Julia Lopez (politician)

For the Mexican painter, see Julia López (painter).

Julia Lopez
MP
Official portrait, 2024
Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
In office
8 July 2024 – 5 November 2024
LeaderRishi Sunak
Preceded byThangam Debbonaire
Succeeded byStuart Andrew
Member of Parliament
for Hornchurch and Upminster
Incumbent
Assumed office
8 June 2017
Preceded byDame Angela Watkinson
Majority1,943 (4.1%)[1]
Minister of State for Data and Digital Infrastructure
In office
20 December 2023 – 5 July 2024
Prime MinisterRishi Sunak
Preceded byJohn Whittingdale
Succeeded byChris Bryant
In office
7 March 2023 – 9 May 2023
Prime MinisterRishi Sunak
Preceded byOffice established
Succeeded byJohn Whittingdale
Minister of State for Media, Tourism and Creative Industries[a]
In office
20 December 2023 – 5 July 2024
Prime MinisterRishi Sunak
Preceded byJohn Whittingdale
Succeeded byChris Bryant (Creative Industries and Tourism)
Stephanie Peacock (Media)
In office
7 September 2022 – 9 May 2023
Prime MinisterLiz Truss
Rishi Sunak
Preceded byMatt Warman
Succeeded byJohn Whittingdale
In office
16 September 2021 – 6 July 2022
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byJohn Whittingdale
Succeeded byMatt Warman
Minister on Leave
In office
9 May 2023 – 20 December 2023[b]
Prime MinisterRishi Sunak
InterimJohn Whittingdale
Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office
In office
14 February 2020 – 15 September 2021
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byJeremy Quin
Succeeded byHeather Wheeler
Personal details
Born
Julia Louise Dockerill[2]

June 1984 (age 40)
Harlow, Essex, England
Political partyConservative
Spouse
Lorenzo Lopez
​
(m. 2017)​
Children2
Alma materQueens' College, Cambridge
Websitejulialopez.co.uk

Julia Louise Lopez (née Dockerill; born June 1984)[3] is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hornchurch and Upminster since 2017.[4] She has served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition since November 2024, having previously served as Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport in Rishi Sunak's Caretaker Shadow Cabinet.[5]

Before entering the House of Commons, she served as a local councillor on the Tower Hamlets London Borough Council, and a parliamentary aide. Lopez previously served as Minister of State for Media, Data and Digital Infrastructure from September 2021 to July 2022,[6] and again from September 2022 to February 2023.

Early life and education

Julia Dockerill was born in June 1984 in Harlow[7] and grew up in Stansted Mountfitchet with her two sisters. Her mother was a primary school teacher and her father was a businessman.[8] After Bentfield Primary School, she attended Hertfordshire and Essex High School in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, before going to Queens' College, Cambridge, where she studied Social and Political Sciences.[3][9]

Political career

Dockerill was a researcher in the parliamentary office of then-MP for Cities of London and Westminster, Mark Field. She became his chief of staff and co-authored two of his books Between the Crashes and The Best of Times. Dockerill has also worked as a ghostwriter.[10] Whilst Dockerill was Field's parliamentary aide she was photographed in November 2016 carrying confidential notes on a Brexit-related meeting in Downing Street which indicated that the UK would not stay in the single market, and would not seek a transitional deal with the EU.[11][12]

In 2014, Dockerill was elected a councillor for St Katharine's and Wapping Ward on Tower Hamlets London Borough Council.[10][13]

Parliamentary career

In government

At the snap 2017 general election, Dockerill was elected to Parliament as MP for Hornchurch and Upminster with 60.2% of the vote and a majority of 17,723.[14][15] [16]

She voted against then Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit withdrawal agreement in early 2019. In the indicative votes on 27 March, she voted against a referendum on a potential withdrawal agreement.[17] In October, Lopez voted for Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit withdrawal agreement.[18]

Lopez was re-elected as MP for Hornchurch and Upminster at the 2019 general election with an increased vote share of 65.8% and an increased majority of 23,308.[1][19][20]

A Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office from February 2020 to September 2021, Lopez was appointed Minister of State for Media and Data in the 2021 British cabinet reshuffle.[21]

On 6 July 2022, Lopez resigned from government, citing Boris Johnson's handling of the Chris Pincher scandal, in a joint statement with fellow Ministers Kemi Badenoch, Neil O'Brien, Lee Rowley and Alex Burghart.[22] She then supported Kemi Badenoch in the July 2022 Conservative Party leadership election.[23]

In September 2022, Prime Minister Liz Truss reappointed her to government as a Minister in the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.[24] In October 2022, she was reappointed by Truss' successor as PM Rishi Sunak.[25]

In April 2023, it was announced that Lopez was to take maternity leave from her ministerial posts, under the terms of the Ministerial and other Maternity Allowances Act 2021, to be temporarily replaced by Sir John Whittingdale.[26]

