Tracey Crouch
CBE MP
Official portrait, 2022
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Sport, Civil Society and Loneliness
In office
15 June 2017 – 1 November 2018
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Preceded byRob Wilson
Succeeded byMims Davies
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
for Sport, Heritage and Tourism
In office
12 May 2015 – 15 June 2017
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Theresa May
Preceded byHelen Grant
Succeeded byJohn Glen
Member of Parliament
for Chatham and Aylesford
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded byJonathan Shaw
Majority18,540 (42.8%)
Personal details
Born
Tracey Elizabeth Anne Crouch

(1975-07-24) 24 July 1975[1]
Ashford, Kent, England[2]
Political partyConservative
Alma materUniversity of Hull
Websitewww.traceycrouch.org.uk

Tracey Elizabeth Anne Crouch[3] CBE (born 24 July 1975) is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Chatham and Aylesford since 2010. A member of the Conservative Party, she gained the seat from Labour's Jonathan Shaw.[4] Crouch was appointed as Minister for Sport, Civil Society and Loneliness in 2017, but resigned in 2018 due to a delay over the introduction of reduced limits on the stakes of fixed odds betting terminals.

Early life and career

Born in Ashford, Kent, Crouch was educated at Folkestone School for Girls and graduated from the University of Hull with a law and politics degree in 1996.[4]

Crouch was a parliamentary researcher from 1996 to 1998 before working in PR for Harcourt Public Affairs from 1999 to 2000. She returned to Westminster and held posts as chief of staff to three shadow ministers, including the shadow Home Secretary between 2003 and 2005.[4] Crouch was then employed by the Aviva insurance company where she was the head of public affairs between 2005 and 2010.[4][5] Before becoming a minister, she coached a junior girls' football team.[6]

Parliamentary career

Crouch was elected as the Conservative MP for Chatham and Aylesford with a majority of 6,069. She won with a 46.2% share of the vote – a swing of 9.4% to the Conservatives. The Daily Telegraph listed her as one of their "pragmatic, Eurosceptic" new MPs who seeks to "anchor the [Conservative] party to the right of centre".[7] In 2014, Crouch described herself as a "compassionate, One-Nation Conservative".[8]

Crouch is a vice-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Groups on dementia,[9] alcohol misuse[10] and athletics.[4] In February 2011, Crouch was elected to the 1922 Committee executive.[4]

Crouch speaks at the Overseas Territories Joint Ministerial Council meeting in London on 1 December 2015

On 9 December 2010, Crouch abstained in the vote to raise university tuition fees. She was one of two Conservative MPs to abstain, while six voted against the proposals.[11] Crouch voted against the badger cull, speaking during the debates on the subject in October 2012 and June 2013. She congratulated other Conservative MPs for voting against or abstaining on the vote, describing the cull as "barbaric and indiscriminate".[8] She has also rebelled against the government in voting against press regulation and in support of mesothelioma victims.[8] She voted in favour of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013. Following the 2015 general election, when she retained her seat with a 50.2% vote share, she was made Minister for Sport on 12 May 2015.

Ahead of the 2016 referendum on the UK's continued membership of the European Union, Crouch stated that she had yet to decide.[12] Subsequently, she chose to keep the way she had voted private "to avoid conflict in her Kent constituency".[13]

As Minister for Civil Society, which was added to her existing ministerial brief in June 2017, she was, in January 2018, appointed to lead a government-wide group with responsibility for policies connected to loneliness.[14]

She is an opponent of fox hunting, and is among those Conservative MPs who oppose relaxation of the Hunting Act 2004.[15]

She resigned as a minister on 1 November 2018 over the delay in the reduction of the maximum stake for fixed odds betting terminals from £100 to £2. She, among others, had called for the new legislation to come into force in April 2019, with Crouch resigning when it was announced that the legislation would be delayed until October 2019.[16] However, following parliamentary pressure, the Government announced that the measure would come into effect on 1 April 2019 after all.[17]

Crouch initially backed Matt Hancock during the 2019 Conservative leadership election, but subsequently gave her support to Boris Johnson upon Hancock's withdrawal.[18][19] She was offered a job in Johnson's cabinet, which she turned down due to family commitments.[20]

In December 2019, Crouch proposed the loyal address to the Queen's Speech.[21]

In April 2021, Crouch was appointed to chair a review of English football following the controversy over the proposed European Super League.[22]

On 14 December 2021, Crouch broke the party whip to vote against elements of the government's 'Plan B' COVID-19 restrictions, including the introduction of vaccine passports and mandatory COVID-19 vaccination for NHS staff.[23][24] However, she voted in favour of the expansion of rules requiring mandatory face coverings in public places.[25]

