In September 2010, Winterton was nominated and elected unopposed as Labour Chief Whip and served in the post until October 2016. She was elected as one of three deputy speakers of the House of Commons on 28 June 2017 and re-elected unopposed on 7 January 2020,[1][2] Winterton stood down at the 2024 general election and was elevated to the House of Lords later that year.
After working for four years in the private sector, as managing director of Connect Public Affairs, she returned to politics to assist John Prescott in 1994; Prescott had been elected as the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, and Winterton worked as Head of Office for the Deputy Party Leader until 1997.[5]
Parliamentary career
Winterton became an MP in the 1997 election, serving the safe Labour seat of Doncaster Central constituency with a vote share exceeding 50% in each general election until 2010, where her vote share fell to 39.7%.
In June 2007, she was appointed Minister of State at the Department for Transport by the new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown.[7] Winterton was subsequently appointed Minister for Yorkshire and the Humber in addition to her DfT responsibilities on 24 January 2008. She was promoted to Minister of State for Pensions at the Department for Work and Pensions in the October 2008 reshuffle, retaining her Ministerial brief for Yorkshire and the Humber.
In September 2010, she was nominated and elected unopposed as Labour Chief Whip and served until October 2016, when she was replaced by Nick Brown.[8]
In June 2017, Winterton was elected to serve as Second Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means.[9] From 2017 to 2024, she was the only one of the Speaker team to have previously served as a government minister.
On 27 February 2022, Winterton announced her intention to stand down at the 2024 general election.[10]
Expenses scandal
Winterton was one of a number of Government Ministers who secretly repaid back some of expenses money which they had wrongly claimed. In the row over MPs' expenses, it was claimed she used taxpayers' cash to soundproof the bedroom of her south London flat.[11] According to The Daily Telegraph, the minister claimed a total of £86,277 over four years in additional costs allowance – close to the total allowed under Parliament's green book.
Honours
In June 2006, she was appointed a member of the Privy Council,[12] and she was sworn in on 19 July 2006.
After standing down as an MP, Winterton was nominated for a life peerage in the 2024 Dissolution Honours.[14][15][16] She was created Baroness Winterton of Doncaster, of Doncaster in the County of South Yorkshire, on 13 August 2024.[17]
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