Anne Frances Milton (''
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
'' Turner; born 3 November 1955) is a British politician who served as
Minister of State for Skills and Apprenticeships from 2017 to 2019. She was Member of Parliament (MP) for
Guildford
Guildford ()
is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...
from
2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
to
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
. Elected as a
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
, she had the
whip removed in September 2019 and subsequently sat as an
independent politician
An independent or non-partisan politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent.
Some politicians have political views th ...
.
Early life and career
Anne Frances Turner was born on 3 November 1955 in Sussex, England to Patrick and Nesta Turner. She attended
Haywards Heath Grammar School in
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...
. She trained as a nurse at
St Bartholomew's Hospital
St Bartholomew's Hospital, commonly known as Barts, is a teaching hospital located in the City of London. It was founded in 1123 and is currently run by Barts Health NHS Trust.
History
Early history
Barts was founded in 1123 by Rahere (died ...
in London and obtained a diploma in district nursing from the
London South Bank University
London South Bank University (LSBU) is a public university in Elephant and Castle, London. It is based in the London Borough of Southwark, near the South Bank of the River Thames, from which it takes its name. Founded in 1892 as the Borough Po ...
. Milton worked for the
NHS
The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...
for 25 years as a nurse which included working in primary care, research and supporting
palliative care
Palliative care (derived from the Latin root , or 'to cloak') is an interdisciplinary medical caregiving approach aimed at optimizing quality of life and mitigating suffering among people with serious, complex, and often terminal illnesses. Wit ...
nurses.
During the 1980s, she was a
shop steward
A union representative, union steward, or shop steward is an employee of an organization or company who represents and defends the interests of their fellow employees as a labor union member and official. Rank-and-file members of the union hold ...
for the
Royal College of Nursing
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is a registered trade union in the United Kingdom for those in the profession of nursing. It was founded in 1916, receiving its royal charter in 1928. Queen Elizabeth II was the patron until her death in 2022. ...
.
[
Milton was a councillor for the Borough of ]Reigate and Banstead
Reigate and Banstead is a local government district with borough status in east Surrey, England. It includes the towns of Reigate, Redhill, Horley and Banstead. The borough borders the Borough of Crawley (in West Sussex) to the south, the Boroug ...
from 1999 to 2004 and was Conservative Group leader on the council from 2000 to 2003 and a member of the South East England Regional Assembly.[ She applied to go on the Conservative Party's list of Parliamentary candidates in 1999 and was shortlisted in the selections for Bexhill and Battle and for ]Bridgwater
Bridgwater is a large historic market town and civil parish in Somerset, England. Its population currently stands at around 41,276 as of 2022. Bridgwater is at the edge of the Somerset Levels, in level and well-wooded country. The town lies alon ...
but was not selected for a seat for the 2001 general election.
Parliamentary career
Milton was selected to contest the Guildford
Guildford ()
is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...
parliamentary constituency in the 2005 general election, a seat which the Conservatives had unexpectedly lost in 2001
The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...
to the Liberal Democrat
Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology.
Active parties
Former parties
See also
*Liberal democracy
*Lib ...
Sue Doughty
Susan Kathleen Doughty (née Powell; born 13 April 1948) is a politician in the United Kingdom. She was the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Guildford from 2001 to 2005.
Early life
Doughty was born on 13 April 1948. She was brought u ...
with the constituency becoming a marginal. She was elected as the MP for Guildford at the 2005 general election with a margin of victory of 347 votes.
After the election, she was appointed to the Health Select Committee
The Health and Social Care Select Committee (abbreviated to HSC, HSCC and HSCSC) is a Departmental Select Committee of the British House of Commons, the lower house of the United Kingdom Parliament. Its remit is to examine the policy, administr ...
serving till December 2006. During the 2005–2010 parliament, Milton worked as the Shadow Minister for Tourism from November 2006 and then the Shadow Minister for Health in July 2007. In February 2006, Milton was among a minority of Conservative MPs to oppose exceptions for private clubs from the proposed Smoking ban in England
A smoking ban in England, making it illegal to smoke in all enclosed work places in England, came into force on 1 July 2007 as a consequence of the Health Act 2006. Similar bans had already been introduced by the rest of the United Kingdom: in Sc ...
. Milton had previously announced her opposition to a partial ban, stating it was "the worst possible solution".
