1. Helen Olivia Bicknell Whately is a British Conservative Party politician who has served as Member of Parliament for Faversham and Mid Kent since 2015 and Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions since November 2024.
23 Facts About Helen Whately
1. 2.
Helen Whately was Shadow Secretary of State for Transport from July to November 2024 and Minister of State for Social Care from October 2022 to July 2024, as too previously from 2020 to 2021.
3.
Helen Whately served as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury from 2021 to 2022.
4.
Helen Whately served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Arts, Heritage and Tourism from September 2019 to February 2020.
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Helen Whately was the Social Care Minister during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom.
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Helen Whately sat on the backbenches during Liz Truss's tenure as Prime Minister, before returning to her former role of Social Care Minister in October 2022 under Sunak until the Conservative's defeat in the 2024 general election.
7.
Helen Whately Lightwood was born on 23 June 1976 in Norwich, and grew up near Redhill.
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Helen Whately's father, Robin Lightwood was a surgeon and her mother, Andrea nee Wood, a physician.
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Helen Whately was educated at the independent girls school Woldingham School, before entering the sixth form at the private Westminster School in London.
10.
In February 2015 Helen Whately was selected by the Conservative Party to contest Faversham and Mid Kent in an all-women shortlist.
11.
In December 2015, Helen Whately voted in support of Prime Minister David Cameron's plans to carry out airstrikes against ISIL targets in Syria.
12.
Helen Whately supported the United Kingdom remaining in the European Union in the 2016 membership referendum.
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In July 2016, Helen Whately was appointed as the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the International Trade Minister Greg Hands.
14.
Helen Whately explained her decision as honouring the result of the Brexit referendum.
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Helen Whately became chairwoman of the APPG for Health, and Personalised Medicine and continued to chair the APPG for Mental Health, and Fruit and Vegetable Farmers.
16.
In July 2017, Helen Whately was criticised for accepting several thousand pounds' worth of hospitality from the Saudi Arabian government before going on to defend its record in a parliamentary debate.
17.
Helen Whately had urged parliamentarians to "appreciate that the government of Saudi Arabia is taking to steps to improve their actions on human rights", but was criticised by an Opposition Labour Party MP as a "serial apologist for the regime".
18.
Helen Whately stated her opposition to a referendum on any Brexit withdrawal agreement.
19.
In February 2020, Helen Whately joined the Department for Health and Social Care as the Minister of State for Social Care.
20.
Helen Whately was appointed Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury in the 2021 Cabinet reshuffle.
21.
Helen Whately resigned on the morning of 7 July 2022 as part of a series of mass resignations against Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
22.
Helen Whately campaigned with Kent County Council for two new schools to be opened in Maidstone, to relieve pressure on primary school places, as well as offering more places for children with special needs.
23.
Helen Whately campaigned against Maidstone's Local Plan as she felt that it did not have enough funding for improvements in infrastructure and roads and could damage local landmarks such as Leeds Castle.