Major General Celia Jane Harvey, (born c. 1962) is a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

and academic. She has served in the Territorial Army since joining the

Women's Royal Army Corps The Women's Royal Army Corps (WRAC; sometimes pronounced acronymically as , a term unpopular with its members) was the corps to which all women in the British Army belonged from 1949 to 1992, except medical, dental and veterinary officers and cha ...

in 1987. Harvey transferred to the

Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers The Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME ) is a corps of the British Army that maintains the equipment that the Army uses. The corps is described as the "British Army's Professional Engineers". History Prior to REME's for ...

in 1991. She was promoted to

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

in March 2020 and became deputy commander

Field Army A field army (or numbered army or simply army) is a military formation in many armed forces, composed of two or more corps and may be subordinate to an army group. Likewise, air armies are equivalent formation within some air forces, and with ...

. Harvey stood for election to parliament as a Conservative Party candidate in 2010 in the Leicester West seat and came second to

Liz Kendall Elizabeth Louise Kendall (born 11 June 1971) is a British Labour Party politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Leicester West since 2010. Kendall was educated at Queens' College, Cambridge, where she read history. From 2011 to ...

. She is a lecturer in

business studies Business studies, often simply called business, is a field of study that deals with the principles of business, management, and economics. It combines elements of accountancy, finance, marketing, organizational studies, human resource management, a ...

and has published several academic papers.

Early life and career

Celia Plummer was born in Leicester in 1962/63. She joined the Territorial Army (TA) section of the

(WRAC) as an officer cadet and was commissioned as a probationary

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...

on 5 July 1987; her full commission was confirmed the following year. Plummer was promoted to the rank of lieutenant on 5 July 1989. With the disbandment of WRAC and integration of women into the main army Plummer transferred to the

on 1 April 1991, by which time she held the

acting rank An acting rank is a designation that allows a soldier to assume a military rank—usually higher and usually temporary. They may assume that rank either with or without the pay and allowances appropriate to that grade, depending on the nature of t ...

of captain. In November of that year she received promotion to the

substantive rank Military ranks are a system of hierarchical relationships, within armed forces, police, intelligence agencies or other institutions organized along military lines. The military rank system defines dominance, authority, and responsibility in a ...

of captain with her seniority backdated to 1 January 1991. On 31 July 1993 she married

John Attlee, 3rd Earl Attlee John Richard Attlee, 3rd Earl Attlee (born 3 October 1956), styled Viscount Prestwood between 1967 and 1991, is a British Conservative Party peer and member of the House of Lords. He is the grandson of Clement Attlee, the Labour Prime Minister, ...

, and was afterwards styled Countess Attlee.

Field officer and political career

Countess Attlee was promoted to the rank of major on 20 January 1997 with seniority backdated to 10 January 1994. She was awarded the

Efficiency Decoration The Efficiency Decoration, post-nominal letters TD for recipients serving in the Territorial Army of the United Kingdom or ED for those serving in the Auxiliary Military Forces, was instituted in 1930 for award to part-time officers after twe ...

for twelve years' service in the TA on 24 August 1999 and promoted to lieutenant colonel on 1 January 2001. From February 2001 to May 2003 she commanded the East Midlands

University Officer Training Corps The Officers' Training Corps (OTC), more fully called the University Officers' Training Corps (UOTC), are military leadership training units operated by the British Army. Their focus is to develop the leadership abilities of their members whilst ...

. She was nominated for appointment as an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, which was approved and granted in the

2003 Birthday Honours The 2003 Queen's Birthday Honours were announced on 14 June 2003 for the United Kingdom and on 2 June 2003 for New Zealand. The recipients of honours are displayed here as they were styled before their new honour. United Kingdom Knight Bachelo ...

. By this time Countess Attlee had divorced Earl Attlee and remarried to John Harvey, a TA colonel 13 years her senior. The couple had their first child in November 2001. Harvey then worked as an instructor at the

Joint Services Command and Staff College Joint Services Command and Staff College (JSCSC) is a British military academic establishment providing training and education to experienced officers of the Royal Navy, Army, Royal Air Force, Ministry of Defence Civil Service, and serving offic ...

and was promoted to colonel on 1 March 2005. She was awarded the

Queen's Volunteer Reserves Medal The Queen's Volunteer Reserves Medal (QVRM) was created by Royal Warrant of Queen Elizabeth II on 29 March 1999. Only 13 Queen's Volunteer Reserves Medals may be awarded in a year (although it appears more have been issued in some years - as of ...

in the

2009 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2009 were announced on 31 December 2008 in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Cook Islands, Barbados, Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Christopher and Nevis,Saint Christopher. to ...

and the Volunteer Reserve Service Medal on 23 June 2009. Harvey's husband became a district councillor and in July 2009 Celia Harvey was selected as the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

's parliamentary candidate for the Leicester West constituency. In the

2010 United Kingdom general election The 2010 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 6 May 2010, with 45,597,461 registered voters entitled to vote to elect members to the House of Commons. The election took place in 650 constituencies across the United Kingdom unde ...

Harvey came second to Labour's

having increased the Conservative vote by 2.8% and reduced Labour's majority to 4,017 (from 9,070). Harvey's career outside the army was in academia, particularly in

. She has worked as a lecturer and published several papers on innovation and entrepreneurship including ''Entrepreneurship and Marketing: Issues for Independent Inventors'' in 2014. Harvey was working as a consultant for Marketwise in 2004. Harvey assists her local branch of the

Royal British Legion The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants, as well as all others in ne ...

General officer career

Harvey was promoted to brigadier by 2017, at which time she was serving as assistant commander of

Force Troops Command Force Troops Command was a combat support and combat service support command of the British Army. Its headquarters was at Upavon, Wiltshire. It was formed in 2013 as a re-designation of the previous Headquarters Theatre Troops. Force Troops Comma ...

. On 4 June 2019 the then Defence Secretary

Penny Mordaunt Penelope Mary Mordaunt (; born 4 March 1973) is a British politician who has been Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council since September 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, she has been Member of Parliament (MP) ...

announced that Harvey would be promoted to the rank of major general and appointed deputy commander

in March 2020. Harvey would become the third female major general in the British Army and the first from the reserve forces. Harvey assumed the appointment on 11 March 2020, and was promoted to major-general at the same time. She retired from the Army on 4 December 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harvey, Celia Living people Women's Royal Army Corps officers Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers officers British Army major generals Officers of the Order of the British Empire Female army generals Year of birth missing (living people) 1960s births People from Leicester

Attlee Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee, (3 January 18838 October 1967) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 t ...

Conservative Party (UK) parliamentary candidates