Sara Britcliffe

Sara Britcliffe
Official portrait, 2019
Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party
In office
13 November 2023 – 5 July 2024
LeaderRishi Sunak
Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party for Youth
In office
30 September 2022 – 13 November 2023
LeaderLiz Truss
Rishi Sunak
Member of Parliament
for Hyndburn
In office
12 December 2019 – 30 May 2024
Preceded byGraham Jones
Succeeded bySarah Smith
Personal details
Born
Sara Alice Britcliffe

(1995-02-21) 21 February 1995 (age 29)
NationalityBritish
Political partyConservative
Alma materUniversity of Manchester
Websitewww.sarabritcliffe.org.uk

Sara Alice Britcliffe (born 21 February 1995) is a British Conservative Party politician, who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hyndburn from 2019 to 2024.[1][2] At the age of 24, she was the youngest Conservative MP elected in the election, and the first to represent the constituency since 1992.[3]

She was also previously a councillor on the Hyndburn Borough Council between 2018 and 2021. She has been the Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party for Campaigning and Candidates since November 2023.

Early life and education

Sara Britcliffe was born on 21 February 1995, and attended St Christopher's Church of England High School, Accrington.[4] Her father, Peter, is the councillor for the Oswaldtwistle division on Lancashire County Council.[5] She has two older brothers. Her mother, Gabrielle Kroger, died in 2004, when Britcliffe was nine years old.[6] She studied modern languages at the University of Manchester.[7]

Political career

Britcliffe served in the ceremonial role of mayoress between 2017 and 2018, alongside her father, who was the mayor on Hyndburn Borough Council. He stood down from the council in 2018.[8][9] She was elected as a councillor for the ward of St. Andrews (previously represented by her father) at the 2018 Hyndburn Borough Council election.[10] Britcliffe did not stand in the next election in 2021 and her seat was won by her father.[11] Prior to her political career, she managed a sandwich shop in Oswaldtwistle.[7]

Parliamentary career

Britcliffe was selected as the Conservative candidate for the constituency of Hyndburn on 6 November 2019.[7] Her father had previously contested the seat at the general elections of 1997 and 2001.[12]

At the 2019 general election, Britcliffe was elected to Parliament as MP for Hyndburn with 48.5% of the vote and a majority of 2,951.[13][14] At the age of 24, she was the youngest Conservative MP elected in the election.[3]

Britcliffe travelled to Pakistan in February 2020, as part of an all-party delegation.[15] Britcliffe was a member of the Women and Equalities Committee between March 2020 and March 2021.[16]

On 28 April 2020, Britcliffe became the first MP to deliver her maiden speech from outside the House of Commons, after parliament adopted a system in which members could contribute to debates virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic.[17]

She is a member of the parliamentary council of the centre-right think tank the Northern Policy Foundation, and of the Northern Research Group.[18][19] She has been a member of the Transport Select Committee since July 2023.[16]

On 29 January 2021, she became a Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) in the Department for Education.[20] She resigned as PPS on 6 July 2022, in protest at Prime Minister Boris Johnson's handling of the Chris Pincher scandal.[21]

Britcliffe endorsed Nadhim Zahawi in the July 2022 Conservative Party leadership election.[22] After Zahawi was eliminated, she backed Liz Truss.[23]

On 30 September 2022, Britcliffe became the Conservative Party's Vice-Chairman for Youth.[24] In this role, she highlighted the importance of the party engaging with issues that affect young people, including housing and childcare, particularly given its poor poll ratings with this group in the same year.[25] In November 2023, Britcliffe became Deputy Chairman for Campaigning and Candidates.[26]

In December 2023, she called for more government support to combat alcoholism after disclosing that her late mother had suffered from it.[27]

Britcliffe ran for re-election in the 2024 United Kingdom general election. She was defeated by Labour candidate Sarah Smith.[28]

