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Gillian Keegan

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The Right Honourable
Gillian Keegan
Official portrait, 2019
Secretary of State for Education
Assumed office
25 October 2022
Prime MinisterRishi Sunak
Preceded byKit Malthouse
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Africa
In office
8 September 2022 – 25 October 2022
Prime MinisterLiz Truss
Preceded byVicky Ford
Succeeded byAndrew Mitchell[a]
Minister of State for Care and Mental Health
In office
16 September 2021 – 7 September 2022
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byHelen Whately[b]
Nadine Dorries[c]
Succeeded byRobert Jenrick[d]
Caroline Johnson[e]
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Apprenticeships and Skills
In office
14 February 2020 – 16 September 2021
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byAnne Milton
Succeeded byAlex Burghart
Member of Parliament
forChichester
In office
8 June 2017 – 30 May 2024
Preceded byAndrew Tyrie
Succeeded byJess Brown-Fuller
Majority21,490 (35.1%)
Member ofChichester District Council
forRogate
In office
23 October 2014 – 12 April 2018
Preceded byJohn Kingston
Succeeded byKate O'Kelly
Personal details
Born(1968-03-13)13 March 1968(age 56)[1][2]
Leigh,Lancashire,England
Political partyConservative
SpouseMichael Keegan
RelativesDenis Keegan(father-in-law)
Residence(s)Petworth,West Sussex,England
Alma materLiverpool John Moores University
London Business School
Websitegilliankeegan.com

Gillian Keegan(néeGibson;born 13 March 1968)[3]is a British politician who served asSecretary of State for Educationfrom 2022 to 2024. She previously served asMinister of State for Care and Mental Healthfrom 2021 to 2022, andParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Africafrom September to October 2022. A member of theConservative Party,Keegan served as theMember of Parliament(MP) forChichesterfrom2017to 2024.

She was appointedParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Apprenticeships and Skillsin theFebruary 2020 reshufflebyBoris Johnson.In the2021 cabinet reshuffle,Johnson promoted her toMinister of State for Care and Mental Health.She was demoted toParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for AfricawhenLiz Trusswas appointed Prime Minister in September 2022. In October 2022, she was appointedSecretary of State for Educationby new Prime MinisterRishi Sunak.

Early life and education

Gillian Gibson was born inLeigh,Lancashire,[4]to an office manager father and a mother who did secretarial work.[5]She went toprimary schoolinYorkshire,[4]and grew up inKnowsley, Merseyside,going toSt Augustine of Canterbury Secondary SchoolinHuyton.She was the only pupil to get 10O-Levelsat her school.[5]Keegan started her career aged 16 as an apprentice at theAC Delcomotor vehicle components factory inKirkby.

She then studiedBusiness StudiesatLiverpool John Moores University,graduating with a bachelor's degree. Keegan also graduated with a Master of Science in Strategy and Leadership (Sloan Fellowship) from theLondon Business Schoolin 2011.[6]

After university, Keegan had a business career working at Delco Electronics (part of theGeneral MotorsGroup),NatWest Bank(senior buyer),MasterCard International(commercial director), Amadeus IT Group (group vice president of Multinational Customer Group based in Madrid) andTravelport(chief marketing officer)[7]for over 27 years.[7]

Political career

Keegan has said that it was her experiences oftrade unionismand theMilitant-controlledLiverpool City Councilwhile working in Kirkby in her youth during the 1980s that convinced her to support the Conservative Party. However, she did not become active in politics until 2014.[8]In 2015, she was advised to become an MP byJustine Greening,whom she had met at a London Business School (LBS) reunion. Keegan has said that this demonstrated the power of the LBS network.[9]

Keegan was elected as a councillor for theRogateward onChichester District Councilin 2014.[10]She was appointed cabinet member for commercial services in May 2015.[11]She stood down as a councillor in February 2018, once elected to Parliament.

