Helen Whately | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2024 | |
| Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions | |
| Assumed office 5 November 2024 | |
| Leader | Kemi Badenoch |
| Preceded by | Mel Stride |
| Shadow Secretary of State for Transport | |
| In office 8 July 2024 – 5 November 2024 | |
| Leader | Rishi Sunak |
| Preceded by | Louise Haigh |
| Succeeded by | Gareth Bacon |
| Minister of State for Social Care | |
| In office 26 October 2022 – 5 July 2024 | |
| Prime Minister | Rishi Sunak |
| Preceded by | Robert Jenrick |
| Succeeded by | Stephen Kinnock |
| In office 13 February 2020 – 16 September 2021 | |
| Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
| Preceded by | Caroline Dinenage |
| Succeeded by | Gillian Keegan |
| Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury | |
| In office 16 September 2021 – 7 July 2022 | |
| Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
| Preceded by | Kemi Badenoch |
| Succeeded by | Alan Mak |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Arts, Heritage and Tourism | |
| In office 10 September 2019[1] – 13 February 2020 | |
| Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
| Preceded by | Rebecca Pow |
| Succeeded by | Nigel Huddleston |
| Deputy Chair of the Conservative Party | |
| In office 17 April 2019 – 10 September 2019 | |
| Leader | Theresa May Boris Johnson |
| Preceded by | James Cleverly |
| Succeeded by | Paul Scully |
| Member of Parliament for Faversham and Mid Kent | |
| Assumed office 7 May 2015 | |
| Preceded by | Hugh Robertson |
| Majority | 1,469 (3.2%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Helen Olivia Bicknell Lightwood 23 June 1976 Norwich, Norfolk, England |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse |
Marcus Whately (m. 2005) |
| Children | 3 |
| Residence(s) | London, England Faversham, Kent, England |
| Education | Westminster School |
| Alma mater | Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford |
| Website | helenwhately |
Helen Olivia Bicknell Whately[2] (née Lightwood;[3] born 23 June 1976) is a British Conservative Party politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Faversham and Mid Kent since 2015 and Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions since November 2024.[4] She was Shadow Secretary of State for Transport from July to November 2024 and Minister of State for Social Care from October 2022 to July 2024, as too previously from 2020 to 2021.[5][6] She also served as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury from 2021 to 2022.
Whately was appointed Deputy Chair of the Conservative Party by Theresa May in 2019, and was retained in the post by new Prime Minister Boris Johnson. She served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Arts, Heritage and Tourism from September 2019 to February 2020. In the 2020 Cabinet reshuffle, Johnson moved her to the post of Minister of State for Social Care. Whately was the Social Care Minister during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. In the 2021 Cabinet reshuffle, Johnson moved her to the post of Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, serving under Chancellor Rishi Sunak. In July 2022, she resigned from office in protest at Johnson's leadership amid a Government crisis. She sat on the backbenches during Liz Truss's tenure as Prime Minister, before returning to her former role of Social Care Minister in October 2022 under Sunak, until the 2024 general election.
- ^ "Helen Whately MP". GOV.UK. Archived from the original on 17 October 2019. Retrieved 10 September 2019.
- ^ "No. 61230". The London Gazette. 18 May 2015. p. 9123.
- ^ "Whately". The Telegraph. 3 August 2008. Archived from the original on 11 November 2017. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
- ^ "His Majesty's Official Opposition: The Shadow Cabinet". UK Parliament. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
- ^ "Ministerial Appointments commencing: 25 October 2022". GOV.UK. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
- ^ "Minister of State (Minister for Social Care) - GOV.UK". www.gov.uk. Retrieved 3 November 2022.