Maria Colette Caulfield was born on 6 August 1973 and is a British politician and nurse serving as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Mental Health and Women's Health Strategy and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Women since October 2022.
25 Facts About Maria Caulfield
2.
Maria Caulfield served as Minister of State for Health from July to September 2022.
3.
Maria Caulfield was born on 6 August 1973 to Irish immigrant parents and grew up on in a working class area of Wandsworth, London.
4.
Maria Caulfield's father was from a farming family, but after emigration worked as a builder, while her mother was a nurse.
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Maria Caulfield has spoken about her upbringing saying that she "grew up in a run-down area of South London where the only careers advice given to us was the phone number of the local council housing office for when you became a single mum and needed a council flat".
6.
Maria Caulfield became involved with the Conservative Party after joining a campaign to save local hospitals in the Brighton area.
7.
Maria Caulfield served in the cabinet of the then Conservative authority and held the Housing Portfolio.
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Maria Caulfield had been shortlisted for the position of Conservative Party candidate for Gosport in the previous year.
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Maria Caulfield received criticism from local political rivals for both campaigns on the grounds that her focus should be on her council work in Brighton.
10.
On 1 August 2019, Maria Caulfield was made Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Transport Grant Shapps as part of a government reshuffle.
11.
In October 2019, Maria Caulfield signed a letter to The Guardian pledging climate action.
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Maria Caulfield has supported plans for a Green Brexit, by enhancing environmental protections after the UK leaves the European Union.
13.
Maria Caulfield was reelected at the 2019 general election with a reduced majority.
14.
In March 2020, Maria Caulfield announced that whilst continuing to fulfill her parliamentary duties, she would be answering the UK government's call for former doctors and nurses to volunteer in order to help the NHS deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
15.
In May 2020, Maria Caulfield shared a 22-second video clip from her Twitter account which had been doctored to depict the Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, apparently giving reasons as to why he, as the director of public prosecutions, had not prosecuted grooming gangs.
16.
On 17 September 2021, Maria Caulfield was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Patient Safety and Primary Care in the second cabinet reshuffle of the second Johnson ministry.
17.
On 7 September 2022 following the appointment of Liz Truss as Prime Minister and the subsequent formation of her ministry, Maria Caulfield was dismissed from her role in Government and returned to the backbenches.
18.
Maria Caulfield is a former board member of Blue Collar Conservativism.
19.
In October 2022, when Maria Caulfield was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Women, the appointment was criticised by the British Pregnancy Advisory Service because she had voted against buffer zones outside abortion clinics and against legalising abortion in Northern Ireland.
20.
Maria Caulfield has said that protesters outside abortion clinics might be there in order "to comfort" those entering the clinic.
21.
Maria Caulfield is a Brighton and Hove City Councillor, as well as being active in the voluntary party and was President of the Conservative National Convention, the organizing body of the voluntary party.
22.
Maria Caulfield is a member of the Conservative Christian Fellowship.
23.
Maria Caulfield is an urban shepherdess, part of an environmental project which uses sheep and cattle to graze public open spaces.
24.
Maria Caulfield previously held a non-executive director position on the board of the housing charity BHT Sussex.
25.
Maria Caulfield supports Arsenal and Lewes football clubs, and is a shareholder of the latter.