Andrea Leadsom is making her bid for power after the Referendum. Who is she? Nobody, just like Jo Cox before her recent [ 2016 ] publicity stunt, the one used by Marxist manipulators attempting to derail the Referendum vote. The Wiki chooses to allege that Andrea claims that she is a Christian. Do they know better? Probably not. There is an attitude there; one telling us more about the Wiki than Andrea. Recall that Words are Propaganda Tools.
Andrea Leadsom ex Wiki
Andrea Jacqueline Leadsom (née Salmon; born 13 May 1963) [1] [2] [3] is a British politician.She was first elected as the Conservative Member of Parliament for South Northamptonshire at the 2010 general election.[4] [5] Leadsom has served as Minister of State for Energy at the Department of Energy and Climate Change since 11 May 2015, after previously holding the post of Economic Secretary to the Treasury from April 2014.[6] As of July 2016, Leadsom is a candidate for the leadership of the Conservative Party.
Early life and career
Leadsom was born in Aylesbury[ citation needed] and attended Tonbridge Girls' Grammar School before reading Political Science at the University of Warwick. [2]Leadsom worked in the financial sector for BZW, Barclays Bank, where she was Financial Institutions Director from 1993 to 1997. In this role, she was given a "ringside seat" in the collapse of Barings Bank.[7] She went on to become managing director of De Putron Fund Management (DPFM) from 1997 to 1999. She was Head of Corporate Governance and Senior Investment Officer at Invesco Perpetual from 1999 to 2009. [2] [8]
Before becoming an MP in 2010, Leadsom was a Councillor on South Oxfordshire District Council between 2003 and 2007. [2] [9] She contested Knowsley South constituency in the 2005 general election [2] [9] and was a member of the Conservative A-List.[10]
Parliamentary career
Leadsom was selected to stand as the parliamentary candidate in the newly created South Northamptonshire constituency in June 2006. In 2009, ConservativeHome said that she was "defending a notional Conservative majority of 11,356."[11] At the 2010 general election in May, she was elected with a majority of more than 20,000. On entering the House of Commons she was appointed a member of the Treasury Select Committee. [9] She made her maiden speech on 22 June 2010 during the budget debate, when she talked about restoring health to financial sector drawing from personal experience in financial regulation, particularly with Barings Bank. [12]Leadsom was an active campaigner for EU reform. In September 2011, she co-founded the Fresh Start Project with Conservative MPs Chris Heaton-Harris and George Eustice, to "research and build support for realistic and far-reaching proposals for reforming the EU". [13] [14] On 25 October 2011, Leadsom was one of 81 Conservative MPs to defy the party whip and vote in favour of holding a referendum on the UK's membership of the European Union.[15]
In July 2012, during the Libor scandal, she was widely reported on for her effective investigation of mismanagement of risk in banks, during the Treasury Committee's questioning of Bob Diamond.[16] At a subsequent hearing she questioned Paul Tucker who stated that the previous government had not conspired with the Bank to fix rates. In a BBC interview, Leadsom stated that the suggestion "has now been completely squashed by Paul Tucker", and that on that specific point, George Osborne, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, might want to apologise to Ed Balls for "suggesting he was implicated in rate fixing", although she also pointed out that Balls "still [had] a huge amount to answer for in relation to the scandal and his time in office". [17] Mike Smithson suggested this could be a reason for Osborne to overlook her for a promotion in the 2012 cabinet reshuffle, despite the fact that "in terms of talent she must be right at the top of the list of 2010 newbies who should be promoted." [18] In 2012, Leadsom was ranked 91 on Iain Dale's list of top 100 most influential figures from the right. [19]
Leadsom was one of five MPs to abstain from the Government's Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill by voting in both lobbies. [20] Leadsom had earlier said she found the wording of the legislation "unacceptable", and that voting no reflected the views of "so many" of her constituents, who felt that the bill was "deeply wrong", [21] but ultimately chose to abstain, saying
"I find myself genuinely torn...I cannot vote against a measure that would mean so much to the minority of homosexual couples for whom marriage is the ultimate recognition for their genuine feelings for each other. Yet nor can I vote for a measure that risks centuries of faith-based belief in marriage."
