59 Facts About Anna Soubry

Anna Mary Soubry is a British barrister, journalist and former politician who was Member of Parliament for Broxtowe from 2010 to 2019.

Anna Soubry was the sole Conservative Party member of the National Union of Students' executive committee while at university but left the Conservatives after graduating and endorsed the Social Democratic Party, although she did not join the new party.

Anna Soubry unsuccessfully contested Gedling as a Conservative at the 2005 general election but, after being added to the Conservative A-List, was elected to represent Broxtowe at the subsequent general election in 2010.

Anna Soubry was Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Public Health from 2012 to 2013 and Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans from 2013 to 2015.

Anna Soubry was appointed Minister of State for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise following the 2015 general election, attending meetings of the Cabinet, but she returned to the backbenches in July 2016.

Anna Soubry resigned from the Conservatives in February 2019, citing her party's shift to the right and support of Brexit.

Anna Soubry lost her seat to Darren Henry of the Conservative Party in the 2019 general election and Change UK disbanded shortly afterwards.

Anna Soubry was born at Lincoln County Hospital in Lincoln, Lincolnshire, where her mother Frances Anna Soubry worked.

Anna Soubry's father was David Soubry, a Nottinghamshire garage owner.

Anna Soubry was brought up in Dunham-on-Trent and Clumber Park in Nottinghamshire.

Anna Soubry attended the Henry Hartland Grammar School from 1968 to 1970, in which year it became the Hartland Comprehensive; she remained at the school until 1975, in which year she joined the Conservative Party.

Anna Soubry was involved in student politics in the 1970s, becoming the only Conservative member of the National Union of Students' executive committee.

Anna Soubry graduated with a degree in Law from the University of Birmingham in 1979.

Anna Soubry left the Conservatives in 1981, alongside seven other former student leaders, who said at a press conference that the party remained "class based" and that the Social Democratic Party was now the natural home of young people who "wish to see a prosperously united country".

Anna Soubry reported on and presented several regional and networked TV programmes, including Central Television's Central Weekend, Grampian Television's North Tonight in the North of Scotland and the East Midlands regional news programme, Central News East.

Anna Soubry presented, reported and featured on Granada Television's This Morning in the late 1980s, and returned to Liverpool's Albert Dock in October 2013 for the This Morning 25th-anniversary party.

Anna Soubry was called to the bar in 1995, and is a member of the Criminal Bar Association.

Anna Soubry was the Conservative Party candidate for the Gedling constituency in Nottinghamshire at the 2005 general election.

Anna Soubry stated she was not ashamed of the people of Nottingham, but was ashamed of what had happened to the city.

Anna Soubry was chosen as an "A-List candidate", and in 2006 was selected as Conservative candidate for the nearby Broxtowe constituency.

Anna Soubry was elected to Parliament at the 2010 general election.

Anna Soubry was considered "one of the most formidable communicators of the new intake" by Nicholas Watt of The Guardian, but not a Thatcherite.

In June 2010, Anna Soubry was elected as a Conservative member of the Justice Select Committee.

Anna Soubry sponsored a private member's bill in June 2010 to provide anonymity to a person who has been arrested but not charged.

Anna Soubry withdrew the bill after its second reading, when Justice Minister Crispin Blunt promised the Attorney General would examine the area of concern.

Anna Soubry was a strong supporter of same-sex marriage in 2013 and voted in favour of it at every opportunity.

Anna Soubry said she was pro-tram, but that the tram route through her constituency was "fundamentally flawed".

In July 2013, Anna Soubry criticised Nottingham City Council leader Jon Collins over his refusal to meet her and others to discuss compensation for shops and businesses in the constituency which faced closure due to the tram works.

Twelve days later, Anna Soubry announced in the House of Commons that of the 700 postal workers in her constituency, to her knowledge, none had written to her opposing privatisation of Royal Mail and only two had come to London.

