Julia Lopez
MP
Official portrait, 2020
Minister of State for Data and Digital Infrastructure
Assumed office
20 December 2023
Prime MinisterRishi Sunak
Preceded byJohn Whittingdale
In office
7 March 2023 – 9 May 2023
Prime MinisterRishi Sunak
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byJohn Whittingdale
Minister of State for Media, Tourism and Creative Industries[lower-alpha 1]
Assumed office
20 December 2023
Prime MinisterRishi Sunak
Preceded byJohn Whittingdale
In office
7 September 2022 – 9 May 2023
Prime MinisterLiz Truss
Rishi Sunak
Preceded byMatt Warman
Succeeded byJohn Whittingdale
In office
16 September 2021 – 6 July 2022
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byJohn Whittingdale
Succeeded byMatt Warman
Minister on Leave
In office
9 May 2023 – 20 December 2023[lower-alpha 2]
Prime MinisterRishi Sunak
Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office
In office
14 February 2020 – 15 September 2021
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byJeremy Quin
Succeeded byHeather Wheeler
Member of Parliament
for Hornchurch and Upminster
Assumed office
8 June 2017
Preceded byDame Angela Watkinson
Majority23,308 (43.2%)[1]
Personal details
Born
Julia Louise Dockerill[2]

June 1984 (age 39)
Harlow, Essex, England
Political partyConservative
Children2
Alma materQueens' College, Cambridge
Websitejulialopez.co.uk

Julia Louise Lopez (née Dockerill; born June 1984)[3] is a British Conservative Party politician who has been both Minister of State for Data and Digital Infrastructure and Minister of State for Media, Tourism and Creative Industries since 2023. She has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Hornchurch and Upminster in Greater London since the 2017 general election.[4]

Before entering the House of Commons, she served as a local councillor on the Tower Hamlets London Borough Council, and a parliamentary aide. Lopez previously served as Minister of State for Media, Data and Digital Infrastructure from September 2021 to July 2022,[5] and again from September 2022 to February 2023.

Early life

Julia Louise Dockerill was born at Harlow[6] and grew up in Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, with her two sisters. Her mother was a primary school teacher and her father was a businessman.[7] After Bentfield Primary School, she attended the Hertfordshire and Essex High School in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, before going up to Queens' College, Cambridge, where she read Social and Political Sciences.[3][8]

Career

From 2006, a researcher in the parliamentary office of then-MP for Cities of London and Westminster and Conservative Party Vice-Chairman, Mark Field, she became his chief of staff and co-authored two of his books Between the Crashes and The Best of Times. Lopez has also worked as a ghostwriter.[9] Whilst Lopez was Field's parliamentary aide she was photographed in November 2016 carrying confidential notes on a Brexit-related meeting in Downing Street which indicated that the UK would not stay in the single market, and would not seek a transitional deal with the EU.[10][11]

In 2014, Lopez was elected a councillor for St Katharine's and Wapping Ward on Tower Hamlets London Borough Council.[9][12] In April 2017, she was selected as the Conservative candidate for Hornchurch and Upminster. The seat was previously held since its creation in 2010 by Conservative MP Angela Watkinson who had also represented the earlier constituency of Upminster since 2001.[13] Lopez was elected to Parliament at the 2017 general election with a majority of 17,723 (31.6%) votes.[14] From September 2017, she sat on the Parliamentary International Trade Select Committee.[15]

Lopez supported Brexit in the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum. She voted against then Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit withdrawal agreement in early 2019. In the indicative votes on 27 March, she voted against a referendum on a withdrawal agreement.[16] In October, Lopez voted for Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit withdrawal agreement.[17] At the December 2019 general election, she was returned with 65.8% of the vote, and an increased majority of 23,308 (43.2%) votes.[1]

A Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office from February 2020 to September 2021, Lopez was appointed Minister of State for Media and Data in the 2021 British cabinet reshuffle.[18]

