Harriett Baldwin
MP
Official portrait, 2020
Chair of the Treasury Select Committee
Assumed office
9 November 2022
Preceded byMel Stride
Angela Eagle (acting)
Minister of State for Africa and International Development
In office
9 January 2018 – 25 July 2019
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Preceded byRory Stewart
Succeeded byAndrew Stephenson
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence Procurement
In office
17 July 2016 – 9 January 2018
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Preceded byPhilip Dunne
Succeeded byGuto Bebb
Economic Secretary to the Treasury
In office
11 May 2015 – 16 July 2016
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded byAndrea Leadsom
Succeeded bySimon Kirby
Lord Commissioner of the Treasury
In office
14 July 2014 – 8 May 2015
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded bySam Gyimah
Succeeded byMel Stride
Member of Parliament
for West Worcestershire
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded byMichael Spicer
Majority24,499 (42.6%)[1]
Personal details
Born
Harriett Mary Morison Eggleston

(1960-05-02) 2 May 1960
Watford, Hertfordshire, England
Political partyConservative
Spouse
James Baldwin
​
(m. 2004)​
EducationFriends' School, Saffron Walden
Marlborough College
Alma materLady Margaret Hall, Oxford
McGill University
WebsiteOfficial website

Harriett Mary Morison Baldwin (née Eggleston; born 2 May 1960) is a British Conservative Party politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for West Worcestershire since 2010. Baldwin was Minister of State for Africa and International Development between January 2018 and July 2019. In 2022, Baldwin was elected Chair of the Treasury Select Committee.

Prior to her parliamentary career, she worked for the investment bank JPMorgan Chase.

Early life and career

Harriett Mary Morison Eggleston was born on 2 May 1960 in Watford, Hertfordshire to Anthony Francis Eggleston and Jane Morison Buxton.[2] Her father was a former headmaster of the private Felsted School in Essex and the Campion School in Athens.[3][4] During his tenure as headmaster at Felsted School, he allowed the admission of girls to the sixth form in 1970.[5] Her childhood was spent in Cyprus and in the village of Felsted.[6] Her early education was at the Friends' School, Saffron Walden, and Marlborough College in Wiltshire (both independent schools).

Baldwin studied French and Russian at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford.[7] She also obtained an MBA from McGill University in Montreal, Canada.[8]

Baldwin joined the investment bank JPMorgan Chase in 1986, becoming managing director and head of currency management at their London office in 1998. She later became a pension fund manager at the bank before leaving in 2008.[7][9] She served as vice-chair of Social Investment Business between 2008 and 2012.[10]

Parliamentary career

At the 2005 general election, Baldwin contested the Stockton North constituency. She came second to incumbent Labour Party MP Frank Cook.[11]

Following the retirement of Michael Spicer at the 2010 general election, she was elected to the safe Conservative seat of West Worcestershire.[12][13] During the coalition government headed by Prime Minister David Cameron, she was a member of the Work and Pensions Select Committee until she was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister of State for Employment Mark Hoban at the Department of Work and Pensions in 2012.[7] Baldwin was also a member of the UK's delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.[14]

In 2013, she attempted to claim a £50 donation to a local hospice as an expense. This was rejected by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority. From 2010 to 2018, Baldwin successfully claimed £1.1 million in expenses.[15]

In February 2014, Baldwin became an assistant government whip and in the government reshuffle in July, she was promoted to the role of Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury.[9]

Following the 2015 election, in which the Conservative Party won an overall majority, she was promoted to Economic Secretary to the Treasury and City Minister.[16] Baldwin was also appointed as the Prime Minister's Trade Envoy to Russia.[9] She supported the UK remaining within the EU in the 2016 membership referendum.[17]

In July 2016, Baldwin was appointed as the Parliamentary Under-Secretary and the Minister for Defence Procurement at the Ministry of Defence as part of the Government reshuffle by new Prime Minister Theresa May.[18][19]