Anna Soubry claimed she genuinely believed she was telling the truth, that the bill protected Royal Mail, its workers and the universal postal service, and said that was the only reason she supported it.

In November 2010, Anna Soubry appeared on the East Midlands version of The Politics Show to discuss her efforts to help the Citizens' Advice Bureau.

Anna Soubry said she had asked the leader of Nottingham County Council and Kenneth Clarke to reconsider.

Anna Soubry later organised a meeting between the CAB, Midlands Women's Aid and charities minister Nick Hurd to make him aware of the effects of the proposed cuts in funding to these organisations.

In January 2013, Anna Soubry welcomed the announcement of the proposed High Speed 2 East Midlands Hub station at Toton Sidings in the constituency, stating that it was "a very good news day for Broxtowe".

Anna Soubry has held a number of public meetings on the issue.

Anna Soubry voiced criticism in August 2013 over plans to not hold a public consultation meeting in the constituency, calling on HS2 Ltd to hold an event in Toton where the proposed East Midlands Hub is to be built.

Anna Soubry herself took up smoking as a teenager because of the attractive packaging and she compared addiction to nicotine to heroin dependence; though she had no direct experience of the latter.

On 14 September 2012, speaking at an NHS Leadership Academy conference, Anna Soubry stated that the Coalition had "screwed up" in the way it dealt with the medical profession over the NHS reforms.

Anna Soubry later said that she fully supported the reforms but believed the benefits to patients could have been better explained and this would have won more support from health professionals.

Anna Soubry was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence in David Cameron's October 2013 reshuffle, becoming the first elected female politician to be a Minister in the MoD.

Anna Soubry's partner, Neil Davidson, is a director at Morrisons leading her opponents to note a potential conflict of interest when she introduced new Sunday trading laws.

Anna Soubry was appointed to the Privy Council in May 2015.

Anna Soubry was a strong supporter of Britain remaining in the European Union, and backed the "Remain" campaign during the 2016 EU membership referendum, the holding of which she supported.

Anna Soubry urged the UK to put "hope over hatred" following the result.

In December 2017, Anna Soubry was one of 11 Conservative rebels who voted in favour of Parliament being guaranteed a vote on the final Brexit deal, despite the government's reluctance, with enough Conservatives rebelling that the measure was forced through.

In January 2018, Anna Soubry said the government should not let the 35 MPs she described as "hard Brexiteers" dictate the terms of Brexit.

On 15 April 2018, Anna Soubry attended the launch event of the People's Vote, a campaign group calling for a public vote on the final Brexit deal between the UK and the European Union.

Later that year, Anna Soubry declared that there should be a national government to solve the issue of Brexit and went on to argue that members of the European Research Group should be expelled from the Conservative Party.

In December 2018, Anna Soubry was harassed by a group of protesters in Westminster she described as "far-right".

In February 2019, James Goddard, one of the activists who accosted Anna Soubry, was charged with harassment in connection with the incident in December 2018 and a separate incident outside Parliament in January 2019.

In early 2019, Anna Soubry co-founded the group Right to Vote.

Anna Soubry resigned from the Conservative Party on 20 February 2019, along with Heidi Allen and Sarah Wollaston, and joined The Independent Group, later Change UK.

Anna Soubry stated that "the right wing, the hard-line anti-EU awkward squad" had hijacked the Conservative Party from top to toe.

Anna Soubry commented that she was "deeply disappointed" at the split.

All three of the party's MPs who sought re-election were defeated with Anna Soubry coming "a distant third in Broxtowe".

Anna Soubry stated that while there was "a need for massive change in British politics," without representation in parliament "a longer-term realignment will have to take place in a different way".

In October 2021, Anna Soubry rejoined her old chambers KCH Garden Square and returned to the Criminal Bar.

Anna Soubry has been married twice, and is a mother of two daughters by her marriage to Haig Gordon.

Anna Soubry has been reported to be in a relationship with Neil Davidson, a non-executive director of Morrisons supermarket.