Conservative Intake
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who’s who in health the 2010conservative intake 1 Contents Foreword, by Charles Lewington 3 Helen Grant, Maidstone and the Weald 4 Phillip Lee, Bracknell 5 Daniel Poulter, Central Suffolk and Ipswich North 6 George Freeman, Mid Norfolk 7 Sarah Wollaston, Totnes 8 Maggie Throup, Solihull 9 Mark Coote, Cheltenham 10 Penny Mordaunt, Portsmouth North 11 Maria Hutchings, Eastleigh 12 Margot James, Stourbridge 13 Paul Maynard, Blackpool North and Cleveleys 14 Helen Whately, Kingston and Surbition 15 Rowena Holland, Nottingham South 16 Julia Manning, to be selected 17 Departures, voluntary and involuntary 18-19 2 Foreword At the next general election the House of Commons may undergo its most radical change since 1945. An unexpected number of retiring MPs, coupled with a sizeable predicted swing to the Conservatives means well over a third of the new Parliament could be new MPs. Even if the Conservatives gain an overall majority of one, more than half their MPs will be new to Parliament. Change of this scale will have huge implications for business. Much has been made of the “ones to watch” in this predicted new intake of MPs. This booklet highlights candidates with a healthcare interest, including unique information gained from them via a hanover survey of their opinions and priorities. This booklet focuses on Conservative PPCs, some of whom will be certain of election as they are fighting seats with large majorities, or ones estimated to have had large notional majorities in 2005 with the new boundaries. Others will have a harder fight ahead, but with a national swing of 7%+ needed for the narrowest of Conservative majorities the party is working hard to win these seats. While we did not originally set out to look solely at the Conservatives, they can expect to form the bulk of the class of 2010, and of the candidates from other parties selected to date, few have a health specialism. The candidates’ backgrounds range from scientist to investor, GP to PCT board member, policy advisor to aid worker and patient advocate. They have many common priorities and concerns: care of old people; prevention; improved access and decentralisation, to name but a few, but in how healthcare should be organised and funded there is a plurality of views. Given the tough challenges health faces over the coming years the views and energy of this new intake will be critical. 3 January 2010 Conservative Helen Grant notional majority PPC for Maidstone and the Weald of 12,922 Helen inherits the She strongly believes in the importance of seat from Rt Hon listening to patients, understanding them Anne Widdecombe and the communities in which they live: who held the health If we are committed to delivering the brief in opposition highest“ quality of care and service we must under William know our customers. Hague’s leadership. ” She took an active She wants to see widespread reform role in the NHS as stretching from “financing a world a non-executive director of the Croydon class commissioning service” through NHS Primary Care Trust from January to “the public perception of the NHS. 2005 until 2007. Helen is also the founding If we can improve the perception member of the executive committee of of the NHS then this would lead the MASH campaign, which aims to save to a more motivated workforce.” Maidstone’s Hospital Services, and she regularly meets with the Chairmen of the Helen considers the NHS to be: Maidstone Hospital Trust Board and their A pearl of our society – universal overseeing Primary Care Trust board. “ health care free at the point of need. Her family background is rooted in We must support it and protect it, healthcare. Her grandmother was a nursing but also improve it by making it more sister, her father a doctor and orthopaedic responsive to patients’ needs.” surgeon, her mother a nurse and she has two sisters, one who is a doctor and the other a nurse. Local PCT priorities Local hospital performance rating • Teenage pregnancy Maidstone and Tunbridge • Smoking Wells Hospital • Cancer screening Quality of Service: ✪ • Childhood immunisation Financial Management: ✪ ✪ • Weight management Key: ✪ Weak ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ Excellent ✪ ✪ Fair Source: Care 4 ✪ ✪ ✪ Good Quality Commission Conservative Phillip Lee notional majority PPC for Bracknell of 12,036 Phillip was selected He cancelled his BMA membership shortly by members of the after qualifying as a doctor as he felt they local community did not stand up for doctors’ or patients’ as well as the Party best interests, but has been complimentary membership at about more recent BMA policy, such as an “open primary” their agreement with the Conservative’s selection meeting, call to create an independent health board. although Bracknell He has been critical of both nation stopped short of devolution and the Barnett formula having a full a constituency-wide paper as causing unfairness in the provision ballot. Phillip is expected to increase the of healthcare in Britain. majority, despite an anticipated backlash This will be the second general election he against the