Julie Marson (born 23 March 1965) is a British politician serving as an Assistant Government Whip since October 2022, having previously held the office from July to September 2022. A member of 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 ...

, she also served as

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Employment The Minister of State for Employment is a mid-level position in the Department for Work and Pensions in the British government. History The office was previously held by Julie Marson following the resignation of Mims Davies Miriam Jane Alic ...

between July 2022 and September 2022. She was elected as the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for

Hertford and Stortford Hertford and Stortford is a constituency currently represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Julie Marson of the Conservative Party. Description The constituency is semi-rural which includes picturesque villages and farmland ...

in the 2019 general election.

Early life and career

Marson was born in

Barking, London Barking is a suburb and List of areas of London, area in Greater London, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, Borough of Barking and Dagenham. It is east of Charing Cross. The total population of Barking was 59,068 at the 2011 cen ...

and previously worked in finance. She was educated at Woodford County High School for Girls and

Downing College, Cambridge Downing College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge and currently has around 650 students. Founded in 1800, it was the only college to be added to Cambridge University between 1596 and 1869, and is often described as the olde ...

. Prior to becoming an MP, she worked in corporate banking for

NatWest National Westminster Bank, commonly known as NatWest, is a major retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom based in London, England. It was established in 1968 by the merger of National Provincial Bank and Westminster Bank. In 2000, it ...

Political career

Marson was previously a councillor on

Thanet District Council Thanet may refer to: *Isle of Thanet, a former island, now a peninsula, at the most easterly point of Kent, England *Thanet District, a local government district containing the island *Thanet College, former name of East Kent College *Thanet Canal, ...

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, representing the Viking ward from

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

. She has also served as a magistrate. She contested the

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

-held East London seat of Dagenham and Rainham at the 2015 general election, finishing in third place. She stood again two years later, at the 2017 snap election, this time finishing in second place and increasing her vote share by 16%. On 24 October 2019, the

Conservative Association A Conservative Association (CA) is a local organisation composed of Conservative Party members in the United Kingdom. Every association varies in membership size but all correspond to a parliamentary constituency in England, Wales, Scotland and No ...

chose Marson to succeed the incumbent MP

Mark Prisk Michael Mark Prisk (born 12 June 1962) is a British politician who was Member of Parliament (MP) for Hertford and Stortford from 2001 until 2019. A member of the Conservative Party, he was Minister of State for Business and Enterprise from 20 ...

as their candidate in what has generally been considered a

safe seat A safe seat is an electoral district (constituency) in a legislative body (e.g. Congress, Parliament, City Council) which is regarded as fully secure, for either a certain political party, or the incumbent representative personally or a combinat ...

for the

. At the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

on 12 December 2019, Marson was elected as the MP for Hertford and Stortford, with a majority of over 19,000. After the 2022 government crisis, she was appointed

. She answered her first questions as a minister in the House of Commons on 11 July.

Political positions

Marson supported Leave in the 2016 referendum on EU membership. On 8 June 2020, she called for a global ban on

wet market A wet market (also called a public market or a traditional market) is a marketplace selling fresh foods such as meat, fish, produce and other consumption-oriented perishable goods in a non-supermarket setting, as distinguished from " dry market ...

s. Later that month, Marson called for LGBT+

conversion therapy Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. In contrast to evidence-based medicine and cli ...

to be banned, labelling it "morally and medically wrong." Marson has supported the ''Turn on the Subtitles'' campaign, raising it at

Prime Minister's Questions Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs, officially known as Questions to the Prime Minister, while colloquially known as Prime Minister's Question Time) is a constitutional convention in the United Kingdom, currently held as a single session every W ...

. On 21 October 2020, she voted against an

Opposition Opposition may refer to: Arts and media * ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars * The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band * ''The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Comed ...

Day Motion to extend free school meals in England until Easter 2021. Marson has supported initiatives promoting women in STEM and businesses.

Personal life

Marson is married with a son. She also has a blonde

cockapoo A cockapoo, (portmanteaux of ''cocker spaniel'' and ''poodle''), is a dog crossbreed bred from a Cocker Spaniel and a Poodle, most commonly the Miniature Poodle. The Cockapoo was first bred by designer dog breeders in the United States with the a ...

dog named Boris.

References

External links

* 1965 births Living people UK MPs 2019–present 21st-century British women politicians Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies People from Barking, London People from Hertford Alumni of Downing College, Cambridge Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies 21st-century English women 21st-century English people {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1960s-stub