Helen Whately | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2024 | |
| Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions | |
| Assumed office 5 November 2024 | |
| Leader | Kemi Badenoch |
| Preceded by | Mel Stride |
| Shadow Secretary of State for Transport | |
| In office 8 July 2024 – 5 November 2024 | |
| Leader | Rishi Sunak |
| Preceded by | Louise Haigh |
| Succeeded by | Gareth Bacon |
| Minister of State for Social Care | |
| In office 26 October 2022 – 5 July 2024 | |
| Prime Minister | Rishi Sunak |
| Preceded by | Robert Jenrick |
| Succeeded by | Stephen Kinnock |
| In office 13 February 2020 – 16 September 2021 | |
| Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
| Preceded by | Caroline Dinenage |
| Succeeded by | Gillian Keegan |
| Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury | |
| In office 16 September 2021 – 7 July 2022 | |
| Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
| Preceded by | Kemi Badenoch |
| Succeeded by | Alan Mak |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Arts, Heritage and Tourism | |
| In office 10 September 2019[1] – 13 February 2020 | |
| Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
| Preceded by | Rebecca Pow |
| Succeeded by | Nigel Huddleston |
| Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party | |
| In office 17 April 2019 – 10 September 2019 | |
| Leader | Theresa May Boris Johnson |
| Preceded by | James Cleverly |
| Succeeded by | Paul Scully |
| Member of Parliament forFaversham and Mid Kent | |
| Assumed office 7 May 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Hugh Robertson |
| Majority | 1,469 (3.2%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Helen Olivia Bicknell Lightwood (1976-06-23)23 June 1976 (age 49) |
| Party | Conservative |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Residence(s) | London, England Faversham,Kent, England |
| Education | Westminster School |
| Alma mater | Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford |
| Website | helenwhately |
Helen Olivia Bicknell Whately[2] (néeLightwood;[3] born 23 June 1976) is a BritishConservative Party politician who has served asMember of Parliament (MP) forFaversham and Mid Kent since 2015 andShadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions since November 2024.[4] She wasShadow Secretary of State for Transport from July to November 2024 andMinister of State for Social Care from October 2022 to July 2024, as too previously from 2020 to 2021.[5][6] She also served asExchequer Secretary to the Treasury from 2021 to 2022.
Whately was appointedDeputy Chairman of the Conservative Party byTheresa May in 2019, and was retained in the post by new Prime MinisterBoris Johnson. She served asParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Arts, Heritage and Tourism from September 2019 to February 2020. In the2020 Cabinet reshuffle, Johnson moved her to the post of Minister of State for Social Care. Whately was the Social Care Minister during theCOVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. In the2021 Cabinet reshuffle, Johnson moved her to the post of Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, serving under ChancellorRishi Sunak. In July 2022, she resigned from office in protest at Johnson's leadership amid aGovernment crisis. She sat on thebackbenches duringLiz Truss's tenure as Prime Minister, before returning to her former role of Social Care Minister in October 2022 under Sunak until the Conservative's defeat in the2024 general election. After being appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Transport in Sunak'scaretaker shadow cabinet, she was appointedShadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions byKemi Badenoch after her election asLeader of the Conservative Party.
Helen Lightwood was born on 23 June 1976 inNorwich, and grew up nearRedhill. Her father, Robin LightwoodFRCS was a surgeon and her mother, Andreanée Wood, a physician.[7][8] She was educated at theindependent girls schoolWoldingham School, before entering thesixth form at theprivateWestminster School in London.[7][9] During her school years she undertook work experience in hospitals, with the intention of following her parents into a medical career, but Whately commented in her maiden speech as MP that it instead incentivised her to pursue a career in which she could improve healthcare as a whole.[10]
After leaving school, she taught English in ruralNepal for a year.[8] Lightwood studiedPhilosophy, Politics and Economics atLady Margaret Hall, Oxford,[7][11] and was a member of debating society theOxford Union, but she did not have any interest in student politics, later saying that she felt that it "did not seem to be about getting stuff done".[7]
After university, she worked atPwC for two years as a management consultant trainee, before working atAOL, where she was involved in setting up its internet film service.[8][12][13] After this she worked as a media policy advisor for the then Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport andConservative MPHugo Swire. This experience inspired Whately to pursue a political career.[7] In 2008, British society magazineTatler selected Whately as one of ten young rising stars of the Conservative Party and tipped her as a future health secretary.[14]
From 2007 to 2015, Whately worked as an engagement manager for the management consultancy firmMcKinsey & Company in its healthcare division.[13][15]
Whately was theConservativecandidate forKingston and Surbiton at the2010 general election, coming second with 36.5% of the vote behind the incumbentLiberal Democrat MPEd Davey.[16][17][18][19]
In February 2015 Whately was selected by theConservative Party to contestFaversham and Mid Kent in anall-women shortlist.[20] At the2015 general election, Whately was elected to Parliament as MP for Faversham and Mid Kent with 54.4% of the vote and a majority of 16,652.[21][22][23]
