The Right Honourable
Laura Trott
MBE MP
Official portrait, 2023
Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Assumed office
13 November 2023
Prime MinisterRishi Sunak
Preceded byJohn Glen
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Pensions
In office
27 October 2022 – 13 November 2023
Prime MinisterRishi Sunak
Preceded byAlex Burghart
Succeeded byPaul Maynard
Member of Parliament
for Sevenoaks
Assumed office
12 December 2019
Preceded byMichael Fallon
Majority20,818 (40.9%)
Personal details
Born
Laura Trott

(1984-12-07) 7 December 1984 (age 39)
Oxted, England
Political partyConservative
SpouseBahador Mahvelati
Children3
Alma materPembroke College, Oxford
WebsiteOfficial website

Laura Trott MBE (born 7 December 1984) is a British politician who has served as Chief Secretary to the Treasury since November 2023. A member of the Conservative Party, who was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sevenoaks at the 2019 general election, she previously served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Work and Pensions between October 2022 and November 2023. Before entering parliament, Trott worked as a partner at Portland Communications, and as a special adviser.

Early life and career

Trott born on 7 December 1984[1] and grew up in Oxted, Surrey, England.[2] She attended Oxted School[3] before studying history and economics at Pembroke College, Oxford.[4][5][6] Trott joined the Conservative Party in her teens and has cited Prime Minister John Major as an early influence to join politics.[7] After university, she became a strategy consultant at Booz & Company.[8] Trott is an ambassador for the Sutton Trust, an educational charity.[9]

Political career

Trott served as a Conservative Party Councillor for Frognal and Fitzjohns on Camden London Borough Council between 2010 and 2014.[10][11]

In January 2009, she became a political adviser for the Conservatives, before becoming a special adviser to then Minister for the Cabinet Office Francis Maude in May 2010 with the remit of political policy and media, and was then promoted to chief of staff.[2][12] She was subsequently appointed as a political adviser in the Number 10 Policy Unit, responsible for education and family policy under then Prime Minister David Cameron.[2] Trott was credited for formulating the party's tax-free childcare policy.[13] After the 2015 general election, Trott was promoted to director of strategic communication.[8] In 2016, she was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in Cameron's Resignation Honours for her political and public service.[14] After the election of Prime Minister Theresa May, she left government service and became a partner at the political consultancy and public relations firm Portland Communications in September 2017.[8]

Trott was selected as the Conservative candidate for Sevenoaks in Kent on 10 November 2019.[15] It is a notionally safe Conservative seat, having elected a member of the party since 1924, and was previously represented by former Secretary of State for Defence Michael Fallon.[15][16] She was elected as MP for Sevenoaks in the 2019 general election with a majority of 20,818 (40.9%).[17] Trott is the first woman to represent the constituency.[16] She was a policy fellow at the Centre for Science and Policy at the University of Cambridge between 2020 and 2021.[18]

In the Private Member's Bill ballot, she was the highest placed Conservative MP which guaranteed that her bill would be debated in parliament.[19][20] She presented her bill on 5 February 2020, which aimed to restrict access to botulinum toxin and filler cosmetic procedures for under 18s.[21] It became law in October 2021.[22]

Trott was a member of the Health and Social Care Select Committee between March 2020 and November 2022.[23] She is also on the steering committee of the China Research Group.[24] Trott co-wrote a policy paper advocating for the establishment of "accelerator zones" with fellow Conservative MP Bim Afolami in February 2021 for the think tank Social Market Foundation. The zones would have relaxation of visa rules, tax incentives, and policy fellowship programmes.[25]

On 6 July 2022, in the wake of the resignations of Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Health Secretary Sajid Javid from the second Johnson ministry following the Chris Pincher scandal, Trott resigned as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Department for Transport, citing "trust in politics is – and must always be – of the utmost importance, but sadly in recent months this has been lost".[26] Two days later, following Johnson's resignation as Conservative Party leader, she endorsed Sunak's bid to succeed him in the July–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election.[27]

Ministerial career

Trott was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Work and Pensions on 27 October 2022.[28] During her tenure, the department published the first official data on the gender pensions gap. She also supported the Pensions (Extension of Automatic Enrolment) Act 2023 which enabled the government to reduce the minimum age of enrolment from 22 to 18.[29][30]

On 13 November 2023, Trott was promoted to Chief Secretary to the Treasury during Sunak's second cabinet reshuffle.[28][29]

She was sworn in as a member of the Privy Council on 13 December 2023 at Buckingham Palace following her appointment, entitling her to the honorific prefix "The Right Honourable" for life.[31]

