Sarah Louise Newton, ( Hick; 19 July 1961) is a

British Conservative Party The Conservative Party, officially the Conservative and Unionist Party and also known colloquially as the Tories, is one of the two main political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Labour Party. It is the current governing party, ...

politician who served as

Member of Parliament (MP) 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 often ...

for Truro and Falmouth from

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

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 ...

Early life

Born in

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

, Newton moved to

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

at an early age, and attended Marlborough Infants, Clare Terrace Primary School and

Falmouth School Falmouth School (formerly Trescobeas County Secondary School) is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form with academy status, located in Falmouth in the county of Cornwall. Previously a community school administered by Cornwall Coun ...

, where she was elected

Head Girl Head boy and head girl are student leadership roles in schools, representing the school's entire student body. They are normally the most senior prefects in the school. The terms are commonly used in the British education system as well as in Aus ...

. Newton read History at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

. She completed a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, studying as a

Rotary International Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, prof ...

Scholar.

Professional career

Newton began her career as a marketing officer for businesses including

Citibank Citibank, N. A. (N. A. stands for " National Association") is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of financial services multinational Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, and later became First National City ...

and

American Express American Express Company (Amex) is an American multinational corporation specialized in payment card services headquartered at 200 Vesey Street in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The company was found ...

. During her six years working for American Express, Newton was responsible for strategic planning, marketing and promotion of the card in the United Kingdom. In the early 1990s, Newton served as the director of

Age Concern England Age Concern is the banner title used by a number of charitable organizations (NGOs) specifically concerned with the needs and interests of all older people (defined as those over the age of 50) based chiefly in the four countries of the United King ...

. After leaving this post, Newton served as a founder and the initial director of The International Longevity Centre.

Political career

Newton was previously a councillor on

Merton Council Merton London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Merton in Greater London, England. It is one of the 32 councils that form Greater London. History There were previously a number of local authorities responsible ...

, and served as both chairman and Vice-Chairman of

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

Conservatives 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 in ...

. During her time in

, Newton served as the head of Friends of Cannizaro Park. Newton was first elected to 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. ...

in the 2010 general election. She beat 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 ...

candidate by 435 votes. In

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 won re-election with 44% of the overall vote. After both elections, Newton was one of four MPs sworn into office after taking their oaths in Cornish. During the 2016 EU membership referendum, Newton was one of several figures from the South West region who signed a statement backing the

Britain Stronger in Europe Britain Stronger in Europe (formally The In Campaign Limited) was an advocacy group which campaigned in favour of the United Kingdom's continued membership of the European Union in the 2016 British referendum. It was launched at the Old Truma ...

campaign. She became Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Crime, Safeguarding and Vulnerability in July 2016. In November 2017, she became the

Minister of State for Disabled People, Work and Health The Minister of State for Disabled People, Health and Work is a mid-level minister in the Department for Work and Pensions of the United Kingdom government, with responsibility for disabled people. The position is currently held by Tom Pursglove. ...

. In March 2019, she resigned from this role to vote against the government whip on a motion to prevent the United Kingdom from ever leaving the EU without a deal. On 28 October 2019 she announced that she would not stand at the next election. Newton stood down at the December 2019 general election.

Later career

Newton was appointed Chair of the

Health and Safety Executive The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is a UK government agency responsible for the encouragement, regulation and enforcement of workplace health, safety and welfare, and for research into occupational risks in Great Britain. It is a non-depar ...

from 1 August 2020.

Notes

References

External links

Official websiteGovernment biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Newton, Sarah 1961 births Living people Alumni of King's College London People from Gloucestershire People from Cornwall Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 2010–2015 UK MPs 2015–2017 UK MPs 2017–2019 Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Cornwall Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Councillors in the London Borough of Merton 21st-century British women politicians Politicians from Cornwall 21st-century English women 21st-century English people Women councillors in England