At the2015 general election,Keegan stood inSt Helens South and Whiston,coming second with 15.9% of the vote behind theLabourcandidateMarie Rimmer.[12][13]

After the election, she became director ofWomen2Win—an organisation founded byTheresa MayandAnne Jenkin, Baroness Jenkin of Kenningtonin 2005 to help elect more women Conservative MPs to Parliament.[14]She left the position in September 2017, having been elected to Parliament.[15]

Parliamentary career

Keegan was selected as the Conservative Parliamentary candidate forChichesterin May 2017.[14]At the snap2017 general election,she was elected to Parliament as MP for Chichester with 60.1% of the vote and a majority of 22,621.[16]She is the constituency's first female MP.[10]

In September 2017, she was appointed to thePublic Accounts Committee.[17]

In February 2019, Keegan was appointed as MP Apprenticeship Ambassador byAnne Milton,with responsibility to support apprenticeship schemes and promote them both within Parliament and to businesses within the UK, working alongside the Apprenticeship Ambassador Network consisting of various advocates of apprenticeship schemes.[18][19]

Keegan endorsedRory Stewartduring the2019 Conservative Party leadership election.[20]

At the2019 general election,Keegan was re-elected as MP for Chichester with a decreased vote share of 57.8% and a decreased majority of 21,490.[21]

Junior ministerial roles

Keegan was appointedParliamentary Private Secretary(PPS) toHM Treasuryin September 2018.[22]In January 2019, she became PPS to theSecretary of State for Defence.[23]She became PPS to theHome Secretaryin May 2019.[24]She became PPS to theSecretary of State for Health and Social Carein September 2019.

In February 2020, Keegan was appointedParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Apprenticeships and Skills,a junior ministerial role at theDepartment for Education,[25]and was the first former apprentice to hold the office.[26]

In August 2020, Keegan was criticised for being on holiday during theGCSE and A-level grading controversy.She defended herself by stating that she was not the minister responsible forA-levelandGCSEqualifications. She said that although she had been the duty minister for the first two weeks of summer recess, she had obtained special permission to take her government computer with her to continue working during this period.[27]

In theSeptember 2021 reshuffle,Keegan was appointedMinister of State for Care and Mental Health.[28][29]FollowingBoris Johnson'sresignation as Prime Minister, Keegan released a statement in which she praised the prime minister's leadership.[30]

Keegan endorsedRishi Sunakin theJuly–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election[31]and was subsequently demoted whenLiz Trussbecame Prime Minister in September 2022, serving asParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Africa.

Education Secretary

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak meets Secretary of State for Education Gillian Keegan in 2022.

Keegan again endorsed Sunak in theOctober 2022 Conservative Party leadership electionand was appointedSecretary of State for Education.[32]She was sworn as a member of thePrivy Councilon 27 October 2022.[33]

On 5 January 2023, Keegan represented theBritish governmentat thefuneralofPope Benedict XVI.[34]

In July 2023, Keegan was reported to have suggested that headteachers should collect absent pupils from home in order to return them to school.[35]This led to criticism from some school leaders.[36]

Following an interview on 4 September 2023 withITV Newsabout theRAAC crisisin a number of schools in England, Keegan, believing the recording had ended, remarked: "Does anyone ever say 'you know what, you've done a fucking good job [be]cause everyone else has sat on their arse and done nothing'? No signs of that, no?". She later apologised for using profanity and described it as "off the cuff" and "unnecessary".[37][38][39]Keegan said that she did not expect to be personally thanked for her performance and that it was instead a reference to theDepartment for Education's "leadership role" in the crisis. Earlier that day, it was revealed that the DfE had spent £32 million refurbishing its office space in Whitehall. During an interview, Keegan appeared to be unaware of these costs.[40][41]

Personal life

Keegan lives inPetworthinWest Sussexwith her second husband, Michael, and has two stepsons.[42]

Michael Keegan is a former Head ofFujitsuUK and Ireland, appointed in 2014. He later had a role as a crown representative to the Cabinet Office, managing cross-government relationships withBAE Systemsas a strategic supplier to the Government.[43][44]In January 2024 he resigned from his part-time government role during a period of intense scrutiny into the role of Fujitsu and its Horizon software in thePost Office Scandal.[45]

Keegan and her husband jointly own a house in Petworth, a flat in London, a property in France and a house inAndalusia,Spain.[46]

Notes

  1. ^AsMinister of State for Development and Africa.
  2. ^As Minister of State for Social Care.
  3. ^As Minister of State for Patient Safety, Suicide Prevention and Mental Health.
  4. ^As Minister of State for Health.
  5. ^As Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Mental Health and Public Health.