Personal life

Trott is married to Bahador "Bids" Mahvelati, a partner at professional services firm PwC.[32][33] They have one daughter and twin sons.[2][9]

References

  1. ^ 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. 325. ISBN 978-0-00-839258-1. OCLC 1129682574.
  2. ^ a b c d Smith, Alan (17 November 2019). "General Election 2019: Conservative Laura Trott looks safe in Sevenoaks". Kent Online. Archived from the original on 17 November 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  3. ^ "About Laura". Laura Trott. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  4. ^ Camden, Billy (6 February 2016). "Movers & Shakers: Ben and Michael Dyer, Laura Trott and Brian Lightman". Schools Week. Archived from the original on 6 February 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  5. ^ "Dame Lynne Brindley Speech for Pembroke 40 Years of Women Dinner" (PDF). Pembroke College, Oxford. p. 2.
  6. ^ "The Pembrokian, Issue 38, July 2013". The Pembrokian. July 2013. p. 5. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  7. ^ Scotson, Tom (3 October 2023). "Rising stars: Meet the Conservative Party's ambitious young MPs". PoliticsHome. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  8. ^ a b c "Portland appoints three former Downing Street advisers to its corporate team". Portland Communications. 1 September 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  9. ^ a b "Laura Trott". Sevenoaks Conservatives. Archived from the original on 15 January 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  10. ^ Youle, Emma (12 June 2013). "Ballerina in bid for Tory Camden Council seat". Ham & High. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  11. ^ "Local election results 6 May 2010". Camden London Borough Council. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  12. ^ Hill, Amelia (15 February 2012). "Can David Cameron be made to understand what women want?". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 8 January 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  13. ^ Siddique, Haroon (31 July 2016). "Donors, aides and remainers dominate secret Cameron honours list". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 8 January 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  14. ^ "Resignation Honours 2016" (PDF). gov.uk. p. 5. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 September 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  15. ^ a b Maguire, Patrick (10 November 2019). "Tories select Laura Trott in Sevenoaks". New Statesman. Archived from the original on 16 December 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  16. ^ a b Duggan, Ciaran (13 December 2019). "General Election 2019: Sevenoaks result". Kent Online. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  17. ^ "Sevenoaks". BBC News. Archived from the original on 9 August 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  18. ^ "Policy Fellows 2020–2021". Centre for Science and Policy. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  19. ^ "Private Members' Bill ballot : 9 January 2020". parliament.uk. 9 January 2020. Archived from the original on 10 January 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  20. ^ Courea, Eleni (27 January 2020). "20 MPs to watch in 2020". Politico Europe. Archived from the original on 28 January 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  21. ^ "New Bill to restrict under 18s' access to Botox and fillers echoes Nuffield Council concerns". Nuffield Council of Bioethics. 5 February 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  22. ^ Trott, Laura (1 October 2021). "'I Hope Today Marks The Start Of Much Needed Change': Laura Trott MP On New The Botox And Filler Ban For Under-18s". Grazia. Retrieved 14 November 2021.
  23. ^ "Health and Social Care Committee membership agreed". parliament.uk. 2 March 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  24. ^ Payne, Sebastian (25 April 2020). "Senior Tories launch ERG-style group to shape policy on China". Financial Times. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  25. ^ "Accelerator Zones: how to turbocharge economic opportunity across the UK" (PDF). Social Market Foundation. 21 February 2021. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
  26. ^ "Another UK lawmaker resigns from PM Johnson's government". Reuters. 6 July 2022.
  27. ^ Payne, Sebastian (8 July 2022). "Rishi Sunak to stand for leadership of UK Tory party". Financial Times. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  28. ^ a b "Laura Trott MBE MP". gov.uk. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  29. ^ a b Austin, Amy (13 November 2023). "Cabinet reshuffle: pensions and housing on ministerial merry go round". FT Adviser. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  30. ^ Smith, Sophie (13 November 2023). "Updated: Laura Trott moved to Treasury; Opperman moved to transport". Pensions Age. Retrieved 15 November 2023.
  31. ^ "Orders for 13 December 2023" (PDF). Privy Council Office. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  32. ^ Trott, Laura (speaker); Ramewal, Pav, Dr (Returning Officer) (13 December 2019). 13 December 2019. Sevenoaks District Council. Event occurs at 2m56s. Retrieved 29 December 2020. I'd like to thank my family; my friends; my husband Bids here tonight
  33. ^ "Bahador (Bids) Mahvelati". PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Retrieved 29 December 2020.

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