Siobhan Kathleen Baillie (born 28 August 1981) is a British

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 ...

politician who has served as

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 o ...

(MP) for Stroud since the 2019 general election. Prior to her parliamentary career, she was a family law solicitor, a councillor, and worked for a charity.

Early life

Baillie was born in Crawley,

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ...

, on 28 August 1981, and she moved with her family at the age of eight to

Filey Filey () is a seaside town and civil parish in the Borough of Scarborough in North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the East Riding of Yorkshire, it is located between Scarborough and Bridlington on Filey Bay. Although it was a fishing ...

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. She has a younger brother and sister. Her parents separated during her childhood. Baillie moved out of the family home at the age of 15 and left school two years later to work as a legal secretary in

Reading, Berkshire Reading ( ) is a town and borough in Berkshire, Southeast England, southeast England. Located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the rivers River Thames, Thames and River Kennet, Kennet, the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 mot ...

. She attended a law school at weekends, and qualified as a family law solicitor in 2010. Baillie also worked as the head of policy and communications for the charity, OnePlusOne.

Political career

Baillie was a councillor in the

London Borough of Camden The London Borough of Camden () is a London borough in Inner London. Camden Town Hall, on Euston Road, lies north of Charing Cross. The borough was established on 1 April 1965 from the area of the former boroughs of Hampstead, Holborn, and ...

from 2014 to 2018, representing the ward of Frognal and Fitzjohns. As an opposition member she served on the Children, Schools and Families Scrutiny Committee and during the 2016–2017 civic year she chaired a review of mental health service provision for young people. She stood for the Bermondsey and Old Southwark seat at the 2017 general election. She was third behind the

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and

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candidates with 13% of the vote. She had previously unsuccessfully sought selection for the Hampstead and Kilburn constituency for the same election, and for the Barnet and Camden London Assembly seat at the 2016 election. Baillie was selected as the Conservative candidate for Stroud on 31 July 2018. She supported the UK remaining within the EU in the 2016 UK EU membership referendum, but during her 2019 election campaign indicated that she now supported

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC ...

, to honour the result of the referendum. At the 2019 general election, she was elected as an MP with a majority of 3,840 (5.8%). The seat had been represented by

Labour and Co-operative Labour and Co-operative Party (often abbreviated Labour Co-op; cy, Llafur a'r Blaid Gydweithredol) is a description used by candidates in United Kingdom elections who stand on behalf of both the Labour Party and the Co-operative Party. Candida ...

MP David Drew since the 2017 election. Baillie was the first woman to represent the constituency. She has been a member of the

Work and Pensions Select Committee The Work and Pensions Select Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to examine the expenditure, administration, and policy of the Department for Work and Pensi ...

since March 2020. In July 2021, Baillie commented that she opposed the removal of the Blackboy Clock in Stroud as she felt that it was important to leave all statues to "reflect our country's journey in the 20th and 21st centuries toward equality" but did support adding "factual information" to the statue to provide education. Baillie endorsed Rishi Sunak in the

July–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election The July–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election was triggered by Boris Johnson's announcement on 7 July 2022 that he would resign as Leader of the Conservative Party after a series of political controversies. The leadership ele ...

and the subsequent

October 2022 Conservative Party leadership election The October 2022 Conservative Party leadership election was triggered by Liz Truss's announcement that she would resign as Leader of the Conservative Party and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, amid an economic and political crisis. Rishi ...

Personal life

Baillie is married. The couple have two daughters born in 2020 and 2022.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baillie, Siobhan Living people 1981 births UK MPs 2019–present Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies 21st-century British women politicians Councillors in the London Borough of Camden Conservative Party (UK) councillors Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies 21st-century English women 21st-century English people Women councillors in England