References

  1. ^"Gillian Keegan: 'Militant trade unionists turned me Tory after I saw how it cost us jobs'".The Sunday Telegraph.7 May 2017.Archivedfrom the original on 14 November 2018.Retrieved14 November2018.
  2. ^Dale, Iain; Smith, Jacqui (14 November 2019).The Honourable Ladies: Volume II: Profiles of Women MPs 1997–2019.Biteback Publishing.ISBN978-1-78590-447-9.Archivedfrom the original on 3 March 2022.Retrieved27 November2020– via Google Books.
  3. ^No surname, Andrew (5 September 2023)."Gillian Keegan Biography: the Apprentice Who Became Education Secretary".rallshe.Retrieved5 September2023.
  4. ^ab"About Gillian".Gillian Keegan.Archivedfrom the original on 16 February 2022.Retrieved14 February2022.
  5. ^ab"Profile: Gillian Keegan".FE Week.Archivedfrom the original on 16 February 2022.Retrieved15 February2022.
  6. ^"Gillian Keegan".Women2win.com.Archived fromthe originalon 31 July 2017.Retrieved9 June2017.
  7. ^ab"Gillian Gibson Named to Travelport Post".Travel Agent Central(Press release). Questex. 18 January 2011.Archivedfrom the original on 17 September 2017.Retrieved17 September2017.
  8. ^Riley-Smith, Ben (6 May 2017)."'Theresa factor' credited with surge in women candidates as party looks set to make history by securing more women MPs than ever before ".The Telegraph.Archivedfrom the original on 9 April 2018.Retrieved14 October2017.
  9. ^"Gillian Keegan".London Business School.Archivedfrom the original on 15 October 2017.Retrieved14 October2017.
  10. ^ab"Conservative's bid to be Chichester's first female MP".Chichester Observer.3 May 2017.Archivedfrom the original on 13 June 2017.Retrieved9 June2017.
  11. ^"New cabinet is announced at Chichester District Council".Chichester District Council.Archivedfrom the original on 14 October 2017.Retrieved14 October2017.
  12. ^"Election Data 2015".Electoral Calculus.Archived fromthe originalon 17 October 2015.Retrieved17 October2015.
  13. ^"St Helens South & Whiston".BBC News.Retrieved10 May2015.
  14. ^abWallace, Mark (2 May 2017)."Keegan selected in Chichester".ConservativeHome.Archivedfrom the original on 8 June 2017.Retrieved9 June2017.
  15. ^"Gillian Keegan MP featured in The Times 'Back to Westminster' series".Women2win.com.11 September 2017.Archivedfrom the original on 1 October 2017.Retrieved20 October2017.
  16. ^"Statement of Persons Nominated and Notice of Poll".Archived fromthe originalon 14 June 2017.Retrieved26 May2017.
  17. ^"Membership – Public Accounts Committee".UK Parliament.Archivedfrom the original on 18 November 2017.Retrieved17 September2017.
  18. ^"A REVOLUTION ON THE SOUTH COAST – UNIVERSITY OPENS TO DEGREE APPRENTICES".University of Chichester.5 March 2019.Archivedfrom the original on 27 April 2019.Retrieved27 April2019.
  19. ^"Chichester MP appointed as Apprenticeship Ambassador".Chichester Observer.15 February 2019.Archivedfrom the original on 15 February 2019.Retrieved27 April2019.
  20. ^Powling, Joshua (12 June 2019)."Chichester's MP announces who she is backing for Tory leader".Chichester Observer.Archivedfrom the original on 12 June 2019.Retrieved17 June2019.
  21. ^"Archived copy".Archived fromthe originalon 13 June 2020.Retrieved15 November2019.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  22. ^Powling, Joshua (13 September 2018)."Chichester MP promoted to treasury role".Chichester Observer.Archivedfrom the original on 26 October 2018.Retrieved26 October2018.
  23. ^"Ministry of Defence role for Chichester MP".Chichester Observer.11 January 2019.Archivedfrom the original on 16 April 2019.Retrieved16 February2022.