Whately made her maiden speech on 2 June, which focused on theNational Health Service.[10]
In July 2015, she was elected to sit on the CommonsHealth Select Committee.[24]
In December 2015, Whately voted in support of Prime MinisterDavid Cameron's plans to carry out airstrikes againstISIL targets in Syria.[25]
Whately supported the United Kingdom remaining in theEuropean Union in the2016 membership referendum.[26]
In July 2016, Whately was appointed as theParliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the International Trade MinisterGreg Hands.[13] In October 2016, she was selected to chair the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Mental Health and the APPG for Fruit and Vegetable Farmers.[27][28][29]
In February 2017, she voted to support the Government's motion for theinvoking of Article 50 to formally start the process of the UK's withdrawal from the EU. Whately explained her decision as honouring the result of the Brexit referendum.[30][31]
Whately was re-elected as MP for Faversham and Mid Kent at the snap2017 general election with an increased vote share of 61.1% and an increased majority of 17,413.[32]
Following the election she became the PPS to theSecretary of State for Education andMinister for Women and Equalities,Justine Greening.[33] She also became chairwoman of the APPG for Health, and Personalised Medicine and continued to chair the APPG for Mental Health, and Fruit and Vegetable Farmers.[34][35][36]
In July 2017, Whately was criticised for accepting several thousand pounds' worth of hospitality from theSaudi Arabian government before going on to defend its record in a parliamentary debate. The debate followed an urgent question by Liberal Democrat MPTom Brake over fears of the imminent execution of 14 men for protest-related offences, including a number who were children at the time of their alleged offences. Whately had urged parliamentarians to "appreciate that the government of Saudi Arabia is taking to steps to improve their actions on human rights", but was criticised by an OppositionLabour Party MP as a "serial apologist for the régime".[37][38]
In January 2018, she was appointed as PPS toBrandon Lewis, theMinister without Portfolio andConservative Party chairman.[39][40] In July 2018, she became Vice-Chair of the Conservative Party for Women, afterMaria Caulfield stood down in protest at the Government's approach to Brexit.[41][42]
In April 2019, Whately voted for Prime Minister Theresa May'sBrexit withdrawal agreement. She also stated her opposition to areferendum on any Brexit withdrawal agreement.[43]
On 17 April, Whately was promoted Deputy Chair of the Conservative Party.[44][45] On 10 September, she was appointed asParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Arts, Heritage and Tourism by Prime MinisterBoris Johnson.[46]
Whately was again re-elected at the2019 general election with an increased vote share of 63.2% and an increased majority of 21,976.[47]
In February 2020, Whately joined theDepartment for Health and Social Care as theMinister of State for Social Care.[48]
Whately was appointedExchequer Secretary to the Treasury in the2021 Cabinet reshuffle.[49] She resigned on the morning of 7 July 2022 as part of aseries of mass resignations against Prime Minister Boris Johnson.[50]
At the2024 general election, Whately was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 31.8% and a decreased majority of 1,469.[51]
Following the Conservative Party's defeat in the general election and the subsequent formation of theStarmer ministry, Whately was appointedShadow Transport Secretary in Rishi Sunak'scaretaker Shadow Cabinet.[52] Upon Kemi Badenoch's victory in the2024 Conservative Leadership election Whately was appointedShadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.[53]
Whately campaigned withKent County Council for two new schools to be opened inMaidstone, to relieve pressure onprimary school places, as well as offering more places for children withspecial needs.[54] This resulted in the opening of Maidstone Primary Academy and the secondaryspecial school of Bearsted Academy.[55][56]
She campaigned against Maidstone's Local Plan (a policy document that defines the framework for development in the area until 2031)[57] as she felt that it did not have enough funding for improvements in infrastructure and roads and could damage local landmarks such asLeeds Castle.[58] Both Whately andMaidstone and The Weald MPHelen Grant wrote to the thenSecretary of State for Communities and Local GovernmentSajid Javid in September 2017 to intervene in the matter, but he declined as he felt that it was a decision that should be made locally.[59][60]Maidstone Borough Council formally adopted the Local Plan in October.[61]
Whately and her family divide their time between homes in London and a village nearFaversham.[62][63] In 2005 she married Marcus Whately (whom she met at theUniversity of Oxford),[64][8] the founder and co-chief executive officer of an energy company.[13][65] They have three children. She has one elder brother, Robert Lightwood.[7] Between 2015-2019, she was a vice-president of theMaidstone branch of the learning disability charityMencap.[66] Helen stood down from this position and it has been vacant since 2020.[67]
As a horse rider she was a member of the British Junior Eventing Squad, and at university she was captain of the riding team and won twohalf-blues.[8]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forFaversham and Mid Kent 2015–present | Incumbent |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party 2019 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Arts, Heritage and Tourism 2019–2020 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Minister of State for Social Care 2020–2021 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury 2021–2022 | Succeeded by |
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