In opposition

At the 2024 general election, Lopez was again re-elected, with a decreased vote share of 32.5% and a decreased majority of 1,943.[27] Lopez was appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport in the Shadow Cabinet of Rishi Sunak.[28] After the 2024 Conservative Party leadership election, Lopez was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition.[29]

Personal life

Lopez married Lorenzo Lopez in September 2017. The couple have two children.[30]

Notes

  1. ^ Minister of State for Media, Data and Digital Infrastructure from September 2021 to July 2022 and again from September 2022 to February 2023.
  2. ^ In accordance with the Ministerial and other Maternity Allowances Act 2021 John Whittingdale temporarily served as Minister of State for Media, Tourism and Creative Industries during the Lopez's maternity leave

References

  1. ^ a b "Hornchurch & Upminster". BBC News. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  2. ^ "No. 61961". The London Gazette. 19 June 2017. p. 11776.
  3. ^ a b Carr, Tim; Dale, Iain; Waller, Robert (7 September 2017). The Politicos Guide to the New House of Commons 2017. Biteback Publishing. pp. 262–263. ISBN 978-1-78590-278-9.
  4. ^ Anderson, Hayley (9 June 2017). "Election 2017: Conservative's Romford candidate Andrew Rosindell and Hornchurch and Upminster Julia Dockerill both win majority vote". Romford Recorder. Retrieved 9 June 2017..
  5. ^ "UK politics live: Lord Cameron resigns as Rishi Sunak announces interim shadow cabinet". BBC News. Retrieved 8 July 2024.
  6. ^ "Ministerial Appointments: September 2022". GOV.UK. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  7. ^ "England & Wales Births 1837–2006". Findmypast. Retrieved 4 November 2019.(subscription required)
  8. ^ Lopez, Julia. "About Julia Lopez MP". Julia Lopez. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  9. ^ "Dockerill, Julia Louise". Who's Who. Vol. 2018 (online ed.). A & C Black. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  10. ^ a b Wallace, Mark (26 April 2017). "Cllr Julia Dockerill selected for Hornchurch and Upminster". ConservativeHome. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  11. ^ Elgot, Jessica; Rankin, Jennifer (29 November 2016). "Minister dismisses 'have cake and eat it' Brexit notes". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  12. ^ Kenber, Billy; McGrath, Hannah (13 June 2017). "Fresh faces make up the most diverse group of MPs in history". The Times. Retrieved 4 November 2019.(subscription required)
  13. ^ "Election results for St Katharine's & Wapping". Tower Hamlets Council. 22 May 2014. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  14. ^ "Hornchurch & Upminster parliamentary constituency". BBC News.
  15. ^ "Commons Briefing Paper 7979. General Election 2017: results and analysis" (PDF) (Second ed.). House of Commons Library. 29 January 2019 [7 April 2018]. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 November 2019.
  16. ^ "Hornchurch and Upminster - UK Parliament Constituency - Election Polling". www.electionpolling.co.uk.
  17. ^ "How MPs voted on May's withdrawal deal defeat". Financial Times. 29 March 2019. Archived from the original on 2 September 2019.
  18. ^ Buchan, Lizzy (22 October 2019). "How your MP voted for Boris Johnson's Brexit deal". The Independent. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
  19. ^ Blake-Herbert, Andrew (14 November 2019). "Statement of persons nominated, notice of poll and situation of polling stations. Election of a Member of Parliament for Hornchurch & Upminster" (PDF). Havering London Borough Council.
  20. ^ "Commons Briefing Paper 8749. General Election 2019: results and analysis" (PDF). London: House of Commons Library. 28 January 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  21. ^ "Julia Lopez MP". gov.uk. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  22. ^ Duffy, Nick (6 July 2022). "Five ministers quit in joint resignation letter as PM faces growing pressure to go". i. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  23. ^ "The other race for Downing Street". Politico. 13 July 2022. Retrieved 18 July 2022.
  24. ^ "Robert Jenrick back in government as Liz Truss picks junior ministers". BBC News. 7 September 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  25. ^ "Ministerial Appointments commencing: 25 October 2022". gov.uk. Retrieved 26 October 2022.
  26. ^ "Ministerial Appointments: April 2023". GOV.UK. 24 April 2023. Retrieved 26 April 2023.
  27. ^ "Hornchurch and Upminster results". BBC. 5 July 2024. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  28. ^ "Sunak names new top team as Lord Cameron resigns". BBC News. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  29. ^ "Who makes up Kemi Badenoch's newly appointed shadow cabinet?". The Independent. 5 November 2024. Retrieved 6 November 2024.
  30. ^ "About Julia Lopez MP". Julia Lopez. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Julia Lopez (politician).
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Hornchurch and Upminster
2017–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office
2020–2021 		Succeeded by
Preceded byas Minister of State for Media and Data Minister of State for Media, Data, and Digital Infrastructure
2021–2022 		Succeeded by