Andrea Leadsom

Andrea Leadsom
MP
Minister of State at the Department of Energy and Climate Change
Assumed office
11 May 2015
Prime Minister David Cameron
Preceded by Amber Rudd
Economic Secretary to the Treasury
In office
9 April 2014 – 11 May 2015
Prime Minister David Cameron
Chancellor George Osborne
Preceded by Nicky Morgan
Succeeded by Harriett Baldwin
Member of Parliament
for South Northamptonshire
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded by Constituency created
Majority 26,416 (43.4%)
Personal details
Born (1963-05-13) 13 May 1963
Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire[1]
Nationality British
Political party Conservative
Spouse(s) Ben Leadsom
Children 3
Alma mater University of Warwick
Religion Anglican

Andrea Jacqueline Leadsom[2] (born 13 May 1963)[1][3] is the Conservative Member of Parliament for South Northamptonshire.[4] She has served as Minister of State for Energy at the Department of Energy and Climate Change since 11 May 2015, having previously held the post of Economic Secretary to the Treasury from April 2014.[5]

Early life

Leadsom was born in Aylesbury and attended Tonbridge Girls' Grammar School before reading Political Science at the University of Warwick.[1]

Career before Parliament

Leadsom worked in the financial sector for BZW, Barclays Bank - where she was Financial Institutions Director from 1993 to 1997 - and was Managing Director of De Putron Fund Management (DPFM) between 1997 and 1999. She was Chief Investment Officer at Invesco Perpetual from 1999 to 2009.[1]

Political career

Prior to becoming an MP, Leadsom was a Councillor on South Oxfordshire District Council between 2003 and 2007.[1][6] She contested Knowsley South constituency in the 2005 general election[1][6] and was a member of the Conservative A-List.[7] She was chosen to stand as the candidate in the newly created South Northamptonshire constituency in June 2006 and was elected at the 2010 general election with a majority of more than 20,000.

After entering the House of Commons, she was appointed a member of the Treasury Select Committee.[6]

In July 2012, during the Libor scandal, she was widely reported on for her effectiveness at getting to the bottom of the scale of the mismanagement of risk in banks during the Treasury Committee's questioning of Bob Diamond.[8] At a subsequent hearing with the Bank of England she also questioned Paul Tucker who confirmed that the previous government had not conspired with the Bank to fix rates. In a BBC Interview, Leadsom stated that the suggestion "has now been completely squashed by Paul Tucker", and that on that specific point, George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, might want to apologise to Ed Balls for "suggesting he was implicated in rate fixing", although she also pointed out that Balls "still has a huge amount to answer for in relation to the scandal and his time in office".[9]

Leadsom was one of 5 MPs to abstain from the Government's Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill by voting in both lobbies[10] Leadsom had earlier said she found the wording of the legislation “unacceptable”, and that voting no reflect the views of “so many” of her constituents, who felt that the bill was “deeply wrong”,[11] but ultimately chose to abstain, saying "I find myself genuinely torn... I cannot vote against a measure that would mean so much to the minority of homosexual couples for whom marriage is the ultimate recognition for their genuine feelings for each other. Yet nor can I vote for a measure that risks centuries of faith based belief in marriage."

Leadsom was a founder and leader of the Fresh Start Project seeking reform of the UK's relationship with the European Union.

Leadsom was re-elected as MP for South Northamptonshire on 7 May 2015 with 36,607 votes, compared to her nearest rival Lucy Mills (Labour), with 10,191 votes. On 11 May 2015, Leadsom was moved from Economic Secretary to the Treasury, to Minister of State at the Department of Energy and Climate Change.

Economic Secretary to the Treasury

On 9 April 2014 Leadsom was appointed Economic Secretary to the Treasury in the mini-reshuffle caused by Maria Miller's resignation from the Cabinet.

Following her appointment, it was discovered that she had placed her shares in a buy-to-let property company, which she had started with her husband in 2003, into trusts for the benefit of her children. This is a move that is commonly used to avoid inheritance tax. She also took advantage of offshore banking arrangements for the property company in an apparent contradiction to George Osborne’s attempts to crack down on tax avoidance.[12] A spokesperson for Leadsom said: “This is a normal corporate situation and all tax that is due is being paid. None of the loans for the properties are based offshore”.

