Anna Soubry | |
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![]() Official portrait, 2017 | |
Leader of the Independent Group for Change | |
In office 4 June 2019 – 19 December 2019 | |
Preceded by | Heidi Allen (Acting) |
Succeeded by | Office abolished[a] |
Minister of State for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise | |
In office 11 May 2015 – 15 July 2016 | |
Prime Minister | David Cameron |
Preceded by | Matt Hancock Jo Swinson |
Succeeded by | Margot James |
Minister of State for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans[b] | |
In office 7 October 2013 – 11 May 2015 | |
Prime Minister | David Cameron |
Preceded by | Mark Francois |
Succeeded by | Mark Lancaster |
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health | |
In office 4 September 2012 – 7 October 2013 | |
Prime Minister | David Cameron |
Preceded by | Anne Milton |
Succeeded by | Jane Ellison |
Member of Parliament for Broxtowe | |
In office 6 May 2010 – 6 November 2019 | |
Preceded by | Nick Palmer |
Succeeded by | Darren Henry |
Personal details | |
Born | Anna Mary Soubry 7 December 1956 Lincoln, England |
Political party | Independent (1981–1988; since 2019) |
Other political affiliations | Change UK (2019) Conservative (1975–1981; 1988–2019) |
Spouse(s) |
John Gordon
(m. 1987, divorced)Richard Holloway
(m. 1994, divorced) |
Domestic partner | Neil Davidson |
Children | 2 daughters |
Education | University of Birmingham (LLB) Inns of Court School of Law (BPTC) |
Other offices
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Anna Mary Soubry PC (/ˈsuːbri/; born 7 December 1956) is a British barrister, journalist and former politician who was Member of Parliament (MP) for Broxtowe from 2010[2] to 2019. Known for her support of pro-European policies, she was originally elected as a Conservative but left the party to join Change UK in 2019.
Born in Lincoln, Soubry was raised in Nottinghamshire and read law at the University of Birmingham. She was the sole Conservative Party member of the National Union of Students' executive committee while at university but left the Conservatives after graduating and endorsed the Social Democratic Party, although she did not join the new party. After working as a journalist and presenter in regional and network television, she was called to the bar in 1995 and began to practise as a criminal barrister.
Soubry unsuccessfully contested Gedling as a Conservative at the 2005 general election but, after being added to the Conservative A-List, was elected to represent Broxtowe at the subsequent general election in 2010. She was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health from 2012 to 2013 and Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans from 2013 to 2015. She was appointed Minister of State for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise following the 2015 general election, also attending meetings of the Cabinet, but she returned to the backbenches after Theresa May became Prime Minister in July 2016.
Having been a strong supporter of the United Kingdom remaining in the European Union during the 2016 referendum campaign, Soubry was a vocal critic of Brexit and the Conservative Party's facilitation of the policy. She resigned from the Conservatives in February 2019, citing her party's shift to the right and support of Brexit. She and others joined The Independent Group, later Change UK, and she was appointed its leader in June 2019. She lost her seat to Darren Henry of the Conservative Party in the 2019 general election and Change UK disbanded shortly afterwards. Since 2022, Soubry has endorsed and supported the Labour Party.
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