31 Facts About Theresa Villiers

Theresa Anne Villiers was born on 5 March 1968 and is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament for Chipping Barnet since 2005, having previously served as a Member of the European Parliament from 1999 to 2005.

Theresa Villiers was born in Hunstanton, Norfolk in 1968, the third child of George Edward Theresa Villiers by his marriage to Anne Virginia Threlfall; she has two elder brothers, Edward and Henry.

Theresa Villiers gained a Bachelor of Laws degree with first-class honours in 1990 from the University of Bristol, and a year later the postgraduate degree of Bachelor of Civil Law from Jesus College, Oxford.

Theresa Villiers was elected as a Member of the European Parliament for the London constituency in 1999, and was re-elected in 2004.

Theresa Villiers stood down after the 2005 general election when she was elected as the Member of Parliament for Chipping Barnet.

Theresa Villiers served as Deputy Leader of the Conservatives in the European Parliament between 2001 and 2002.

Theresa Villiers served as a member of the governing board of the Conservative Party during this period.

In 2003, following Sir Sydney Chapman's announcement that he would retire at the following election, Theresa Villiers was selected as the Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate for Chipping Barnet.

Theresa Villiers's majority dropped to 7,656 in 2015, and was reduced to just 353 in 2017.

However, Theresa Villiers' majority rose to 1,212 in the 2019 general election, despite her percentage share of the vote going down slightly.

Theresa Villiers was sworn of the Privy Council on 9 June 2010.

Theresa Villiers was one of three of the group recommended for a one-day suspension by the committee.

In December 2005, following the election of David Cameron as Conservative Party Leader, Theresa Villiers was promoted to the Shadow Cabinet, as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

Theresa Villiers instead became a Minister of State at the Department for Transport.

Theresa Villiers was appointed Secretary of State for Northern Ireland in September 2012.

Theresa Villiers made a speech in February 2016 defending the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the British Army, which had been accused of colluding with loyalist murderers in the Loughinisland massacre.

Theresa Villiers was one of the six cabinet ministers who came out in support of Brexit during the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum.

Theresa Villiers was appointed Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs by Boris Johnson upon him becoming Prime Minister in July 2019.

Theresa Villiers left the government in the post-Brexit cabinet reshuffle.

In June 2020 The Times newspaper reported that the delay in the formation of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament since the 2019 United Kingdom general election had been due to Theresa Villiers appointment having been dismissed by the Prime Minister for her defiance of the Government's whip on a vote where she supported an amendment which would have banned the import of chlorinated chicken products from the US in upcoming post-Brexit trade negotiations.

Theresa Villiers has a house in Arkley in her North London constituency of Chipping Barnet.

Theresa Villiers is a member, and since 2017 Vice-Chair, of Conservative Friends of Israel.

Theresa Villiers has, on previous occasions, attended CAA protests similar to that of 19 July 2018 against anti-semitism within Labour.

Theresa Villiers spoke out publicly in support of Iranian resistance to the Iranian regime at an event in Paris in 2017, organised by the National Council of Resistance of Iran.

Since September 2008, Theresa Villiers has dedicated a considerable proportion of her public announcements to aviation policy, specifically the expansion of airports in the South East of England.

Theresa Villiers underlined that despite differences of opinion, the Coalition government's policy was opposed to a third runway at Heathrow airport.

Theresa Villiers has spoken out against Boris Johnson's favoured proposal for a new London airport to be built in the Thames Estuary, and alternative expansions at Gatwick and Stansted airports, arguing that airlines should make greater use of the UK's regional airports, though some regional airports themselves have expressed concern about being adversely affected by capacity shortages in the South East.

In May 2017, Theresa Villiers announced that she fundamentally supports the ban on hunting of wild animals with dogs but suggested that there remains scope for reform of the Hunting Act 2004.

In September 2019 at that year's Conservative Party Conference, Theresa Villiers set out plans to end live exports of farm animals, ban primates from being kept as pets and for cats to be microchipped.

In 2022, Theresa Villiers spearheaded opposition to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's plan to set housebuilding targets for councils to alleviate the housing shortage in the United Kingdom.

Theresa Villiers married fellow barrister Sean Wilken KC in 1997, and the following year they co-wrote a book on matters of contract and quasi-contract law, which was published by a major publishing house.