There was further criticism when it was revealed that she had received a series of donations totalling £70,000 from a firm based in London but owned by her Guernsey-based brother-in-law, Peter de Putron, via a holding company in the British Virgin Islands tax haven.[13] Leadsom’s husband Ben is a director of the firm which made the donations, which were used to pay the salaries of staff in Leadsom’s Westminster office after her election as MP; the firm has also made donations of £816,000 to the Conservative party.[14] Because the firm making the donations, Gloucester Research (later becoming GR Software and Research) was based in London the donations conformed to the rule banning political donations from abroad. The Labour MP Tom Watson said: “These very large donations might be within the rules, but it certainly isn’t right that a Treasury minister has been taking money in this way. Most reasonable people will see this as completely unreasonable”.[13]

Minister of State at DECC

Appointed as Minister of State at the Department for Energy and Climate Change 11 May 2015 [15] despite her previous opposition to Wind farms and European Renewable energy targets[16]

Constituency

Leadsom is a founding trustee and now a Patron of NORPIP, the Northamptonshire Parent Infant Partnership, a charity providing therapeutic support to help parents bond with their babies who have insecure attachment. She also founded PIPUK, the National body for Parent Infant Partnerships which has gone on to set up PIP's across the UK in 4 additional counties since its inception.[17] In 2009 she launched the Towcester job club, followed in 2011 by a job club in Brackley.[18]

Personal life

She married Ben Leadsom in 1993 and has two sons and one daughter.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ‘LEADSOM, Andrea Jacqueline’, Who's Who 2013, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2013; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2012 ; online edn, Nov 2012 accessed 2 Jan 2013
  2. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 59418. p. 8744. 13 May 2010.
  3. ↑ Andrea Leadsom – Parliamentary candidates – Telegraph. Ukpolitics.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved on 2012-05-08.
  4. ↑ Home. Andrea Leadsom. Retrieved on 2012-05-08.
  5. ↑ Andrea Leadsom MP. Retrieved on 2015-10-06
  6. 1 2 3 Andrea Leadsom, www.parliament.org. Retrieved 2013-01-02.
  7. ↑ ConservativeHome's Seats & Candidates blog: Where are the original A-Listers now? The 18 who have been selected for Conservative seats. Conservativehome.blogs.com (2009-04-21). Retrieved on 2012-05-08.
  8. ↑ Wright, Oliver (9 July 2012). "'It's fair to say we were useless against Diamond' - Leadsom". The Independent.
  9. ↑ "Libor scandal: William Hague rejects Ed Balls apology calls". BBC news. 10 July 2012. Retrieved 10 July 2012.
  10. ↑ Lowther, Ed (5 March 2013). "Yes but, no but... MPs who vote both ways". BBC. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  11. ↑ "Tory Northamptonshire MP: "I support the love of gay couples but it is unacceptable for them to be able to marry", www.pinknews.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-02-01
  12. ↑ Harper, Tom (17 April 2014). "Revealed: how City minister Andrea Leadsom used controversial trusts to reduce her potential inheritance-tax bill". The Independent (London). Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  13. 1 2 Armitage, Jim; McSmith, Andy; Harper, Tom (13 July 2014). "Andrea Leadsom received £70,000 donation from family firm with parent company controlled in tax haven". The Independent (London). Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  14. ↑ Leigh, David; Ball, James; Haddou, Leila (8 July 2014). "Top Tory has family link with offshore banker who gave party £800,000". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  15. ↑ Private Eye (2014). “Andrea Leadsom: Family funds”, Private Eye, Issue No. 1371, 25 July – 7 August 2014.
  16. ↑ Murray, James. "Andrea Leadsom appointed as Energy and Climate Change Minister". businessgreen. Retrieved 11 June 2015.
  17. ↑ "NORPIP:Board of trustees". NORPIP Nothamptonshire Parent Infant partnership. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
  18. ↑ "Andrea Leadsom:Job Clubs". Retrieved 2 February 2014.

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
New constituency Member of Parliament for South Northamptonshire
2010–present 		Incumbent
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