Siobhan Baillie
Official portrait, 2019
Member of Parliament
for Stroud
Assumed office
12 December 2019
Preceded byDavid Drew
Majority3,840 (5.8%)
Personal details
Born (1981-08-28) 28 August 1981[1]
Crawley, West Sussex, England[2]
Political partyConservative
Children2
Websitewww.siobhanbaillie.org.uk

Siobhan Kathleen Baillie[3] (born 28 August 1981)[4] is a British Conservative Party politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Stroud since the 2019 general election. Prior to her parliamentary career, she was a family law solicitor, a councillor, and worked for a charity.

Early life

Baillie was born in Crawley, West Sussex, on 28 August 1981,[2] and she moved with her family at the age of eight to Filey, North Yorkshire.[5][6] She has a younger brother and sister.[7] Her parents separated during her childhood.[8] Baillie moved out of the family home at the age of 15[9] and left school two years later to work as a legal secretary in Reading, Berkshire.[10][11] She attended a law school at weekends,[5] and qualified as a family law solicitor in 2010.[12][13] Baillie also worked as the head of policy and communications for the charity, OnePlusOne.[14]

Political career

Baillie was a councillor in the London Borough of Camden from 2014[15] to 2018,[16] representing the ward of Frognal and Fitzjohns. As an opposition member she served on the Children, Schools and Families Scrutiny Committee and during the 2016–2017 civic year she chaired a review of mental health service provision for young people.[17][18]

She stood for the Bermondsey and Old Southwark seat at the 2017 general election. She was third behind the Labour and Liberal Democrat candidates with 13% of the vote.[19] She had previously unsuccessfully sought selection for the Hampstead and Kilburn constituency for the same election, and for the Barnet and Camden London Assembly seat at the 2016 election.[20][21]

Baillie was selected as the Conservative candidate for Stroud on 31 July 2018.[22] She supported the UK remaining within the EU in the 2016 UK EU membership referendum, but during her 2019 election campaign indicated that she now supported Brexit, to honour the result of the referendum.[23][24] At the 2019 general election, she was elected as an MP with a majority of 3,840 (5.8%). The seat had been represented by Labour and Co-operative MP David Drew since the 2017 election.[25][26] Baillie was the first woman to represent the constituency.[27] She has been a member of the Work and Pensions Select Committee since March 2020.[28]

In July 2021, Baillie commented that she opposed the removal of the Blackboy Clock in Stroud. She stated:

"Removing this statue or any other will not end the scourge of racism and its disappearance from our community into a museum could be counterproductive in the longer term. We might run the risk of future generations not understanding the journey this country has made when it comes to equal rights. We will always need a context – good and bad - to that journey in our public spaces if we are to understand our history, our progress and our mistakes, then reconcile to it..."[29]

Baillie endorsed Rishi Sunak in the July–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election and the subsequent October 2022 Conservative Party leadership election.[30][31]

Personal life

Baillie is married and the couple have two daughters born in 2020 and 2022.[32][33]