References

  1. ^ "Members Sworn". Hansard. 18 December 2019. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  2. ^ Britcliffe, Sara [@SarBritcliffeMP] (21 February 2020). "25 today! In this time zone anyway" (Tweet). Retrieved 21 February 2020 – via Twitter.
  3. ^ a b "Fresh Tory faces make their way to Westminster". The Times. 16 December 2019. Archived from the original on 29 December 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2019.(subscription required)
  4. ^ "General Election Hustings". St Christopher's Church of England. 3 December 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  5. ^ Jacobs, Bill (17 December 2019). "New Hyndburn MP Sara, 24, promises 'youthful' view". Lancashire Telegraph. Archived from the original on 29 December 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  6. ^ "'Moving' farewell to leader's ex-partner". LancsLive. 9 December 2004. Archived from the original on 30 December 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  7. ^ a b c Jacobs, Bill (6 November 2019). "Conservatives choose Sara Britcliffe to fight Hyndburn election". Lancashire Telegraph. Archived from the original on 29 December 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  8. ^ "Hyndburn's Youngest Mayoress Reflects on First Six Months". Acorn News. Archived from the original on 29 December 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  9. ^ Jacobs, Bill (20 April 2018). "Hyndburn faces a less colourful election with three of its major political figures missing from the campaign trail". Lancashire Telegraph. Archived from the original on 30 December 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  10. ^ Marko, Nic (4 May 2018). "Hyndburn elections 2018: Full round-up and results". Lancashire Telegraph. Archived from the original on 29 December 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  11. ^ Earnshaw, Tom (6 May 2021). "Hyndburn Borough Council local elections 2021 results in full". LancsLive. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  12. ^ Bond, Daniel (16 December 2019). "Class of 2019: Meet the new MPs". Politics Home. Archived from the original on 17 December 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  13. ^ "Hyndburn". BBC News. Archived from the original on 30 December 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  14. ^ "Hyndburn Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  15. ^ "British MPs meet Sarwar, assure raising voice over Kashmir". The News International. 22 February 2020. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  16. ^ a b "Parliamentary career". parliament.uk. Retrieved 27 January 2024.
  17. ^ "MP makes history as she delivers first maiden speech from outside the Commons". Express & Star. 28 April 2020. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  18. ^ Black, Michael (25 June 2020). "Conservative think tank set up in bid to boost the North". The Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  19. ^ "'Red Wall' Tories form group to campaign for northern England". BBC News. 10 October 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  20. ^ Jacobs, Bill (29 January 2021). "Hyndburn MP Sara Britcliffe gets her foot on the government ladder". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  21. ^ Lovett, Samuel; Stone, Jon (6 July 2022). "All the Tory MPs who have quit Boris Johnson's government in less than 24 hours". The Independent. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  22. ^ Fenton, Amy (7 July 2022). "Hyndburn and Haslingden MP Sara Britcliffe says Nadhim Zahawi is a 'great man' to replace Boris Johnson as PM". Lancs Live.
  23. ^ Jacobs, Bill (2 August 2022). "East Lancs MPs back Liz Truss as next PM". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  24. ^ @SarBritcliffeMP (30 September 2022). "Brilliant to join the team!" (Tweet). Retrieved 26 January 2023 – via Twitter.
  25. ^ Doherty, Caitlin (14 December 2022). "The Conservatives' Millennial Problem Could Cost Them The Next Election". Politics Home. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
  26. ^ @SarBritcliffeMP (25 November 2023). "It's an absolute privilege to move into this role. I am sometimes asked why I joined the Conservative Party. Because I believe in aspiration, I believe that we must inspire people to believe that they can achieve what they want to achieve. That's what our party does. Let's go!" (Tweet). Retrieved 26 January 2024 – via Twitter.
  27. ^ Jacobs, Bill (1 December 2023). "Hyndburn MP calls for action on alcoholism in memory of mum". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  28. ^ "Hyndburn results". BBC News. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Hyndburn
2019––2024 		Succeeded by