Sarah Southern (born 1980,

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is als ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

) is a British businesswoman and former

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 ...

official and aide to

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...

. In 2012, she became embroiled in the so-called "Cash for Access" controversy after undercover journalists from ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'' filmed the Conservative co-treasurer

Peter Cruddas Peter Andrew Cruddas, Baron Cruddas (born 30 September 1953) is an English banker and businessman. He is the founder of online trading company CMC Markets. In the 2007 Sunday Times Rich List, he was named the richest man in the City of London, w ...

apparently offering access to the Prime Minister and his Chancellor

George Osborne George Gideon Oliver Osborne (born Gideon Oliver Osborne; 23 May 1971) is a former British politician and newspaper editor who served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 2010 to 2016 and as First Secretary of State from 2015 to 2016 in the ...

for £250,000. Southern is alleged to have introduced the journalists to Cruddas, while boasting to friends she had made "a tidy sum" by introducing people to the Prime Minister.

Career

Southern briefly attended South Africa's

Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch University ( af, Universiteit Stellenbosch) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant ...

before reading Politics and International Relations at the UK's

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

, completing the degree in 2001. Following her graduation she took a job at the

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in the United K ...

where she was employed as a press officer, but left the post seven months later to work for the Conservative Party. Initially she was the national organiser of the party's youth movement,

Conservative Future Conservative Future (CF) was the youth movement of the Conservative Party in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The organisation was made up of all members of the Conservative Party who were 30 years old or younger. Conservative Future was fou ...

, but went on from this to hold a number of positions over the next several years. Later roles within the Tory Party include project manager for oversees voluntary project, Secretary-General of the

International Young Democrat Union The International Young Democrat Union (IYDU) is a global alliance of centre-right political youth organisations and the youth wing of the International Democrat Union. The IYDU in its current form was founded in March 1991 in Washington, D.C ...

and senior event manager. She was appointed to the latter post in December 2009 and during the year she held the position claims to have become a close and trusted aide to Party leader David Cameron. During the 2010 general election campaign she was a member of the party's media strategy team. In November 2010, following the announcement of a forthcoming

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

on the issue of whether or not to introduce the alternative voting system in the United Kingdom, Southern was appointed operations director of No to AV, the campaign to oppose the idea. Following the conclusion of that in May 2011, Southern established her own business, Sarah Southern Consulting, in June 2011. On 24 March 2012, ''

'' released a video undercover reporters from the newspaper had secretly filmed Conservative Party co-treasurer

allegedly offering them access to Prime Minister David Cameron and Chancellor George Osborne for £250,000. Southern is alleged to have introduced the reporters to Cruddas, and in the video described herself as a political aide. Cruddas resigned shortly after the video's release.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Southern, Sarah 1980 births Living people Businesspeople from Newcastle upon Tyne Stellenbosch University alumni Alumni of the University of Reading English businesspeople Conservative Party (UK) officials