Baldwin was Minister of State for Africa and International Development between January 2018 and July 2019.[20][21] She voted for then Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit withdrawal agreement.[17] In the 2019 Conservative Party leadership election, Baldwin supported Jeremy Hunt.[17]

Baldwin has been a member of the Treasury Select Committee since March 2020 and was elected its chair in 2022.[22]

On 26 May 2020, she called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson's then chief advisor Dominic Cummings to resign, following an alleged breach of lockdown rules.[23] Baldwin voted for the "second lockdown" in November 2020. She is a steering committee member of the lockdown-sceptic COVID Recovery Group, a group of Conservative MPs who opposed the UK government's December 2020 lockdown.[24]

She supported Penny Mordaunt in the October 2022 Conservative Party leadership election.[25]

Personal life

Harriett married James Stanley Baldwin in 2004; she has two stepdaughters and a son from a previous marriage.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Worcestershire West Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
  2. 1 2 "Baldwin, Harriett Mary Morison, (born 2 May 1960), MP (C) West Worcestershire, since 2010; Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence, since 2016". Who's Who. 2010. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.251096.
  3. ↑ Eggleston, Anthony Francis. A & C Black. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U14756. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4. Archived from the original on 3 November 2019. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  4. ↑ "The Old Felstedian 2016". Felsted School. p. 11. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  5. ↑ "Felste 450 Souvenir Brochure". Felsted School. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  6. ↑ "Harriett Baldwin: Voice of experience". Politics Home. 5 July 2012. Archived from the original on 7 April 2016. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  7. 1 2 3 "The Conservative women on the rise in Cameron's reshuffle". BBC News. 15 July 2014. Archived from the original on 24 June 2019. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  8. ↑ "Meet the MP: Harriett Baldwin". BBC News. 5 July 2010. Archived from the original on 13 April 2019. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  9. 1 2 3 Hopkins, Kathryn; Aldrick, Philip; Fildes, Nic (26 May 2015). "Osborne turns to City insiders as he finally picks own team". The Times.(subscription required)
  10. ↑ Brown, Adrian; Behrens, Lina; Schuster, Anna (July 2015). "A Tale of Two Funds". The Boston Consulting Group. p. 22. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  11. ↑ "Result: Stockton North". BBC News. 6 May 2005. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  12. ↑ "Cameron warned on Tory core vote". BBC News. 17 July 2006. Archived from the original on 18 July 2006. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  13. ↑ "Worcestershire West". BBC News. Archived from the original on 21 April 2018. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  14. ↑ "Membership of the UK Delegation". parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 23 April 2019. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  15. ↑ Adams, Callum (15 January 2018). "Minister for Africa promoted in the reshuffle tried to claim a £50 donation to a local hospice". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 14 April 2019. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  16. ↑ "Harriet Baldwin given City Minister position". ITV.com. Archived from the original on 14 May 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  17. 1 2 3 Maguire, Patrick (28 July 2019). "Sacked minister Harriett Baldwin to run for Treasury committee chair". New Statesman. Archived from the original on 30 July 2019. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  18. ↑ "New ministerial and government appointments announced on July 17 2016 - Press releases - GOV.UK". gov.uk. Archived from the original on 17 July 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  19. ↑ "Defence Minister attends land event Dynamic Vehicle Demonstration 2016". gov.uk. 9 September 2016. Archived from the original on 27 August 2019. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  20. ↑ "Harriett Baldwin MP". gov.uk. Archived from the original on 25 July 2019. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
  21. ↑ "Harriett Baldwin MP loses job after PM's government reshuffle". Worcester News. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  22. ↑ "Parliamentary career for Harriett Baldwin". parliament.uk. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  23. ↑ Baldwin, Harriett (26 May 2020). "DC Response Updated" (PDF). Harriett Baldwin. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  24. ↑ Hope, Christopher (10 November 2020). "Tory lockdown rebels unite to form Covid Recovery Group". The Telegraph.
  25. ↑ "Johnson, Mordaunt or Sunak: who is backing whom as next Tory leader". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
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