Harriet Cross | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2025 | |
| Opposition Assistant Whip | |
| Assumed office 18 November 2024 | |
| Leader | Kemi Badenoch |
| Member of Parliament forGordon and Buchan | |
| Assumed office 4 July 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Richard Thomson |
| Majority | 878 (2.0%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Harriet Iona Cross 1990 or 1991 (age 34–35) Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England |
| Party | Scottish Conservatives |
| Education | Bandon Grammar School |
| Alma mater | Imperial College London (BSc) University of Reading (MSc) |
| Occupation |
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| Website | www |
Harriet Iona Cross[1] (born 1990 or 1991)[2] is a BritishConservative Party politician serving asMember of Parliament forGordon and Buchan since the2024 general election.[3]
Cross was born inHarrogate, North Yorkshire and grew up inWest Cork,Ireland where her mother was from. She attendedBandon Grammar School inBandon, County Cork before the family moved toAberdeenshire owing to her father's work, when she was sixteen.[4][5] She studiedzoology atImperial College London before earning amaster's degree in Rural Land and Business Management and from theUniversity of Reading.[5][6] In 2018, she returned to Aberdeenshire to work as a ruralsurveyor.[7]
Cross stood as theConservative candidate forAberdeen Donside at the2021 Scottish Parliament election, finishing second toJackie Dunbar with 9,488 votes (26.42%).[2]She was also ninth on the party list for theNorth East Scotland region.[8]
Cross was elected as the MP for the newly created merged seat ofGordon and Buchan at the 2024 UK general election with a narrow majority of 878 votes. The result was the worst defeat nationwide for the Conservative Party in the history of the UK, eclipsing the 1906 and 1997 landslide defeats for Conservative governments. Prior to 2024, the Gordon seat was held by the Scottish Conservatives and the Banff and Buchan seat held by the SNP.[9] In the2024 UK Conservative party leadership election she backedTom Tugendhat.[10]
In September 2024, Cross criticised theBank of Scotland's proposal to close its Ellon branch, leaving the area without a single bank branch. Despite her opposition to the decision, alongside several members of the community, the sole remaining bank branch in the town permanently closed down on 10 September 2024.[11]
Cross was appointed an Opposition AssistantWhip in November 2024.[12]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| New constituency | Member of Parliament forGordon and Buchan 2024–present | Incumbent |
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