retiring Conservative has fought having contested Blaenau Gwent incumbent’s expense claim abuses. in South Wales in 2005. He studied at King’s College, London, Keble College, Oxford and St Mary’s Hospital Phillip believes patients need Medical School at Imperial College in to be involved in service design: London. He now works as a part-time GP throughout the Thames Valley area. He has “ Until local people take ownership highlighted the lack of MPs and candidates of their own individual health with a science background and is expected and play an active role in determining to be a champion of research and science the health services offered locally, on the green benches. the health of the nation as a whole will not improve.” Local PCT priorities Local hospital performance rating • Increasing physical activity Royal Berkshire Hospital • Reducing teenage pregnancy • Fuel poverty and early age obesity Quality of Service: ✪ ✪ ✪ Financial Management: ✪ ✪ 5 Conservative Daniel Poulter notional majority PPC for Central Suffolk and Ipswich North of 7,856 A doctor, specialising record will ensure he is an effective advocate in obstetrics, for the issues he cares about when he gynaecology and reaches the green benches. women’s health, During his career he has served on several pipped 170 hopefuls to service improvement committees concerned become the PPC for with care for older patients and promoting retiree Michael Lord’s best practice in natural childbirth. He also safe Conservative has experience of health issues from a local seat. Selected in an government perspective as a local meeting open to Councillor, being made Deputy Leader everyone living in the constituency, he of Reigate & Banstead Council last year. pledged to resign his post immediately In his spare time he has chosen to support at the Princess Royal University Hospital, organisations dealing with homelessness, in Bromley, and to find health care work in mental illness and Women’s Refuge. Suffolk in the run-up to the General Election. His interest in all three issues is likely Daniel is a veteran campaigner both for to continue into his parliamentary career. the Conservatives and for local healthcare services. He has good connections to the He states that: Conservative health team, in particular I would fight to cut NHS Anne Milton MP, having run her polling “ bureaucracy, and instead direct day operation for the 2005 general election. more money into frontline patient In addition to medicine, his legal care: such as maternity services, background – he is a law graduate – and A&E and cancer treatment. successful recreational debating track ” Local PCT priorities Local hospital performance rating • Inequalities Ipswich hospital • Child physical activity • Teenage pregnancy Quality of Service: ✪ ✪ Financial Management: ✪ ✪ ✪ 6 Conservative George Freeman notional majority PPC for Mid Norfolk of 7,793 George will bring and now a leading specialist experimental twelve years medicine consultancy. experience of His work in the last three years has almost biomedical research exclusively involved working with the and healthcare UK’s leading biomedical research hospitals venture capitalism setting up new translational models of to the green benches care to catalyse and draw on accelerated and is likely to be biomedical discovery. a leading prevention champion, wanting investment in “health awareness and He sees the major challenges responsibility earlier in life.” healthcare providers face as: After a brief spell as Parliamentary Officer “ The ‘perfect storm’ of pressures, from for the National Farmers Union and an continuing technological innovation early career in small business, George was creating ever more treatment appointed Director of venture capital firm possibilities, exploding patient Early Stage Ventures. As one of the demand accelerated by fundamental founders of Merlin Biosciences in the epidemiological and demographic 1990s, he was closely involved in the drivers, the breakdown of the Big formation and funding of a number of Pharma ‘one size fits all’ blockbuster well known UK biotech start-ups including discovery model, and new Ark Therapeutics, Vectura, Microscience, reimbursement regimes based on Biovex, and Amedis Pharmaceuticals. improved performance of increasingly In 2003, he set up 4D Biomedical, targeted therapies.” a bio-medical ventures advisory business, Local PCT priorities Local hospital performance rating • Inequalities across the county, especially Norfolk and Norwich early deaths from heart disease and stroke University Hospital Quality of Service: ✪ ✪ Financial Management: ✪ ✪ ✪ 7 Conservative Sarah Wollaston notional majority PPC for Totnes of 1,620 Selected via a high She has been a Fellow of the Higher profile open primary, Education Academy in 2007 and has also where all members of taught medical students from Bristol and the electorate can the Peninsula Medical Schools for the last vote, the Chagford ten years. She has worked as a GP trainer, GP and relative has taught junior doctors at Exeter newcomer to the postgraduate centre, and is an examiner for political arena beat the Royal College of General Practitioners.