Heather Wheeler

Heather Wheeler
MP
Member of Parliament
for South Derbyshire
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded by Mark Todd
Majority 11,471 (22.6%)
Personal details
Born (1959-05-14) 14 May 1959[1]
Norwich, Norfolk, England[2]
Nationality British
Political party Conservatives
Spouse(s) Bob
Children Harriet
Website www.heatherwheeler.org.uk

Heather Kay Wheeler[3] (born 14 May 1959) is a British Conservative Party politician, who was elected at the 2010 general election as the Member of Parliament (MP) for South Derbyshire, taking the seat from the Labour Party after 13 years.[4]

Early life and local government career

Wheeler was brought up in Wandsworth and was elected a Conservative member of Wandsworth London Borough Council at the age of 22. After serving a full council term she married her husband Bob, moving in 1986 to Bretby, south Derbyshire.[5]

After working in the City of London for 10 years, she qualified as an Associate of the Chartered Insurance Institute.[5]

Wheeler was elected to South Derbyshire District Council in 1995 and became leader of the Conservative group on the council. During this time she stood unsuccessfully at the 2001 and 2005 general elections as her party's candidate for Coventry South.[6] Following her election as a Member of Parliament she stood aside as Conservative council group leader; she continued briefly as district councillor for Repton, but did not seek re-election when her term ended in 2011.

Her husband Bob is the current leader of South Derbyshire District Council. Their daughter Harriet was a council candidate in the 2011 local elections but was unsuccessful.

Parliamentary career

Wheeler was a member of the Conservative Party's A-List[7] prior to being selected to contest the South Derbyshire constituency. At the 2010 general election she won with a majority of 7,128; there was a 9.8% swing to the Conservatives.

In the House of Commons she sat on the Standards and Privileges Committee and the Communities and Local Government Committee.[6]

She was also a member of the Public Bill Committee for the Defence Reform Act 2014.[8]

Wheeler was one of 79 Conservative MPs who supported a 2011 rebel motion calling for a referendum on the European Union.[9] She also joined a 2013 rebel amendment expressing regret at not including the referendum in the government's plans.[10] She subsequently backed the government's plans to hold a referendum in 2017 and opposed a proposal to hold it in 2014.[11]

References

  1. ↑ "Heather Wheeler MP". BBC Democracy Live. BBC. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
  2. ↑ "Who's Who 2015: WHEELER, Heather". ukwhoswho.com. Who's Who (UK).
  3. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 59418. pp. 8740–8740. 13 May 2010. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
  4. ↑ "Election 2010: South Derbyshire". thisisderbyshire.co.uk. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
  5. 1 2 "About Heather Wheeler".
  6. 1 2 "Heather Wheeler". Parliament UK. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  7. ↑ "Seats and candidates: Where are the original A-Listers now? The 27 who have been selected for target seats". conservativehome.blogs.com. ConservativeHome.
  8. ↑ "House of Commons Public Bill Committee on the Defence Reform Bill 2013-14". Parliament.uk. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  9. ↑ "Rebel MPs: the full list". New Statesman. Progressive Media International. 25 October 2011. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  10. ↑ "The 114 Tory rebels in EU protest vote". The Daily Telegraph. London: Telegraph Media Group. 15 May 2013. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  11. ↑ "Craig Whittaker: Referendum on the UK's membership of the EU". Public Whip. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Mark Todd		 Member of Parliament for South Derbyshire
2010–present 		Incumbent
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