Dame Rosalie Winterton, (born 10 August 1958) is a British Labour Party politician who has been 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 Doncaster Central since

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

. In June 2017, Winterton became one of three Deputy Speakers in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

. She served under Prime Minister

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...

as a minister in the

Department for 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 o ...

, then under

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chance ...

as the

Minister of State for Transport The Minister of State for Transport is a mid-level ministerial position in the Department for Transport of the Government of the United Kingdom who deputises for the Secretary of State for Transport. There is also a list of Parliamentary Under-S ...

from 2007 to 2008, Minister for Work and Pensions from 2008 to 2009, and the Minister for Local Government from 2009 to 2010, making her the only one of the current Speaker and Deputy Speakers to have served as a minister in government. She later entered the Shadow Cabinet in May 2010 as the

Shadow Leader of the House of Commons The Shadow Leader of the House of Commons is a member of the Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet (United Kingdom), Official Opposition Shadow Cabinet responsible for working with the Leader of the House of Commons, Leader of the House in arrangin ...

. In September 2010, Winterton was nominated and elected unopposed as

Labour Chief Whip The Chief Whip of the Labour Party oversees the whipping system in the party, which is responsible for ensuring that Labour MPs or members of the House of Lords attend and vote in parliament in the desired way of the party leadership. Chief ...

and served in the post until October 2016. She was elected as one of three deputy speakers of the House of Commons on 28 June 2017 and re-elected unopposed on 7 January 2020, On 27 February 2022, Winterton announced she would not contest the next UK general election.

Early life

Winterton was educated at St Mary's (now

Hill House School, Doncaster Hill House School is a co-educational independent school for pupils from the ages of 3 to 18 in South Yorkshire, England. In 2012, Hill House was named 'independent school of the Year' at the independent school awards. It is a member of Headma ...

Ackworth School Ackworth School is an independent day and boarding school located in the village of High Ackworth, near Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England. It is one of seven Quaker schools in England. The school (or more accurately its Head) is a member ...

(an independent school) and Doncaster Grammar School on Thorne Road (now

Hall Cross Academy Hall Cross Academy (formerly Hall Cross School and Doncaster Grammar School), is a co-educational academy in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. Admissions The academy is split over two sites, with the Upper academy located in the centre of Do ...

). She then read for a BA in history at the

University of Hull The University of Hull is a public research university in Kingston upon Hull, a city in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was founded in 1927 as University College Hull. The main university campus is located in Hull and is home to the Hull ...

, which she graduated with in 1979. She first worked as

John Prescott John Leslie Prescott, Baron Prescott (born 31 May 1938) is a British politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and as First Secretary of State from 2001 to 2007. A member of the Labour Party, he w ...

's Constituency Personal Assistant from 1980 until 1986, and then Parliamentary Officers, first for

Southwark Council Southwark London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Southwark in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. History There have previously been a number ...

for two years until 1988 and then for a further two 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. ...

until 1990. After working for four years in the private sector, as Managing Director o
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she returned to politics to assist John Prescott in 1994; Prescott had been elected as the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, and Winterton worked as Head of Office for the Deputy Party Leader until 1997.

Parliamentary career

Winterton became an MP in the 1997 election, serving the safe

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 ...

seat of Doncaster Central constituency with a vote share exceeding 50% in each general election until 2010, where her vote share fell to 39.7%. She entered government in 2001, serving as a

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (or just Parliamentary Secretary, particularly in departments not led by a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), Secretary of State) is the lowest of three tiers of Minister (government), government minist ...

in the

Lord Chancellor's Department The Lord Chancellor's Department was a United Kingdom government department answerable to the Lord Chancellor with jurisdiction over England and Wales. Created in 1885 as the Lord Chancellor's Office with a small staff to assist the Lord Chancell ...

, and became a

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In o ...

at the

in June 2003; in January 2006 her responsibilities were changed to Health Services, including responsibility for

NHS dentistry Dentistry provided by the National Health Service in the United Kingdom is supposed to ensure that dental treatment is available to the whole population. Most dentistry is provided by private practitioners, most of whom also provide, on a commerci ...

. She presided over the introduction of the new NHS dental contract of April 2006. In June 2007, she was appointed Minister of State at the

Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The d ...

by the new Prime Minister,

. Winterton was subsequently appointed Minister for Yorkshire and the Humber in addition to her DfT responsibilities on 24 January 2008. She was promoted to

for Pensions at the

Department for Work and Pensions , type = Department , seal = , logo = Department for Work and Pensions logo.svg , logo_width = 166px , formed = , preceding1 = , jurisdiction = Government of the United Kingdom , headquarters = Caxton House7th Floor6–12 Tothill Stree ...

in the October 2008 reshuffle, retaining her Ministerial brief for Yorkshire and the Humber. In the June 2009 reshuffle, Winterton was moved to

for Regional Economic Development and Co-ordination at the

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills , type = Department , logo = Department for Business, Innovation and Skills logo.svg , logo_width = 200px , logo_caption = , picture = File:Лондан. 2014. Жнівень 26.JPG , seal = , se ...

and the

Department for Communities and Local Government The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), formerly the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for housing, communities, local government ...

and, in that role, was invited to attend cabinet when her responsibility was on the agenda. In September 2010, she was nominated and elected unopposed as

and served until October 2016, when she was replaced by

Nick Brown Nicholas Hugh Brown (born 13 June 1950) is a British Independent politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Newcastle upon Tyne East since 1983, making him the fifth longest serving MP in the House of Commons. He is the longes ...

. In June 2017, Winterton was elected to serve as

Second Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means In the United Kingdom, the Chairman of Ways and Means is a senior member of the House of Commons who acts as one of the Speaker's three deputies. The incumbent is Dame Eleanor Laing, MP for Epping Forest, who was first elected to the office on ...

. She is a member of

Labour Friends of Israel Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) is a group in the Parliament of the United Kingdom that promotes support for a strong bilateral relationship between Britain and Israel, and seeks to strengthen ties between the British Labour Party and the Isra ...

. On 27 February 2022, Winterton announced her intention to stand down at the next general election.

Expenses scandal

Winterton was one of a number of Government Ministers who secretly repaid back some of expenses money which they had wrongly claimed. In the row over MPs' expenses, it was claimed she used taxpayers' cash to soundproof the bedroom of her south London flat. According to ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'', the minister claimed a total of £86,277 over four years in additional costs allowance – close to the total allowed under Parliament's green book.

Honours

In June 2006, she was appointed a member of

Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council 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 she was sworn in on 19 July 2006. She was appointed

Dame Commander 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 ...

in the

2016 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2016 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

Notes

References

External links

Rosie Winterton MP
''official constituency website'' * , - , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Winterton, Rosie 1958 births Living people People educated at Hill House School, South Yorkshire People educated at Ackworth School Alumni of the University of Hull Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom Labour Friends of Israel Politics of Doncaster UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 UK MPs 2010–2015 UK MPs 2015–2017 UK MPs 2017–2019 UK MPs 2019–present 20th-century British women politicians 21st-century British women politicians Deputy Speakers of the British House of Commons 20th-century English women 20th-century English people 21st-century English women 21st-century English people Women legislative deputy speakers