Sheryll Hickman was born in Millbrook, Cornwall, on 4 February 1956. Her mother's family had lived in Millbrook for generations, and her father's family was from Calstock, a nearby village.[2][3] She was state educated at Millbrook Primary[4] and Torpoint Community College,[5] leaving the latter at the age of 16 with 5 O-Levels. She then worked for the South Western Electricity Board, and as an insurance underwriter, and later as a medical receptionist at a GP surgery.[6] She served as a Governor of Torpoint School for nine years until 2008, before standing down to concentrate on campaigning for the forthcoming general election.
The Conservative whips' office apologised for Murray's behaviour after she was reportedly drunk and disorderly in the House of Commons bar in 2010. Murray was later heavily criticised for signing a letter calling for tougher regulation of the press on the basis of her experience of press criticism following her behaviour.[9][10]
Murray was re-elected as MP for South East Cornwall at the 2015 general election with an increased vote share of 50.5% and an increased majority of 16,995.[14][15]
In 2016, the Labour Party unsuccessfully proposed an amendment in Parliament that would have required private landlords to make their homes "fit for human habitation". According to Parliament's register of interests, Murray was one of 72 Conservative MPs who voted against the amendment who personally derived an income from renting out property. The Conservative Government had responded to the amendment that they believed homes should be fit for human habitation but did not want to pass the new law that would explicitly require it.[17]
During the 2017 general election campaign in early June, Murray said at a hustings meeting: "If for instance somebody had moved house, or if their financial situation had changed while they're going through the reassessment and their benefits are delayed, then sometimes they need to call upon the food banks. But I am really pleased we have food banks in south east Cornwall". These comments sparked widespread anger. Audience members at the event booed Murray, to whom Murray responded with a gesture with her hand towards the group booing her and commented to the rest of the audience, "... and let's ignore these people". One woman heckled her, who Murray threatened with the threat of calling the police to remove the woman from the hustings after she refused to leave the event. Later, she clarified her comments: "Nobody is saying a person going hungry is a good thing and everything must be done to stop this. Whilst we work to eradicate hunger however the food banks themselves do provide a good service".[18][19]
At the snap 2017 general election, Murray was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 55.4% and an increased majority of 17,443.[20] After her re-election, Murray called for greater regulation of social media content and protection of MPs from intimidation after stating that during the campaign she was personally subjected to sustained abuse from users on social media.[21][22]
At the 2019 general election, Murray was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 59.3% and an increased majority of 20,971.[26]
On 10 March 2021, she took the opportunity of a Prime Minister's Question to suggest that British people should take advantage of Brexit to eat more British-caught fish.[27]
On 11 July 2022, Murray lost her position as executive member of the Conservatives’ 1922 Committee. She had held the position for 10 years.[29]
Murray publicly called for the resignation of Prime Minister Liz Truss on 20 October 2022. She also said she had submitted a letter of no confidence in Truss's leadership.[30]
In February 2024, Murray was re-selected as the Conservative candidate for South East Cornwall at the 2024 general election.[31]
Sheryll Murray's first marriage was to Jon Whitehall, a geologist, but the marriage ended after seven years.[6] Murray then married trawlerman Neil Murray, who died in a fishing accident on 24 March 2011.[32] A search by local fishermen and the emergency services discovered his body on board his boat Our Boy Andrew.[33] Murray has one daughter and one son. Her daughter Sally from her first marriage is an officer in the Royal Navy. Her son Andrew from her second marriage works in marine electronics.[6][34] Her long-term partner since 2013 was her campaign manager and office manager Robert Davidson. They were married in March 2019 in the House of Commons.[35][36][37]
Murray employs her husband as her Office Manager on a salary up to £40,000.[38] Although MPs who were first elected in 2017 have been banned from employing family members, the restriction is not retrospective – meaning that Murray's employment of her husband is lawful.[39]
