Amanda_Solloway

Amanda Solloway

Amanda Solloway

British politician


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[lower-alpha 1] since February 2023.[1][2] A member of the Conservative Party, she has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Derby North since 2019, having previously served from 2015 to 2017.

Quick Facts MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Affordability and Skills ...

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.

Early life and education

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. Amanda then went on to work in a regional training role at Help the Aged before working for Baird Clothing company as head of training in 1998, and founded her own consultancy in 2008 (which is now dormant due to Parliamentary duties).

Parliamentary career

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.[6]

Solloway has been a campaigner on mental health and homelessness issues in Derby North and in Parliament.[7]

Solloway lost her seat at the 2017 general election to Williamson,[8] 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.

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.[9]

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.[10]

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.[11]

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.[12] 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.[13] [14]

Other work

Solloway spent 15 years in retail management with J Sainsbury supermarket, a further 15 years within human resources in the charity sector (Help the Aged and Save the Children), and in the private sector (Baird Clothing Group) supporting manufacturing, warehousing and retail.[15][16]

From 2017 to 2021 Solloway was the sole director and sole shareholder of Amanda Solloway Limited, a management consultancy company, which entered voluntary liquidation in December 2020.[citation needed]

Personal life

Solloway lives in Derbyshire and was patron of the Friends Of The Baby Unit at Royal Derby Hospital.[17] She ran the London Marathon, in 2016 and 2017, and, in doing so, raised money for the hospital's baby unit.

Controversies

In May 2023, Solloway was asked to repay an £80 fixed penalty notice which was issued on 2 July 2020, which she had previously claimed on expenses, according to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority's (IPSA) expenses register.[18]

Notes

  1. As Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Energy Consumers and Affordability until January 2024.

References

  1. "Ministerial Appointments: September 2022". GOV.UK. Retrieved 21 September 2022.
  2. "Amanda Solloway MP". GOV.UK. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  3. "Ministerial appointments: July 2022". GOV.UK. 7 July 2022. Retrieved 9 July 2022.
  4. "About me". Amanda Solloway. Archived from the original on 19 April 2017.
  5. "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.
  6. "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.
  7. 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.
  8. "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State - GOV.UK". Archived from the original on 18 February 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  9. "Amanda Solloway, former MP, Derby North – TheyWorkForYou". TheyWorkForYou. mySociety. Archived from the original on 19 April 2017.
  10. "Baird Group / Contact". bmb-clothing.co.uk. Archived from the original on 15 January 2017.
  11. "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.

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