Milton held her seat in the 2010 general election and increased her majority to 7,782 votes (14%). In July 2010, Milton suggested that doctors should describe obese
Obesity is a medical condition, sometimes considered a disease, in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it may negatively affect health. People are classified as obese when their body mass index (BMI)—a person's we ...
patients as 'fat' to encourage them to take responsibility for their condition. This was criticised by campaigners who pointed out that a clinical definition was being replaced with a subjective, pejorative term.
During the 2010–2015 parliament, she served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary at the Department of Health
A health department or health ministry is a part of government which focuses on issues related to the general health of the citizenry. Subnational entities, such as states, counties and cities, often also operate a health department of their ow ...
,[Her Majesty’s Government](_blank)
. Number 10 (19 May 2010). Retrieved on 13 March 2012. then, as a result of a ministerial reshuffle in September 2012, Milton was appointed a Government Whip ( Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury), Vice-Chamberlain of the Household and later Treasurer of the Household
The Treasurer of the Household is a member of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. The position is usually held by one of the government deputy Chief Whips in the House of Commons. The current holder of the office is Ma ...
.[ “You have to know the MPs very well,” Milton said of her time in the Whips' Office. “If you’re working successfully, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you can avoid a rebellion but you should always be able to predict a vote spot-on, or at the very worst one or two out.”
She abstained on the parliamentary vote on the legalisation of same sex marriage in February 2013 citing a lack of consensus amongst her constituents. In March 2015, she was appointed to the ]Privy Council of the United Kingdom
The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises senior politicians who are current or former members of e ...
and therefore granted the title The Right Honourable
''The Right Honourable'' ( abbreviation: ''Rt Hon.'' or variations) is an honorific style traditionally applied to certain persons and collective bodies in the United Kingdom, the former British Empire and the Commonwealth of Nations. The term is ...
. She voted for the United Kingdom to remain with the European Union (EU) in the June 2016 membership referendum. Milton was re-elected as MP for Guildford in the 2017 snap general election. After the election, she was selected as the Minister of State for Skills and Apprenticeships and the Minister for Women.
On 23 October 2018, Milton resigned from the Commons Reference Group on Representation and Inclusion, chaired by Commons speaker John Bercow, citing incompetence in Bercow's ability to tackle bullying and sexual harassment problems in Parliament.
On 23 July 2019, Milton resigned as Minister of State for Skills and Apprenticeships shortly before Boris Johnson
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...
was announced as the new leader of the Conservative Party and, thus, Prime Minister. She said that she could not serve in a government which said there was a possibility of the UK leaving the European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
with no deal. She had the whip removed in September 2019 and subsequently sat as an independent politician
An independent or non-partisan politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent.
Some politicians have political views th ...
. On 5 November 2019, she announced she had declined an offer to appeal against the removal of the Conservative whip and would stand for re-election in the 2019 general election as an independent politician, in which she lost to the Conservative Angela Richardson
Angela Joy Richardson (born 21 October 1974) is a British Conservative Party politician, who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Guildford since the 2019 general election.
Political career
In May 2019, Richardson stood for electi ...
.
Post-political career
In 2021, Milton took up a post as an associate with KPMG
KPMG International Limited (or simply KPMG) is a multinational professional services network, and one of the Big Four accounting organizations.
Headquartered in Amstelveen, Netherlands, although incorporated in London, England, KPMG is a net ...
.
Personal life
She married Neil Milton in 1979 in Haywards Heath; the couple later divorced. Her current husband, Dr. Graham Henderson, whom she married in February 2000 in Surrey, is a former local medical director at Virgin Healthcare
Virgin Care was a British private provider of community health and social services, commissioned by the National Health Service and local authorities in England. From 2010 the company was known as Virgin Care and was part of Virgin Group. In Dec ...
. Milton lives in Surrey and has four children,[ one of whom is yachtswoman ]Nikki Henderson
Nikki Henderson
Nicola Henderson (born 1993) is a British professional yachtswoman. In 2018, she became the youngest ever skipper to lead a team in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race at the age of 25.
Sailing career
Henderson began sailing ...
.
Notes
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Milton, Anne
1955 births
Living people
English nurses
Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies
Councillors in Surrey
Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies
Independent members of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Guildford
Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom
People from Cuckfield
UK MPs 2005–2010
UK MPs 2010–2015
UK MPs 2015–2017
UK MPs 2017–2019
21st-century British women politicians
Conservative Party (UK) councillors
Politics of Guildford
21st-century English women
21st-century English people
Women councillors in England