References

  1. "Baillie, Siobhan". Politics.co.uk. Archived from the original on 18 March 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  2. 1 2 "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Archived from the original on 11 July 2021. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  3. "Members Sworn". parliament.uk. 18 December 2019. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  4. Brunskill, Ian (19 March 2020). The Times guide to the House of Commons 2019 : the definitive record of Britain's historic 2019 General Election. p. 347. ISBN 978-0-00-839258-1. OCLC 1129682574. Archived from the original on 9 November 2021. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  5. 1 2 Hinsliff, Gaby (21 November 2019). "'I'm not going to be bullied into silence.' The women defying abuse to stand as MPs". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 11 January 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  6. The Real Me: Conservative MP Siobhan Baillie speaks to Gloria De Piero about her path into politics. GB News. 2 December 2021. Event occurs at 00:45.
  7. The Real Me: Conservative MP Siobhan Baillie speaks to Gloria De Piero about her path into politics. GB News. 2 December 2021. Event occurs at 00:39.
  8. The Real Me: Conservative MP Siobhan Baillie speaks to Gloria De Piero about her path into politics. GB News. 2 December 2021. Event occurs at 01:53.
  9. The Real Me: Conservative MP Siobhan Baillie speaks to Gloria De Piero about her path into politics. GB News. 2 December 2021. Event occurs at 05:35.
  10. The Real Me: Conservative MP Siobhan Baillie speaks to Gloria De Piero about her path into politics. GB News. 2 December 2021. Event occurs at 08:10.
  11. Strimpel, Zoe (22 December 2019). "The new wave of Tory MPs proves elitism is dead". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 27 April 2020. Retrieved 8 February 2020.(subscription required)
  12. "Siobhan Kathleen Baillie". The Law Society. Archived from the original on 16 May 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  13. "What the new parliament means for health and social care" (PDF). NHS Confederation. p. 15. Retrieved 8 March 2020.
  14. Weakley, Kirsty (13 December 2019). "Former charities adviser elected as a Tory MP as party wins a big majority". Civil Society. Archived from the original on 17 December 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  15. "Frognal and Fitzjohns". Camden Council. Archived from the original on 16 May 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  16. Osley, Richard (15 February 2018). "Conservative candidate quits council elections over Brexit". Camden New Journal. Archived from the original on 17 September 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  17. "Review of mental health service provision in the London Borough of Camden for young people aged 11–19" (PDF). Camden Council. 23 March 2017. p. 1. Archived (PDF) from the original on 16 May 2020. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  18. Scott, James (29 March 2017). "Camden Council pledges to put mental health at forefront of agenda for young people living in borough". Ham & High. Archived from the original on 28 September 2020. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  19. "Bermondsey and Old Southwark". parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 11 February 2018. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  20. Osley, Richard (25 April 2017). "Tory candidate search in Hampstead and Kilburn: The final three". Camden New Journal. Archived from the original on 9 July 2021. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  21. Osley, Richard (8 September 2015). "The search for a Tory to follow Brian Coleman: Siobhan Baillie and Tom Smith bow out". Richard Osley. Archived from the original on 16 May 2020. Retrieved 7 January 2020.
  22. Watson, Sarah Phaedre (31 July 2018). "Conservatives select their candidate to become Stroud MP". Stroud News & Journal. Archived from the original on 8 January 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  23. "Camden Tory insists she hasn't been 'parachuted in' to Bermondsey & Old Southwark". Southwark News. 1 June 2017. Archived from the original on 18 January 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  24. Boobyer, Leigh (5 December 2019). "Siobhan Baillie: The Conservative challenger hoping to turn Stroud blue". Gloucestershire Live. Archived from the original on 6 December 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  25. "Election results 2019: Conservatives gain Stroud from Labour". BBC News. 13 December 2019. Archived from the original on 13 December 2019. Retrieved 2 February 2020.
  26. "Stroud". BBC News. Archived from the original on 28 March 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  27. Lal, Tamash (13 December 2019). "Meet your new Stroud MP Siobhan Baillie". Stroud News & Journal. Archived from the original on 14 December 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  28. "Work and Pensions Committee membership agreed". parliament.uk. 2 March 2020. Archived from the original on 3 March 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  29. "Stroud MP Siobhan Baillie on Blackboy Clock: 'Removing statue will not end racism'". Stroud News & Journal. 30 July 2021. Archived from the original on 13 December 2021. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  30. "Siobhan Baillie decides who to back as next Prime Minister". Stroud News & Journal. 10 July 2022. Archived from the original on 11 July 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
  31. "Boris Johnson, Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt: Who are MPs backing?". BBC News. 21 October 2022. Archived from the original on 22 October 2022. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
  32. "Conservative MP Siobhan Baillie gives birth to daughter". Express & Star. 22 May 2020. Archived from the original on 26 June 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  33. "Stroud MP Siobhan Baillie gives birth to second child". Stroud News & Journal. 1 July 2022. Archived from the original on 3 July 2022. Retrieved 5 July 2022.
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