campaigned on a pro-Brexit line and said that Labour wanted "to ignore how we voted in the referendum." [10]
Harrison won the by-election with a majority of 2,147. Her election was seen by many commentators to be historic and a blow to Jeremy Corbyn's leadership of Labour. [12] Her victory in the historically solid Labour constituency was the first by-election gain by a governing party since the 1982 Mitcham and Morden by-election and was also the best by-election performance by a governing party in terms of the increase in its share of the vote since January 1966. [13]
Harrison made her maiden speech on 25 April 2017,shortly before the General Election,at which she was re-elected. It was well received by The Times newspaper. [14] In her first year in office she was subject to some criticism locally for not holding Constituency Surgeries and for being difficult to contact,as well as limited submissions of written parliamentary questions. She defended her record by pointing to fears over the safety of politicians,following the murder of Jo Cox. [15]
On 6 March 2018,Harrison introduced a Ten Minute Rule Motion that seeks to introduce a ban on wild animals in circuses. [16] This was introduced to the Commons as a Private Members Bill,where Harrison stated "Making wild animals travel in crates and perform unnatural tasks for our amusement does not have my support and nor does it have the support of the public." [17]
Harrison previously served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Ministry of Defence ministerial team. [18] Harrison served on the Education Committee [19] and was later the Private Parliamentary Secretary to the Secretary of State for Education. [20]
Harrison has questioned the current efficacy of family courts,arguing that they often disadvantage sufferers of domestic abuse. [21]
In July 2019,Harrison supported Michael Gove in the 2019 Conservative Party leadership election. [22]
In October 2019,Harrison voted for Boris Johnson's Brexit deal. [23]
Harrison supports the construction of the UK's first deep coal mine to be built in Copeland. [24]
Harrison stood for,and won,re-election in Copeland at the 2019 general election. [25] Following this she was made Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister. [26]
In December 2019,Harrison was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister Boris Johnson,serving alongside Alex Burghart.
On 17 September 2021,Harrison was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Transport,during the second cabinet reshuffle of the second Johnson ministry. [27]
Harrison was appointed a Minister of State for Transport on 7 July 2022,serving alongside Wendy Morton. [28]
Harrison was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Environment,Food and Rural Affairs on 7 September 2022. [29]
In July 2023,Harrison announced that she would stand down as an MP at the 2024 general election. [30]
Harrison lives in Bootle,Cumbria and London with her husband Keith,who works as a welder for Shepley Engineers Ltd in the local area,and her four daughters. [31] [32]
Gisela Stuart, Baroness Stuart of Edgbaston is a British-German politician and life peer who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Edgbaston from 1997 to 2017. A former member of the Labour Party, she now sits as a crossbencher in the House of Lords.
Copeland was a constituency in Cumbria created in 1983 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. The constituency was represented in Parliament by Trudy Harrison, of the Conservative Party, since a by-election in February 2017. It was retained at the snap 2017 general election four months later. The seat had been held by Labour candidates at elections between 1983 and 2015 included.
Esther Louise, Lady Davies, known as Esther McVey, is a British Conservative politician and television presenter who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tatton since 2017 and as the MP for Wirral West from 2010 to 2015. She previously served in cabinet as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in 2018, Minister of State for Housing and Planning from 2019 to 2020 and "Minister for Common Sense" from 2023-2024.
David Henry Rutley is a 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 the end of his tenure.
Sir James Jacob Gilchrist Berry is a British Conservative Party politician and former solicitor who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rossendale and Darwen in Lancashire since the 2010 general election. He has previously served as Chairman of the Conservative Party and Minister without Portfolio from 6 September to 25 October 2022. He previously served as Minister of State for the Northern Powerhouse and Local Growth from 2017 to 2020 in the governments of Theresa May and Boris Johnson.
Helen Olivia Bicknell Whately is a British politician serving as Minister of State for Social Care since October 2022, and previously from 2020 to 2021. She also served as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury from 2021 to 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, she has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Faversham and Mid Kent since 2015.
Wendy Morton is a British politician who served as Chief Whip of the House of Commons and Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury from September to October 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, she has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Aldridge-Brownhills since 2015.
Dame Andrea Marie Jenkyns is a British politician who served as Deputy Chairwoman of the European Research Group (ERG) from 2019 to 2024.
Susan Mary Hayman, Baroness Hayman of Ullock is a British politician and life peer who served as Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2017 to 2019. A member of the Labour Party, she was Member of Parliament (MP) for Workington from 2015 to 2019 and appointed to the House of Lords in 2020.
Huw William Merriman was a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bexhill and Battle in East Sussex from 2015 to 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, he has served as Minister of State for Rail and HS2 since October 2022. He previously chaired the Transport Select Committee between January 2020 and October 2022. Prior to his parliamentary career, Merriman was a barrister and a local councillor.
Anne-Marie Belinda Trevelyan is a British politician who served as Minister of State for Indo-Pacific under Rishi Sunak between October 2022 to July 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, she was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Berwick-upon-Tweed from 2015 until 2024. She previously served in the Cabinets of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.
Olukemi Olufunto "Kemi" Badenoch is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Business and Trade from 2023 to 2024 and President of the Board of Trade and as Minister for Women and Equalities from 2022 to 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, she served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Saffron Walden in Essex from 2017 to 2024. In the 2024 general election, she was elected to the new seat of North West Essex.
A by-election took place in the British parliamentary constituency of Copeland on 23 February 2017, following the resignation of Labour Member of Parliament (MP) Jamie Reed. Conservative candidate Trudy Harrison gained the seat from Labour, the first gain for a governing party in a by-election since 1982.
Rachel Helen Maclean is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Redditch in Worcestershire since 2017. 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.
Sir Simon Richard Clarke is a British Conservative politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland since 2017. He briefly served as Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities from September to October 2022 and Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2021 to 2022.
Jack Edgar Brereton is a British politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Stoke-on-Trent South constituency from the 2017 general election until 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, he is a former councillor on Stoke-on-Trent City Council.
Joyce Rebekah "Joy" Morrissey is an American-born British Conservative politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Beaconsfield since 2019. She has been a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury since November 2023.
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, serving as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing and Homelessness in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities since October 2022. Prior to this, Buchan served as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury from September to October 2022.
Jane Marion Hunt is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Loughborough in Leicestershire since 2019. A member of the Conservative Party, she briefly served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Small Business, Consumers and Labour Markets from July to September 2022 under Prime Minister Boris Johnson following the July 2022 government crisis.
Suzanne Webb is a British Conservative Party politician who served as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to Prime Minister Liz Truss from September to October 2022. She was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Stourbridge from 2019 to 2024.