Margaret Ann Throup[1] OBE (born 27 January 1957)[2] is a British Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Erewash in Derbyshire from the 2015 general election to the 2024 general election. Prior to entering politics, Throup worked as a biomedical scientist and business consultant.
Maggie Throup | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2019 | |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Vaccines and Public Health | |
| In office 16 September 2021 – 6 September 2022 | |
| Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
| Preceded by | Nadhim Zahawi (Vaccines) Jo Churchill (Public Health) |
| Succeeded by | Neil O'Brien |
| Lord Commissioner of the Treasury | |
| In office 19 September 2019 – 16 September 2021 | |
| Prime Minister | Boris Johnson |
| Preceded by | Alister Jack |
| Succeeded by | Amanda Solloway |
| Member of Parliament for Erewash | |
| In office 7 May 2015 – 30 May 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Jessica Lee |
| Succeeded by | Adam Thompson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 27 January 1957 Shipley, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Alma mater | University of Manchester |
| Website | Official website |
Throup was appointed Lord Commissioner of the Treasury in the Chief Whip's office in September 2019, during the first Johnson ministry. On 16 September 2021, during the cabinet reshuffle, she was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Vaccines and Public Health.[3]
Early life and career
editMaggie Throup was born on 27 January 1957 in Shipley, West Riding of Yorkshire.[4][5] Her early education was at the Bradford Girls' Grammar School,[6] which was a private fee-paying school at the time she attended. She graduated from the University of Manchester with a BSc in biology.[7] After graduating she worked as a biomedical scientist at the Calderdale Health Authority for seven years, specialising in haematology.[8] During her time at Calderdale Health Authority, she became a Fellow of the Institute of Biomedical Science.[8][9] She then pursued a career in marketing and public relations which included a directorship of a pharmaceutical company and running her own consultancy.[5][6][9]
Parliamentary career
editThroup stood unsuccessfully as the Conservative candidate for Colne Valley in West Yorkshire in the 2005 general election, losing to the Labour party candidate Kali Mountford.[10] She subsequently contested the constituency of Solihull in the 2010 general election, however lost to the Liberal Democrat candidate Lorely Burt.[11]
Throup was subsequently selected as the Conservative candidate for Erewash and was elected as MP for the constituency in the 2015 general election with 20,636 (42.7%) votes and a majority of 3,584.[12] In the 2015–17 parliament, she was part of the Health Select Committee and the Scottish Affairs Committee.[13]
Throup supported remaining within the European Union (EU) in the 2016 EU membership referendum.[14]
She held her seat in the 2017 general election with 25,939 (52.1%) and an increased majority of 4,534.[15] After the election, Throup was re-elected onto the Health Select Committee, but stood down in February 2018.[16] Following the Government reshuffle in January 2018, Throup was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Ministerial team at The Department for Health and Social Care.[17]
She is the chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Obesity, Heart Disease, and the secretary for the APPG on Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery.[18][19]
In January 2016, a Labour-proposed amendment that would have required private landlords to make their homes "fit for human habitation" was rejected by 312 votes to 219. According to Parliament's register of interests, Throup was one of 72 MPs who voted against the amendment who derived an income from a property. Communities minister Marcus Jones said the Government believed homes should be fit for human habitation but did not want to pass the new law that would explicitly require it.[20][21]
In May 2016, it was reported that Throup was one of a number of Conservative MPs being investigated by police for allegedly spending more than the legal limit on constituency election campaign expenses.[22] In May 2017, the Crown Prosecution Service said that while there was evidence of inaccurate spending returns, it did not "meet the test" for further action.[23]
In September 2017, it was reported in the press that Throup had claimed expenses on first class tickets when she travelled by rail, despite official guidance from parliamentary watchdog IPSA – set up in the wake of the 2009 expenses scandal – saying politicians should "consider value for money" when booking tickets. She was revealed to be one of only 22 MPs who never travelled standard class. She argued that her claims were permissible within the expenses rules and that the first class tickets were cheaper than some standard class tickets available.[24]
In September 2019, she was appointed a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury, making her a government whip.[13]
Throup was re-elected in the 2019 general election, with an increased majority of 10,606 votes.[25]
Throup was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2024 New Year Honours for political and public service.[26]
She lost her seat to Adam Thompson at the 2024 election.
