The Baroness Bottomley of Nettlestone | |||||||||||||||||||
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 Official portrait, 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Shadow Secretary of State for National Heritage | |||||||||||||||||||
| In office 2 May 1997 – 11 June 1997 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Leader | John Major | ||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Jack Cunningham | ||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Francis Maude | ||||||||||||||||||
| Secretary of State for National Heritage | |||||||||||||||||||
| In office 5 July 1995 – 2 May 1997 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | John Major | ||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Stephen Dorrell | ||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Chris Smith | ||||||||||||||||||
| Secretary of State for Health | |||||||||||||||||||
| In office 10 April 1992 – 5 July 1995 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | John Major | ||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | William Waldegrave | ||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Stephen Dorrell | ||||||||||||||||||
| Minister of State for Health | |||||||||||||||||||
| In office 28 October 1989 – 10 April 1992 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher John Major | ||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Anthony Trafford | ||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Brian Mawhinney | ||||||||||||||||||
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment | |||||||||||||||||||
| In office 25 July 1988 – 28 October 1989 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher | ||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | David Trippier | ||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | David Heathcoat-Amory | ||||||||||||||||||
| Chancellor of theUniversity of Hull | |||||||||||||||||||
| In office 12 April 2006 – 1 July 2023 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Vice Chancellor | Dave Petley (2022-23) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Robert Armstrong | ||||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Alan Johnson | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1948-03-12)12 March 1948 (age 77)[1] Dunoon, Scotland | ||||||||||||||||||
| Political party | Conservative | ||||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | |||||||||||||||||||
| Children | Josh · Cecilia · Adela | ||||||||||||||||||
| Education | Putney High School | ||||||||||||||||||
| Alma mater | University of Essex (BA) London School of Economics (MA) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Signature |  | ||||||||||||||||||
| Website | Official website | ||||||||||||||||||
Virginia Hilda Brunette Maxwell Bottomley, Baroness Bottomley of Nettlestone,PC DL (néeGarnett, born 12 March 1948) is a BritishConservative Party politician andheadhunter. She was aMember of Parliament (MP) in theHouse of Commons from 1984 to 2005. She became a member of theHouse of Lords in 2005.
Virginia Hilda Brunette Maxwell Garnett was born inDunoon, Scotland, to Barbara Rutherford-Smith,Jarrow hunger marcher, a teacher and elected Conservative member of theInner London Education Authority andW. John Garnett CBE, former director of what was then calledThe Industrial Society, grandson of Cambridge physicist and educational adviserWilliam Garnett and of Sir Edward Poulton, Hope professor of zoology at Oxford.[3][4] Her paternal aunt wasLabourGreater London Council memberPeggy Jay. She metPeter Bottomley, her future husband, when she was 12 years old; they wed seven years later In 1967.
Bottomley was atPutney High School, in southwest London, before studying sociology at theUniversity of Essex. She graduated again MSc at theLondon School of Economics.
She began her working life as a social scientist and was a researcher for theChild Poverty Action Group.[5] She was apsychiatric social worker with the Institute of Psychiatry, amagistrate (Justice of the Peace), and she chaired an Inner London Juvenile Court.[6]
After unsuccessfully contesting theIsle of Wight in the1983 general election (34,904 votes), she was elected toParliament with 21,545 votes in aby-election in 1984 (filling the seat left vacant by the death ofMaurice Macmillan, son of former prime ministerHarold Macmillan),[7] as the Member forSouth West Surrey. She was PPS toChris Patten and then to Foreign SecretarySir Geoffrey Howe. She received her first ministerial position in 1988 as aParliamentary Under-Secretary at theDepartment of the Environment[8][9] and was appointedMinister of State at theDepartment of Health in 1989.[9] She was appointed a member of thePrivy Council (PC) upon joiningJohn Major's Cabinet asSecretary of State for Health in 1992,[10][11] becoming the ninth woman to serve in the British cabinet.[12] She served as Health Secretary until 1995.[13]
Bottomley andAnn Widdecombe have been listed as co-founders ofLady Olga Maitland's pro-nuclearWomen and Families for Defence group.[14]
She served asSecretary of State for National Heritage from 1995 to 1997.[11][15] During this period, she appeared in theEurovision Song Contest 1996, wishing luck to the United Kingdom's entrant,Gina G, in her postcard.[16]
After the1997 general election, she returned to thebackbenches, and became aheadhunter at Odgers, where she headed and now chairs the company's Board & CEO Practice.[17]
She stepped down from the House of Commons when the2005 general election was called.[7] On 24 June 2005 she was created alife peer with the titleBaroness Bottomley of Nettlestone,ofSt Helens in the County ofIsle of Wight,[11][18] the parish where she was baptised and celebrated her marriage.
Bottomley is involved with charitable and academic bodies in addition to business. She was on the founding Council of theUniversity of the Arts, London. She was a Council Member of theDitchley Foundation and was President ofFarnham Castle, Centre for International Briefing. From 2000 until May 2012 she sat on the Supervisory Board ofAkzo Nobel, taking over Courtaulds and then ICI. She was anon-executive director ofBupa, a healthcare company. She was on the Advisory Council of theInternational Chamber of Commerce UK (ICC UK) and theJudge School of Management, Cambridge. Bottomley has been a trustee and is a fellow of the Industry and Parliament Trust. She was National President of theAbbeyfield Society[19] and a Vice-Patron of Carers and ofCruse Bereavement Care. She was alay canon ofGuildford Cathedral, and aFreeman of theCity of London.
In 2006, she was elected and installed as Chancellor of theUniversity of Hull, succeedingLord Armstrong of Ilminster in April 2006.[20] She was also appointed aDeputy Lieutenant ofSurrey on 22 March of that year andSheriff of Hull since 2013.[21][22] She is the longest serving trustee of The Economist newspaper.[23]
Virginia Garnett marriedPeter Bottomley in 1967, after the birth of their eldest child;[24][25] he was an MP from 1975 until 2024.[26]
During her time in Prime Minister John Major's cabinet, the satirical puppet showSpitting Image often portrayed Major as having an unrequited crush on Bottomley.[27]
Bottomley's family includes many figures in politics and public life. Her brother,Christopher Garnett, was the chief executive oftrain operating companyGNER.[28] Her aunt Pauline marriedRoland Hunt (who is not connected toSir Nicholas Hunt, father of Jeremy Hunt who succeeded her as MP).[citation needed]
Her cousins includePeter Jay (the formerBritish Ambassador to the United States[29] and son-in-law toJames Callaghan), andLord Hunt of Chesterton (father of historian and former Labour MPTristram Hunt).
More distant relatives includeLord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay[29] andBaron Jay of Ewelme (former FCO PUSS andBritish Ambassador to France).
Julia Cleverdon married Bottomley's late father, John.[30] Her husband's niece isKitty Ussher (a former Labour minister).[31]
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| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forSouth West Surrey 1984–2005 | Succeeded by |
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| Preceded by | Secretary of State for Health 1992–95 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Secretary of State for National Heritage 1995–97 | Succeeded by |
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