The Right Honourable
Kelly Tolhurst
MP
Official portrait, 2017
Minister of State for Schools and Childhood
In office
7 September 2022 – 28 October 2022
Prime MinisterLiz Truss
Preceded byBrendan Clarke-Smith
Succeeded byClaire Coutinho
Government Deputy Chief Whip
Treasurer of the Household
In office
1 July 2022 – 7 September 2022
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byChris Pincher
Succeeded byCraig Whittaker
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing and Rough Sleeping
In office
8 September 2020 – 16 January 2021
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byLuke Hall
Succeeded byEddie Hughes
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Aviation and Maritime
In office
13 February 2020 – 8 September 2020
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byNus Ghani
Succeeded byRobert Courts
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Small Business, Consumers and Corporate Responsibility
In office
19 July 2018 – 13 February 2020
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Boris Johnson
Preceded byAndrew Griffiths
Succeeded byPaul Scully
Member of Parliament
for Rochester and Strood
Assumed office
7 May 2015
Preceded byMark Reckless
Majority17,072 (32.9%)
Member of Medway Council
for Rochester West Ward
In office
5 May 2011 – 12 January 2018[1]
Preceded byMark Reckless
Succeeded byAlex Paterson
Personal details
Born
Kelly Jane Tolhurst

(1978-08-23) 23 August 1978
Rochester, Kent, England
Political partyConservative
WebsiteCampaign website

Kelly Jane Tolhurst[2] (born 23 August 1978) is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rochester and Strood since 2015.[3] A member of the Conservative Party, she served as Minister of State for Schools and Childhood from September to October 2022.[4][5][6]

Tolhurst previously served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Rough Sleeping and Housing from 2020 to 2021, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Aviation and Maritime in 2020 and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Small Business, Consumers and Corporate Responsibility from 2018 to 2020 and was briefly Deputy Chief Whip in 2022. She is a former councillor for the Rochester West ward on Medway Council.[7]

Early life

Tolhurst was born in Rochester; her father was a local boat builder, Morris Tolhurst. She was educated locally at Chapter High School.[8] From 2008, she ran a marine survey business, called Tolhurst Associates, with her father, with employment in marketing previous to this point.[9][10]

Political career

Tolhurst was elected to the Rochester West ward on Medway Council in 2011 and served as a councillor until 2018 when she resigned. In the by-election for the ward that followed in March 2018, the seat was taken by the Labour candidate Alex Paterson.[11][12] She was selected to contest the 2014 Rochester and Strood by-election which was triggered by the defection of Mark Reckless to UKIP.[13] Tolhurst lost the by-election, held on 20 November 2014, but regained the seat for the Conservatives at the 2015 general election six months later, securing a majority of over 7,000.[14] She was re-elected in 2017.

Tolhurst has served on the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee, the European Scrutiny Committee and the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee.[15] She was made an assistant government whip during the reshuffle on 9 January 2018.[16]

Tolhurst was appointed the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Small Business, Consumers and Labour Markets at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on 19 July 2018.[17]

In February 2020, Tolhurst was appointed as the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport at the Department for Transport, succeeding Nus Ghani who had been relieved of ministerial responsibilities.

Tolhurst campaigned to remain in the European Union prior to the 2016 referendum.[18]

Tolhurst was appointed as the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Local Government and Homelessness at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in September 2020, replacing Luke Hall, who had in turn replaced Simon Clarke in a different position in the same department. She resigned from this position in January 2021 after receiving "devastating family news".[19]

On 1 July 2022, Tolhurst was appointed Government Deputy Chief Whip and Treasurer of the Household by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, following the resignation of Chris Pincher.[20]

On 7 September 2022, she was appointed Minister of State in the Department for Education.[21]

On 8 March 2023, she was appointed as a member of the Privy Council.[22]

References

  1. ↑ Hoare, Gavin. "Resignation of Councillor Kelly Tolhurst". www.medway.gov.uk.
  2. ↑ "No. 61961". The London Gazette. 19 June 2017. p. 11776.
  3. ↑ "Election 2015: Rochester & Strood parliamentary constituency". BBC News. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  4. ↑ "Ministerial Appointments: September 2022". GOV.UK. Retrieved 8 September 2022.
  5. ↑ "Minister of State (Minister for Schools and Childhood) - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
  6. ↑ "Kelly Tolhurst MP". GOV.UK. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  7. ↑ "MP resigns as local councillor". Kent Online. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
  8. ↑ "Personal website". MP. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  9. ↑ Holehouse, Matthew (14 October 2014). "Stay-at-home mother lined up to halt Ukip advance". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  10. ↑ Letts, Quentin (22 July 2015). "Stay-at-home mother lined up to halt Ukip advance". Tatler. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  11. ↑ "Previews: 08 Mar 2018". 7 March 2018.
  12. ↑ Francis, Paul (23 October 2014). "Medway councillor Kelly Tolhurst beats Anna Firth to become the Conservative candidate for the Rochester and Strood by-election". Kentonline.co.uk. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  13. ↑ "Rochester byelection: Tories select local businesswoman Kelly Tolhurst". The Guardian. 23 October 2014. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  14. ↑ Hartley-Parkinson, Richard (8 May 2015). "Tories get revenge on Mark Reckless by taking seat back from Ukip". Metro. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  15. ↑ "Parliamentary profile". GOV. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  16. ↑ Walker, Peter (9 January 2018). "Theresa May's junior ministerial reshuffle: who's in and who's out". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  17. ↑ "Kelly Tolhurst MP". GOV.UK. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
  18. ↑ "EU vote: Where the cabinet and other MPs stand". BBC News. 22 June 2016.
  19. ↑ Carpani, Jessica (16 January 2021). "Conservative MP Kelly Tolhurst resigns as Housing Minister following 'devastating' family news". The Telegraph. Retrieved 16 January 2021.
  20. ↑ "Kent MP becomes deputy chief whip". Kent Online. 2 July 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
  21. ↑ "Ministerial Appointments: September 2022". GOV.UK. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  22. ↑ "Orders for 8 March 2023" (PDF). Privy Council Office. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
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