Victoria Atkins

Victoria Atkins is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Health and Social Care since November 2023. A member of the Conservative Party, she has been the Member of Parliament for Louth and Horncastle since the 2015 general election. Atkins has held several ministerial positions, including Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Minister of State for Prisons and Probation.

Early life and education

Born in London, she is the daughter of Sir Robert Atkins, a former Member of the European Parliament and Minister of State for Northern Ireland. She was educated at the independent Francis Holland School before reading Law at Queens' College, University of Cambridge, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree, later converted to a Bachelor of Laws. Before entering politics, she worked as a barrister, specialising in fraud and proceeds of crime cases, and was called to the Bar at the Inner Temple.

Political career

Elected in 2015, she was appointed to the Home Affairs Select Committee and served as Parliamentary Private Secretary in the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. In 2018, she joined the government as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Safeguarding at the Home Office, working under then Home Secretary Sajid Javid. In this role, she led on policies concerning violence against women and girls, modern slavery, and the Prevent strategy. Following a reshuffle in 2021, she became Minister of State for Prisons and Probation at the Ministry of Justice, serving under Lord Chancellor Dominic Raab. She was appointed Financial Secretary to the Treasury in Rishi Sunak's government in October 2022, before being promoted to Secretary of State for Health and Social Care in November 2023, succeeding Steve Barclay.

Personal life

She is married to Paul Kenward, the managing director of British Sugar, a subsidiary of Associated British Foods. The couple have one son and live in Lincolnshire. Her father-in-law is the businessman and Conservative donor Sir John Kenward. Due to her husband's role, she has previously recused herself from parliamentary discussions relating to the sugar tax.

Political positions and views

Identified as being on the One-Nation wing of the Conservative Party, she has been a supporter of Rishi Sunak. As a minister, she has advocated for stronger measures to combat domestic abuse and modern slavery. At the Treasury, she was responsible for insurance and financial services policy. In her role at the Department of Health and Social Care, she has overseen policy during ongoing industrial action by doctors' unions and has been involved in implementing the NHS Long Term Plan.

Electoral history

She was first elected in the 2015 general election for the Louth and Horncastle constituency, succeeding veteran Conservative Sir Peter Tapsell. She increased her majority in the 2017 election, and again in the 2019 election, where she won over 72% of the vote, benefiting from a significant swing from the Labour Party and a diminished UKIP vote.

Category:1976 births Category:Living people Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs Category:Secretaries of State for Health and Social Care Category:Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge Category:People educated at Francis Holland School