  24. ^"Parliamentary Private Secretaries"(PDF).GOV.UK.June 2019.Archived(PDF)from the original on 24 July 2019.Retrieved5 August2019.
  25. ^Camden, Billy (17 February 2020)."Gillian Keegan appointed apprenticeships and skills minister".FE Week.Archivedfrom the original on 25 July 2020.Retrieved25 July2020.
  26. ^Careers and Enterprise Company (10 February 2021)."Five young women set out their stall for improving apprenticeship take-up with Skills Minister Gillian Keegan".FE News.Archivedfrom the original on 11 February 2021.Retrieved11 February2021.
  27. ^Powling, Joshua (27 August 2020)."Chichester MP explains decision to go abroad on holiday during exam season".Sussex Express.Archivedfrom the original on 28 August 2020.Retrieved30 August2020.
  28. ^"Minister of State (Minister for Care)".GOV.UK.Archivedfrom the original on 22 September 2021.Retrieved16 September2021.
  29. ^"Ministerial appointments: September 2021".GOV.UK.16 September 2021.Archivedfrom the original on 17 September 2021.Retrieved16 February2022.
  30. ^Joshua Powling (7 July 2022)."Chichester MP responds to Boris Johnson's resignation and will remain in government".Chichester Observer.Archivedfrom the original on 7 July 2022.Retrieved7 July2022.
  31. ^"Gillian backs Rishi Sunak for Leader".gilliankeegan.com/.
  32. ^"Gillian Keegan MP".GOV.UK.Retrieved9 September2022.
  33. ^"ORDERS APPROVED AND BUSINESS TRANSACTED AT THE PRIVY COUNCIL HELD BY THE KING AT BUCKINGHAM PALACE ON 27TH OCTOBER 2022"(PDF).Privycouncil.independent.gov.uk.Retrieved8 September2023.
  34. ^Etchingham, Julie (5 January 2023)."The sound of Bavarian drumming fills the air ahead of Pope's funeral".ITV News.Retrieved5 January2023.
  35. ^"Headteachers should pick up truants from their homes, says Gillian Keegan".The Daily Telegraph.14 July 2023.Retrieved14 July2023.
  36. ^"Education secretary accused of being 'flippant' over absent pupils in England".The Guardian.14 July 2023.Retrieved14 July2023.
  37. ^"Gillian Keegan recorded saying others 'have been sat on their a***s' on school Raac crisis".ITV News.4 September 2023.
  38. ^"Gillian Keegan caught saying 'everyone else has sat on arse' over concrete crisis".The Guardian.4 September 2023.
  39. ^Whammel, Kate (4 September 2023)."Gillian Keegan apologises for swearing over school concrete crisis".BBC News.Retrieved4 September2023.
  40. ^"Education Secretary Gillian Keegan 'didn't know' about £32m spending on departmental office refurbishment".Sky News.4 September 2023.
  41. ^Kate Nicholson (4 September 2023)."Kay Burley Calls Out Education Secretary Over Department's Alleged £34m Refurb As Schools Crumble".HuffPost.
  42. ^"About Gillian: Gillian Keegan".23 December 2022. Archived fromthe originalon 23 December 2022.Retrieved23 December2022.
  43. ^"Firm linked with Tory minister's husband 'awarded £24m' in taxpayers' cash".The National.5 September 2022.Retrieved29 January2024.
  44. ^"Cabinet Office denies conflict over crown rep's role at MoD supplier".Civil Service World.8 September 2022.Retrieved5 January2023.
  45. ^"Education Secretary's Husband Resigns".
  46. ^"Register of MP interestst".

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
forChichester
2017–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Apprenticeships and Skills
2020–2021 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of State for Care and Mental Health
2021–2022 		Vacant
Preceded byasParliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Africa
2022
Preceded by Secretary of State for Education
2022–present 		Incumbent
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gillian_Keegan&oldid=1232748766"