Ministerial career
editIn September 2021, Throup was appointed as the newly-integrated Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Vaccines and Public Health, replacing both Jo Churchill (as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Prevention, Public Health and Primary Care) and Nadhim Zahawi (as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for COVID-19 Vaccine Deployment) during the cabinet reshuffle.[27][28] Throup rejoined the back benches on 8 September 2022,[29] when Liz Truss appointed a new ministerial team after becoming prime minister.
References
edit- ^ "No. 61230". The London Gazette. 18 May 2015. p. 9120.
- ^ Brunskill, Ian (19 March 2020). The Times guide to the House of Commons 2019 : the definitive record of Britain's historic 2019 General Election. HarperCollins Publishers Limited. p. 195. ISBN 978-0-00-839258-1. OCLC 1129682574.
- ^ "Ministerial appointments: September 2021". 16 September 2021.
- ^ "Biography for Maggie Throup". Archived from the original on 22 October 2017. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
- ^ a b "General Election: The battle for Solihull". Birmingham Post. 6 April 2010. Archived from the original on 22 October 2017. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
- ^ a b "Erewash". UK Polling Report. Archived from the original on 22 October 2017. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
- ^ Gildea, Samantha (6 June 2017). "General Election 2017 - Erewash will be contested by these candidates". Derby Telegraph. Archived from the original on 22 October 2017. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
- ^ a b "About Maggie". Maggie Throup. Archived from the original on 22 October 2017. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
- ^ a b "Maggie Throup's CV". Democracy Club. Archived from the original on 23 October 2017. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
- ^ "Colne Valley". BBC News. Archived from the original on 24 December 2006. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
- ^ "Solihull". BBC News. Archived from the original on 15 January 2016. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
- ^ "Erewash". BBC News. Archived from the original on 20 May 2017. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
- ^ a b "Parliamentary career for Maggie Throup - MPs and Lords - UK Parliament". members.parliament.uk. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
- ^ "EU vote: Where the cabinet and other MPs stand". BBC News. 22 June 2016. Archived from the original on 3 October 2017. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
- ^ "Erewash (Constituency) 2017 results - General election results - UK Parliament". electionresults.parliament.uk. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
- ^ "Maggie Throup MP". parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 22 October 2017. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
- ^ "2019-09-18_Parliamentary_Private_Secretaries_-_Sept_2018_-_FINAL__1_.pdf" (PDF). 18 September 2018.
- ^ "Obesity". parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 22 October 2017. Retrieved 22 October 2017.
- ^ "Register of All-Party Parliamentary Groups" (PDF). parliament.uk. 8 November 2017. pp. 508, 533, 652.
- ^ "Housing Bill: Tories aren't the only party whose MPs are landlords". International Business Times. 21 January 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
- ^ "Tories vote down law requiring landlords make their homes fit for human habitation". Independent. 13 January 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
- ^ "Election Expenses Exposed". Channel 4 News. 23 June 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
- ^ "No charges over 2015 Conservative battle bus cases". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
- ^ "Three Tory Derbyshire MPs claim £10k on first-class train tickets in a year". Derby Telegraph. 8 September 2017. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
- ^ "Erewash (Constituency) 2019 results - General election results - UK Parliament". electionresults.parliament.uk. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
- ^ "No. 64269". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 2023. p. N16.
- ^ "Ministerial appointments: September 2021". 16 September 2021.
- ^ hugo-gye (16 September 2021). "Maggie Throup becomes new vaccine minister in reshuffle after Nadhim Zahawi is promoted". inews.co.uk. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
- ^ "Maggie Throup MP". UK Government. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
External links
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