Felicity Buchan

Felicity Christiana Buchan[1] is a British Conservative Party politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kensington in Greater London since 2019. Prior to her political career she worked in investment banking for JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America.

Felicity Buchan

MP
Buchan in 2019
Member of Parliament
for Kensington
Assumed office
12 December 2019
Preceded byEmma Dent Coad
Majority150 (0.3%)
Personal details
BornAberdeenshire, Scotland
NationalityBritish
Political partyConservative
Alma materChrist Church, Oxford
OccupationPolitician
Websitehttps://www.felicitybuchan.com/

Early life and education

Buchan was born in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.[2] She attended the comprehensive school, Fraserburgh Academy in Fraserburgh and subsequently studied law at Christ Church, Oxford.[3][4] Her brother Charles is a partner at the alternative asset management firm Bluecrest Capital Management.[5]

Financial career

Buchan worked for 10 years at American investment bank JPMorgan Chase in their syndicate and capital markets division and was promoted to vice president of their European syndicate.[6] She left the company in 2001 to join Bank of America as a managing director in its debt capital markets division.[7] As of September 2020, she holds at least £70,000 of shares in both companies.[8]

After leaving the financial services industry, she volunteered at a North Kensington children's charity and was the chair of governors of Bousfield Primary School.[3]

Political career

Buchan contested South Down in Northern Ireland as a Conservative candidate in the 2015 general election, coming last with 318 (0.7%) votes.[9] She then contested the South Shields seat in Tyne and Wear in 2017, where she came second to the incumbent Labour Party MP with 10,570 (25.9%) votes.[10] During the 2017 campaign, Buchan wrote an article for the website Brexit Central in which discussed her support for "a tough Brexit deal: that means leaving the Single Market, the Customs Union and the ECJ" and decried a London-centric view of politics.[11]

She was selected as the Conservative candidate for Kensington on 16 July 2019. Buchan had previously been the treasurer for the Kensington Chelsea & Fulham Conservatives Local Association.[12] When asked about her prior comments on Brexit during her 2017 campaign, she stated that she had "always campaigned for a good negotiated deal" and that she was not in favour of a "hard Brexit".[13] She was elected as MP in the 2019 general election with a majority of 150.[14] After her election, she pledged to accept and help to implement the recommendations of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry "with a sense of urgency". The purpose of the inquiry is to investigate the Grenfell Tower fire which occurred in 2017 in North Kensington which lies within her constituency.[15] She has been a member of the Treasury Select Committee and Finance Committee (House of Commons) since March 2020.[16]

On 7 September 2020, Buchan voted against a Labour Party amendment to the Fire Safety Bill which was intended to implement the recommendations of the first phase of the Inquiry. This was criticised by campaign group Grenfell United and opposition politicians. She defended her vote by stating that the government was "committed to implementing the recommendations" and criticised the Labour Party for "misrepresenting the vote" for political reasons.[17]

References
  1. "Members Sworn". UK Parliament. 18 December 2019. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  2. Hughes, Brendan (7 April 2015). "Tories sending British members to contest Westminster seats in north". The Irish News. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  3. Bond, Daniel (16 December 2019). "Class of 2019: Meet the new MPs". Politics Home. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  4. "Meet Felicity". Felicity Buchan. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  5. "Treasury Committee: Formal Minutes 2019–21". UK Parliament. 3 March 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  6. Hogan, Roger (6 September 1999). "BBB borrowers boosted". The Australian Financial Review. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  7. Townsend, Piers (19 April 2001). "BoA bolsters debt capital markets team". Financial News. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  8. "Register of Members' Financial Interests as at 1 September 2020" (PDF). UK Parliament. pp. 63–64. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  9. "South Down parliamentary constituency – Election 2015". UK Parliament. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  10. "South Shields – 2017 Election Results – General Elections Online". UK Parliament. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  11. Buchan, Felicity (1 June 2017). "Labour can no longer take South Shields for granted thanks to Corbyn and Brexit". Brexit Central. Archived from the original on 6 June 2017.
  12. Wallace, Mark (16 July 2019). "Felicity Buchan selected as Conservative candidate for Kensington". ConservativeHome. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  13. Gregory, Julia (3 December 2019). "The woman on a quest to win back Kensington – a jewel in the Conservative crown". MyLondon. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  14. "Kensington". BBC News. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  15. "Grenfell truth must come out, urges Conservative Kensington MP". South West Londoner. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  16. "Parliamentary career for Felicity Buchan". UK Parliament. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  17. "Grenfell recommendations will be implemented, says Robert Jenrick". BBC News. 8 September 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Emma Dent Coad		 Member of Parliament
for Kensington
2019–present		 Incumbent
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