Crouch was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2022 Birthday Honours for parliamentary and public service.[26]

Personal life

Crouch is a qualified FA football coach[27] and manages a youth girls' football team.[4][8] She is a keen Tottenham Hotspur fan.[28]

Crouch had always wanted to be sports minister, but had a miscarriage during the 2015 general election campaign, leaving her initially uncertain as to whether to take up David Cameron's offer of the post.[6] She gave birth to her first child in February 2016 with her partner Steve Ladner, and became the first Conservative minister ever to take maternity leave.[6][29]

On 24 June 2020, it was announced that Crouch had been diagnosed with breast cancer but that her cancer was caught early and she had begun treatment.[30] In February 2021, Crouch announced that she had completed her treatment.[31]

References

  1. ↑ "Tracey Crouch MP". BBC Democracy Live. BBC. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
  2. ↑ "Who's Who". Ukwhoswho.com. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
  3. ↑ "No. 61230". The London Gazette. 18 May 2015. p. 9123.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ‘CROUCH, Tracey Elizabeth Anne’, 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 1 Jan 2013
  5. ↑ "PR Week 11 May 2010 "Many lobbyists win seats but some see majority decreased" by David Singleton".
  6. 1 2 3 Hardman, Isabel (12 November 2015). "Tracey Crouch interview: I wasn't sure I wanted to be a minister". The Spectator. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  7. ↑ Hennessey, Patrick (21 August 2011). "Ayes right: the new pragamatic, Eurosceptic Tory MPs". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Fisher, Lucy (29 July 2014). "Tracey Crouch: "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed not to be promoted"". New Statesman. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  9. ↑ Altzeimers Society (retrieved 20 February 2011)
  10. ↑ UK Parliament(retrieved 20 February 2011)
  11. ↑ "Tuition fees: How Liberal Democrat MPs voted". BBC News. 9 December 2010. Retrieved 18 December 2010.
  12. ↑ Francis, Paul (15 June 2016). "Chatham and Aylesford MP Tracey Crouch appalled by EU referendum campaigns". KentOnline. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  13. ↑ "EU referendum: Voters in South East vote to leave". BBC News. 24 June 2016. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  14. ↑ Walker, Peter (16 January 2018). "May appoints minister to tackle loneliness issues raised by Jo Cox". The Guardian.
  15. ↑ Helm, Toby (11 July 2015). "Top Tory leads rebellion against relaxation of foxhunting ban". The Observer. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
  16. ↑ "Minister Crouch resigns over betting 'delay'". BBC News. 1 November 2018. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  17. ↑ Woodhouse, John (1 July 2022). "Fixed odds betting terminals". House of Commons Library. UK Parliament. Retrieved 7 January 2022.
  18. ↑ Crouch, Tracey (3 June 2019). "Tracey Crouch: Why I am voting for Hancock". Conservative Home. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  19. ↑ Goodman, Paul (20 June 2019). "Which MP is backing which candidate. Our named estimates. Johnson 131, Hunt 48, Gove 36, Javid 22". Conservative Home. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  20. ↑ Dixon, Rachel (28 July 2019). "The reason Tracey Crouch turned down a role in Boris Johnson's cabinet". Kent Online. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  21. ↑ Francis, Paul (19 December 2019). "Chatham and Aylesford MP Tracey Crouch delivers Loyal Address to parliament inspired by Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol". Kent Online. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  22. ↑ "Fan-led review of English football to consider ownership, finance and fan involvement". BBC Sport. 22 April 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
  23. ↑ "Health Protection (Entry to venues etc) SI No 1416". UK Parliament. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  24. ↑ "draft Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) (Amendment) (Coronavirus) (No.2) Regulations 2021". UK Parliament. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  25. ↑ "Health Regulations (Face Coverings) SI No 1400". UK Parliament. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  26. ↑ "No. 63714". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 June 2022. p. B9.
  27. ↑ "Tracey Crouch".
  28. ↑ Bloxham, Andy (31 May 2011). "Female Tory MP barred from playing football with men". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 12 May 2015.
  29. ↑ "MP Tracey Crouch Has Become A Mum". The Huffington Post. 19 February 2016.
  30. ↑ "MP Tracey Crouch diagnosed with breast cancer". BBC News. 24 June 2020. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  31. ↑ "Tracey Crouch MP posts emoji bell as cancer treatment ends". BBC News. 16 February 2021. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
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