Selaine Saxby

Selaine Rachel Saxby[2] (born 25 November 1970) is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for North Devon since the 2019 general election. She is also a councillor on North Devon Council.

Selaine Saxby

MP
Member of Parliament
for North Devon
Assumed office
12 December 2019
Preceded byPeter Heaton-Jones
Majority14,813 (26.6%)
Personal details
Born
Selaine Rachel Saxby

(1970-11-25) 25 November 1970[1]
Coventry, England
Political partyConservative
Alma materUniversity of Cambridge
Websitewww.selainesaxby.org.uk

Early life

Saxby was born on 25 November 1970.[1] Her father Ben is a former headteacher.[3] Saxby studied mathematics and management at the University of Cambridge. She founded the independent sports bra retailer Lessbounce Ltd. in 2000, and ran the business until 2016 when it went into liquidation.[4][5][6][7] She also founded Pink Aerobics, which organised aerobics events to raise money for breast cancer charities.[8] It raised over £500,000.[4] Saxby was the chief of staff for Bath MP Ben Howlett between 2015 and 2017.[9] She retrained as a secondary school mathematics teacher and taught at Bideford College in Devon between 2018 and 2019.[10][11]

Parliamentary career

Saxby stood as the Conservative Party candidate for Llanelli in the 2015 general election. She finished in fourth place behind the Labour Party, Plaid Cymru, and UKIP candidates.[12]

She was selected as the Conservative candidate for North Devon on 11 November 2019,[10] and was elected as MP for the constituency at the 2019 general election with a majority of 14,813 (26.6%). Saxby is the first female MP for the constituency.[13] She has been a member of the Work and Pensions Select Committee since March 2020.[14] She also represents Instow ward on North Devon Council, having been elected in 2019.[15][16]

In October 2020, following a controversial vote in Parliament against a Labour motion to extend free school meals for vulnerable children during the holidays until Easter 2021, Saxby was criticised after she attacked local businesses that stepped in to offer free meals in a Facebook post that she later deleted. Saxby said in a statement that she regretted any offence that "may have been caused".[17][18][19]

References
  1. "Members' Names Data Platform query". UK Parliament. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
  2. "Members Sworn". parliament.uk. 18 December 2019. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  3. "New North Devon MP has a Harlow connection". Your Harlow. 21 December 2019. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  4. Bond, Daniel (16 December 2019). "Class of 2019: Meet the MPs". Politics Home. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  5. Neilan, Catherine (27 April 2015). "General Election 2015: At least six of the small business owners who signed the Conservative letter of support are also Tory candidates". City A.M. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  6. "LessBounce.com in liquidation". Underlines. 13 April 2016. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  7. "Lessbounce Limited". Companies House. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  8. Ross, Corey (26 June 2010). "Honour for Selaine". Salisbury Journal. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  9. Saxby, Selaine (19 November 2019). "Selaine Saxby: In North Devon, there is great concern about traffic congestion on local roads". ConservativeHome. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  10. Smart, Matt (12 November 2019). "General Election 2019: Conservatives announce new North Devon candidate". North Devon Gazette. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  11. "Selaine Saxby". North Devon Conservatives. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  12. "Llanelli". UK Polling Report. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  13. "North Devon". BBC News. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  14. "Work and Pensions Committee membership agreed". parliament.uk. 2 March 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  15. "North Devon District full election 2 May 2019". North Devon Council. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  16. "Councillor Selaine Saxby". North Devon Council. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  17. Merritt, Anita (24 October 2020). "Apology demanded from Selaine Saxby for 'attacking' hospitality industry for giving children free food". Devon Live. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  18. Walker, Amy (24 October 2020). "Ben Bradley urged to apologise over free school meals tweets". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
  19. Smart, Matt (24 October 2020). "Selaine Saxby issues statement following 'attack' at businesses offering free meals for children". North Devon Gazette. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Peter Heaton-Jones		 Member of Parliament for North Devon
2019–present		 Incumbent
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