On 6 July 2022, Lopez resigned from government, citing Boris Johnson's handling of the Chris Pincher scandal, in a joint statement with fellow Ministers Kemi Badenoch, Neil O'Brien, Lee Rowley and Alex Burghart.[19] She then supported Kemi Badenoch in the July 2022 Conservative Party leadership election.[20]

In September 2022, Prime Minister Liz Truss reappointed her to government as a Minister in the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.[21] In October 2022, she was reappointed by Truss' successor as PM Rishi Sunak.[22]

In April 2023, it was announced that Lopez was to take maternity leave from her ministerial posts, under the terms of the Ministerial and other Maternity Allowances Act 2021, to be temporarily replaced by Sir John Whittingdale.[23]

Personal life

Married since September 2017 to Lorenzo Lopez, the couple have two children.[24]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Minister of State for Media, Data and Digital Infrastructure from September 2021 to July 2022 and again from September 2022 to February 2023.
  2. ↑ In accordance with the Ministerial and other Maternity Allowances Act 2021 John Whittingdale temporarily served as Minister of State for Media, Tourism and Creative Industries during the Lopez's maternity leave

References

  1. 1 2 "Hornchurch & Upminster". BBC News. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  2. ↑ "No. 61961". The London Gazette. 19 June 2017. p. 11776.
  3. 1 2 Carr, Tim; Dale, Iain; Waller, Robert (7 September 2017). The Politicos Guide to the New House of Commons 2017. Biteback Publishing. pp. 262–263. ISBN 978-1-78590-278-9.
  4. ↑ Anderson, Hayley (9 June 2017). "Election 2017: Conservative's Romford candidate Andrew Rosindell and Hornchurch and Upminster Julia Dockerill both win majority vote". Romford Recorder. Retrieved 9 June 2017..
  5. ↑ "Ministerial Appointments: September 2022". GOV.UK. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  6. ↑ "England & Wales Births 1837–2006". Findmypast. Retrieved 4 November 2019.(subscription required)
  7. ↑ Lopez, Julia. "About Julia Lopez MP". Julia Lopez. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  8. ↑ "Dockerill, Julia Louise". Who's Who. Vol. 2018 (online ed.). A & C Black. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  9. 1 2 Wallace, Mark (26 April 2017). "Cllr Julia Dockerill selected for Hornchurch and Upminster". ConservativeHome. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  10. ↑ Elgot, Jessica; Rankin, Jennifer (29 November 2016). "Minister dismisses 'have cake and eat it' Brexit notes". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  11. ↑ Kenber, Billy; McGrath, Hannah (13 June 2017). "Fresh faces make up the most diverse group of MPs in history". The Times. Retrieved 4 November 2019.(subscription required)
  12. ↑ "Election results for St Katharine's & Wapping". Tower Hamlets Council. 22 May 2014. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  13. ↑ Anderson, Hayley (19 April 2017). "Election 2017: Hornchurch and Upminster MP Dame Angela Watkinson to step down". Romford Recorder. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  14. ↑ "Hornchurch and Upminster". parliament.uk. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  15. ↑ "Julia Lopez MP". parliament.uk. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  16. ↑ "How MPs voted on May's withdrawal deal defeat". Financial Times. 29 March 2019. Archived from the original on 2 September 2019.
  17. ↑ Buchan, Lizzy (22 October 2019). "How your MP voted for Boris Johnson's Brexit deal". The Independent. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  18. ↑ "Julia Lopez MP". gov.uk. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  19. ↑ Duffy, Nick (6 July 2022). "Five ministers quit in joint resignation letter as PM faces growing pressure to go". i. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  20. ↑ "The other race for Downing Street". Politico. 13 July 2022. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
  21. ↑ "Robert Jenrick back in government as Liz Truss picks junior ministers". BBC News. 7 September 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  22. ↑ "Ministerial Appointments commencing: 25 October 2022". gov.uk. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  23. ↑ "Ministerial Appointments: April 2023". GOV.UK. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
  24. ↑ "About Julia Lopez MP". Julia Lopez. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
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