Ruth Rosamond Edwards (née Davis, 11 May 1984) is a British politician who 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 Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

(MP) for

Rushcliffe Rushcliffe is a local government district with borough status in Nottinghamshire, England. The population of the Local Authority at the 2011 Census was 111,129. Its councilRushcliffe Borough Council2019 general election. A member of the Conservative Party, she worked in cybersecurity policy prior to her political career.

Early life and career

Davis was born in Bristol as the daughter of Christopher Charles Davis and Nelly Davis. She attended Clifton High School, before studying theology at the London School of Theology, where she gained a First Class BA in Theology. She went on to complete a master's MSc degree in International Development and Security at the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a Red brick university, red brick Russell Group research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Society of Merchant Venturers, Merchant Venturers' sc ...

, achieving a Distinction. After graduation, she worked as a parliamentary researcher for then Shadow Minister for Home Affairs and Counter Terrorism Crispin Blunt. She then worked as a strategy consultant for

Deloitte Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (), commonly referred to as Deloitte, is an international professional services network headquartered in London, England. Deloitte is the largest professional services network by revenue and number of professio ...

from 2010 to 2012. Davis subsequently worked as a specialist for the

Home Affairs Select Committee The Home Affairs Select Committee is a Departmental Committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the Parliamentary sovereignty in the United Kingdom, supreme Legislature, le ...

from 2012 to 2013. She then completed a crime and justice research fellowship at the think tank

Policy Exchange Policy Exchange is a British conservative think tank based in London. In 2007 it was described in ''The Daily Telegraph'' as "the largest, but also the most influential think tank on the right". ''The Washington Post'' said Policy Exchange's re ...

in 2013. She left Policy Exchange to become Head of Cyber, Justice and Emergency Services at the trade association TechUK, where she worked from 2013 to 2015. After this, Davis worked as the head of commercial strategy and public policy for the telecommunications company BT from 2015 to 2019.

Parliamentary career

Davis stood as the Conservative candidate for the Liberal Democrat-held

Ceredigion Ceredigion ( , , ) is a county in the west of Wales, corresponding to the historic county of Cardiganshire. During the second half of the first millennium Ceredigion was a minor kingdom. It has been administered as a county since 1282. C ...

seat at the

2017 general election This national electoral calendar for 2017 lists the national/federal elections held in 2017 in all sovereign states and their dependent territories. By-elections are excluded, though national referendums are included. January *5 November ...

, where she came fourth. The seat was gained by

Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom. Plaid wa ...

. Following her marriage, she became known as Ruth Edwards, and was selected as the candidate for the safe seat of

Father of the House Father of the House is a title that has been traditionally bestowed, unofficially, on certain members of some legislatures, most notably the House of Commons in the United Kingdom. In some legislatures the title refers to the longest continuously- ...

, and former Chancellor of the Exchequer

Kenneth Clarke Kenneth Harry Clarke, Baron Clarke of Nottingham, (born 2 July 1940), often known as Ken Clarke, is a British politician who served as Home Secretary from 1992 to 1993 and Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1993 to 1997 as well as serving as de ...

since 1970, who announced his retirement on 27 June. Edwards was elected with a majority of 7,643 in the 2019 general election. She was a member of the

from March 2020 to November 2021. Edwards was the

Parliamentary Private Secretary A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...

to the

Secretary of State for Scotland The secretary of state for Scotland ( gd, Rùnaire Stàite na h-Alba; sco, Secretar o State fir Scotland), also referred to as the Scottish secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for ...

Alister Jack Alister William Jack (born 7 July 1963) is a British politician serving as Secretary of State for Scotland since 2019. A member of the Scottish Conservatives, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dumfries and Galloway since 2017. Ear ...

between February 2020 and July 2022. She resigned from the role in July 2022 in protest against Prime Minister

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 ...

's handling of the Chris Pincher scandal. She accused him of leading a government which "turned a blind eye to allegations of sexual assault within its own ranks." Outside of her parliamentary role, she was also an adviser to the HR payroll software company MHR, for which Mongoose Bridges, a company that she co-owns with her husband, received £5,000 a month between May 2021 and December 2021. Edwards endorsed

Rishi Sunak Rishi Sunak (; born 12 May 1980) is a British politician who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party since October 2022. He previously held two cabinet positions under Boris Johnson, lastly as ...

during the July–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election.

Personal life

She married Owen Edwards in July 2019. They met during her 2017 general election campaign, when he was the chairman of

's Conservative Association. Her recreations are listed in ''Who's Who'' as "

scuba diving Scuba diving is a mode of underwater diving whereby divers use breathing equipment that is completely independent of a surface air supply. The name "scuba", an acronym for "Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus", was coined by Chri ...

, horticulture,

alpaca The alpaca (''Lama pacos'') is a species of South American camelid mammal. It is similar to, and often confused with, the llama. However, alpacas are often noticeably smaller than llamas. The two animals are closely related and can success ...

wrangling, tea and cake consumption, travel".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Ruth 1984 births 21st-century English women politicians 21st-century English politicians Alumni of the London School of Theology Alumni of the University of Bristol British Telecom people Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Living people Politicians from Bristol UK MPs 2019–present