Amanda Solloway

Amanda Jane Solloway (née Edghill; born 6 June 1961)[1] is a British Conservative Party politician and Science Minister for the UK Government[2]. She has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Derby North since December 2019, having previously served from May 2015 to June 2017.

Amanda Solloway

MP
Solloway in 2020
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Science, Research and Innovation
Assumed office
14 February 2020
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byChris Skidmore
Member of Parliament
for Derby North
Assumed office
12 December 2019
Preceded byChris Williamson
Majority2,540 (5.4%)
In office
7 May 2015 – 3 May 2017
Preceded byChris Williamson
Succeeded byChris Williamson
Personal details
Born (1961-06-06) 6 June 1961
Nottingham, England
Political partyConservative
WebsiteOfficial website

Early life and education

Solloway was born Amanda Jane Edghill in Nottingham. She has a younger sister and brother.

She was educated at Bramcote Hills Grammar School at Bramcote, Broxtowe, Nottinghamshire,[3] which became comprehensive in 1978, and is now is part of Bramcote Hills Sport and Community College.

She started working at 16 behind the counter of an off-licence, worked as a management trainee at Sainsbury's and stayed for 13 years, then worked in a regional training role at Help the Aged, moved to Baird Clothing to become head of training 1998 and founded her own consultancy in 2008.[4]

Parliamentary career

Solloway was first elected in the 2015 general election for the Derby North Constituency, with a majority of 41 votes, unseating the incumbent Labour MP Chris Williamson who had been the MP for Derby North since 2010. She became a Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Minister of State for the Department of International Development.[5]

She was opposed to Brexit prior to the 2016 referendum.[6]

Solloway has been a campaigner on mental health and homelessness issues in Derby North and in Parliament.[7] She was one of three parliamentary champions for HS2, the high-speed rail network which is intended to be built between London and the North.[8]

Solloway lost her seat in the 2017 general election to Williamson;[9] 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 wards in the Derby North Constituency.

Solloway regained Derby North for the Conservatives in the 2019 general election with a majority of 2,540, with Chris Williamson (standing as an independent) in sixth place.[10]

In the 2020 cabinet reshuffle on 14 February 2020, Solloway was appointed as a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Science, Research and Innovation at the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy[11] by Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Other work

Solloway spent 15 years in retail management with J Sainsbury and a further 15 years within HR in the charity sector (Help the Aged and Save the Children), and in private sector (Baird Clothing Group) supporting manufacturing, warehousing and retail.[12][13] In 2018, Solloway set up the mental health community interest company, 'Head High', which works with the community to make a difference in people's lives and champions mental health awareness.[14][15]

Personal life

Solloway lives in Borrowash in Erewash district, Derbyshire. She married Robert Solloway in 1983 in Basford, Nottinghamshire; the couple have two daughters.

Solloway is patron of the Friends Of The Baby Unit at Royal Derby Hospital.[16] She ran the London marathon, in 2016 and 2017, and, in doing so, raised money for that hospital's baby unit.[17]

Electoral history

2019 general election
General election 2019: Derby North[18]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Amanda Solloway 21,259 45.2 0.8
Labour Tony Tinley 18,719 39.8 8.7
Liberal Democrats Greg Webb 3,450 7.3 2.7
Brexit Party Alan Graves 1,908 4.1 4.1
Green Helen Hitchcock 1,046 2.2 2.2
Independent Chris Williamson 635 1.4 1.4
Majority 2,540 5.4 N/A
Turnout 47,002 64.2 5.4
Conservative gain from Labour Swing 4.8

2017 general election
General election 2017: Derby North
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour Chris Williamson 23,622 48.5 +11.9
Conservative Amanda Solloway 21,607 44.4 +7.7
Liberal Democrats Lucy Care[19] 2,262 4.6 -4.0
UKIP Bill Piper[20] 1,181 2.4 -12.2
Majority 2,015 4.1
Turnout 48,672 69.1 0.0
Labour gain from Conservative Swing +2.1

2015 general election
General election 2015: Derby North[21]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative Amanda Solloway[22] 16,402 36.7 +5.0
Labour Chris Williamson 16,361 36.6 +3.5
UKIP Tilly Ward[23] 6,532 14.6 +12.8
Liberal Democrats Lucy Care 3,832 8.6 -19.5
Green Alice Mason-Power[24] 1,618 3.6 +3.6
Majority 41 0.09
Turnout 44,745 69.1 +6.0
Conservative gain from Labour Swing +0.8
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References
  1. http://data.parliament.uk/membersdataplatform/services/mnis/members/query/House=Commons%7CIsEligible=true/ UK government finally confirms new science minister Science Business 20 Feb 2020
  3. 'SOLLOWAY, Amanda Jane', Who's Who 2016, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2016; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2015
  4. Amanda Solloway: “I switch between HR and the House of Commons” People Management 20-Feb-2020
  5. "About me". Amanda Solloway. Archived from the original on 19 April 2017.
  6. Goodenough, Tom (16 February 2016). "Which Tory MPs back Brexit, who doesn't and who is still on the fence?". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  7. "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.
  8. "Amanda Solloway appointed HS2 Ambassador". Amanda Solloway MP. Archived from the original on 22 April 2017. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  9. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election-2017-40209957
  10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 14 December 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2019.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. https://www.gov.uk/government/ministers/parliamentary-under-secretary-of-state--130
  12. "Amanda Solloway, former MP, Derby North – TheyWorkForYou". TheyWorkForYou. Archived from the original on 19 April 2017.
  13. "Baird Group / Contact". www.bmb-clothing.co.uk. Archived from the original on 15 January 2017.
  14. https://headhigh.org.uk/
  15. "HEAD HIGH COMMUNITY INTEREST COMPANY – Overview (free company information from Companies House)". beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  16. "FOBU is delighted to announce MP Amanda Solloway as Patron – Friends of the Baby Unit Derby". www.fobuderby.co.uk. Archived from the original on 25 April 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  17. "Derby MP Amanda Solloway completes London Marathon". Derby Telegraph. 23 April 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  18. "Derby North Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
  19. "Lucy Care". libdems.org.uk. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  20. "Who are Derbyshire's UKIP candidates in the General Election?". 11 May 2017. Archived from the original on 11 May 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
  21. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  22. "Amanda Solloway". Archived from the original on 7 January 2014.
  23. "John Charlesworth: UKIP replaces its General Election candidate for Derby North". 27 February 2015. Archived from the original on 28 February 2015. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  24. "General Election: Green Party announces it will contest both Derby seats". 17 March 2015. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2015.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Chris Williamson		 Member of Parliament
for Derby North
2015–2017		 Succeeded by
Chris Williamson
Preceded by
Chris Williamson		 Member of Parliament
for Derby North
2019–present		 Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by
Chris Skidmore		 Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Science, Research and Innovation
2020–present		 Incumbent
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