In October 2013, Leadsom was appointed by Cameron to serve on the board of the Number 10 Policy Unit, with responsibility for part of the public services brief.[22] [23]
Economic Secretary to the TreasuryOn 9 April 2014 Leadsom was appointed Economic Secretary to the Treasury on Maria Miller's's resignation from the Cabinet.
Inheritance tax
Following her appointment, it was discovered that Leadsom had placed her shares in a buy-to-let property company, which she had started with her husband in 2003, into trusts for the benefit of her children. This is a move that is commonly used to avoid inheritance tax. She also took advantage of offshore banking arrangements for the property company in an apparent contradiction to George Osborne's attempts to crack down on tax avoidance. [24] A spokesperson for Leadsom said: “This is a normal corporate situation and all tax that is due is being paid. None of the loans for the properties are based offshore”.Donations from family firm
Minister of State at DECC
ThThere was further criticism when it was revealed that she had received a series of donations totalling £70,000 from a firm based in London but owned by her Guernsey-based brother-in-law, Peter de Putron, via a holding company in the British Virgin Islands tax haven. [25] Leadsom's husband Ben is a director of the firm which made the donations, which were used to pay the salaries of staff in Leadsom's Westminster office after her election as MP; the firm has also made donations of £816,000 to the Conservative party. Because the firm making the donations, Gloucester Research (later becoming GR Software and Research) was based in London the donations conformed to the rule banning political donations from abroad. The Labour MP Tom Watson said: “These very large donations might be within the rules, but it certainly isn’t right that a Treasury minister has been taking money in this way. Most reasonable people will see this as completely unreasonable”. [25]Leadsom was re-elected as MP for South Northamptonshire on 7 May 2015 with 36,607 votes, compared to her nearest rival Lucy Mills (Labour), with 10,191 votes. On 11 May 2015, Leadsom was moved from Economic Secretary to the Treasury, to be appointed Minister of State at the Department of Energy and Climate Change.[27] This was despite her previous opposition to wind farms and European Renewable energy targets.[28]
Referendum and Conservative leadership election
Leadsom took a prominent role in the campaign to leave the EU in the June 2016 referendum campaign. Leadsom argued that the Bank of England's governor, Mark Carney, had destabilised financial markets and jeopardised the Bank's independence by warning of short-term negative effects on the economy by leaving the EU. [29] [30]In the BBC's 2-hour televised debate on the EU referendum, Leadsom appeared on the "Leave" panel, along with Gisela Stuart and Boris Johnson.[31] Leadsom rejected claims that the UK should pursue single market membership, and said in response that 80% of the world's economy, and most EU free trade deals, are not even within the single market. She also said that the UK economy is too large to need the single market, but is being hindered by the extreme slowness of EU trade procedures. [32] [33]
Immediately following the referendum vote on 23 June 2016 for Britain to leave the EU, David Cameron announced that he would resign as Prime Minister by October. Soon Leadsom emerged as an early favourite with the bookies to become the next Prime Minister, and was also strongly linked with a possible role as Chancellor.[34] On 30 June 2016 she announced her candidacy to become leader of the Conservative Party.
Leadsom was a founder and leader of the Fresh Start Project seeking reform of the UK's relationship with the European Union.
Helping Early Parenting
Leadsom is a founding trustee and now a Patron of NORPIP, the Northamptonshire Parent Infant Partnership, a charity providing therapeutic support to help parents bond with their babies who have insecure attachment. She also founded PIPUK, the National body for Parent Infant Partnerships which has gone on to set up PIP's across the UK in 4 additional counties since its inception.[35] [36] [37] Personal life
She married Ben Leadsom in 1993 and has two sons and one daughter. [2] Following the birth of her first child, she suffered from postnatal depression for several months. [38]Leadsom claims that Christianity has a central role in her life: "I am a very committed Christian. I think my values and everything I do is driven by that." [14]