Ruth Edwards

Ruth Edwards
Ruth Edwards
	Official portrait, 2019
Assistant Government Whip
	In office; 16 February 2023 – 25 April 2024
Prime Minister	Rishi Sunak
Preceded by	Stuart Anderson
Succeeded by	Paul Holmes
Lord Commissioner of the Treasury
	In office; 7 February 2023 – 16 February 2023
Prime Minister	Rishi Sunak
Member of Parliament; for Rushcliffe
	In office; 12 December 2019 – 30 May 2024
Preceded by	Kenneth Clarke
Succeeded by	James Naish
Personal details
Born	Ruth Rosamond Davis; 11 May 1984 (age 40); Bristol, England
Political party	Conservative
Spouse	Owen Edwards (m. 2019)
Alma mater	London School of Theology (BA); University of Bristol (MSc)

Ruth Rosamond Edwards (née Davis, 11 May 1984) is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Rushcliffe after the 2019 general election until the 2024 election.^[1]^[2]^[3] A member of the Conservative Party, she worked in cybersecurity policy prior to her political career.

Early life and career

Edwards was born in Bristol as the daughter of Christopher Charles Davis and Nelly Davis. She was privately educated at Clifton High School, Bristol,^[4] before studying theology at the London School of Theology, where she gained a First Class BA in Theology.^[5] She went on to complete a master's MSc degree in International Development and Security at the University of Bristol, achieving a Distinction.^[2]^[6] After graduation, she worked as a parliamentary researcher for then Shadow Minister for Home Affairs and Counter Terrorism Crispin Blunt. She then worked as a strategy consultant for Deloitte from 2010 to 2012.^[7]^[2]

Edwards subsequently worked as a specialist for the Home Affairs Select Committee from 2012 to 2013.^[8] She then completed a crime and justice research fellowship at the think tank Policy Exchange in 2013.^[9] She left Policy Exchange to become Head of Cyber, Justice and Emergency Services at the trade association TechUK, where she worked from 2013 to 2015.^[10]^[11] After this, Edwards worked as the head of commercial strategy and public policy for the telecommunications company BT from 2015 to 2019.^[2]^[12]^[13]

Parliamentary career

Edwards stood as the Conservative candidate for the Liberal Democrat-held Ceredigion seat at the 2017 general election, where she came fourth.^[14]

In 2019 Edwards was selected as the candidate for the seat of Rushcliffe on 16 October 2019.^[15] The seat had previously been represented by Father of the House, and former Chancellor of the Exchequer Kenneth Clarke since 1970, who announced his retirement on 27 June.^[16] Edwards was elected with a majority of 7,643 in the 2019 general election. She was a member of the Home Affairs Select Committee from March 2020 to November 2021.^[17]

Edwards was the Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Scotland Alister Jack between February 2020 and July 2022. She resigned from the role in July 2022 in protest against Prime Minister Boris Johnson's handling of the Chris Pincher scandal. She accused him of leading a government which "turned a blind eye to allegations of sexual assault within its own ranks."^[18]^[19]

In 2020 Edwards voted not to call on the Government to develop and implement a plan to eliminate the substantial majority of transport emissions by 2030. Ruth Edwards has generally voted against measures to prevent climate change. ^[20]

In 2023, Edwards served as a junior Government Whip in the Department for Work and Pensions, before moving to serve as the junior whip in Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and the Department for Health and Social Care.^[21]

Outside of her parliamentary role, she was also an adviser to the HR payroll software company MHR, for which Mongoose Bridges, a company that she co-owns with her husband, received £5,000 a month between May 2021 and December 2021.^[22]^[23]

Edwards endorsed Rishi Sunak during the July–September 2022 Conservative Party leadership election.^[24] She lost her bid for re-election in the 2024 election.^[3]

Personal life

She married Owen Edwards in July 2019. They met during her 2017 general election campaign, when he was the chairman of Ceredigion's Conservative Association.^[15]^[25]

References

^ "No. 62862". The London Gazette. 20 December 2019. p. 23191.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Edwards, Ruth Rosamond, (born 11 May 1984), MP (C) Rushcliffe, since 2019". WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. 2020. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u293990. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
^ ^a ^b "Rushcliffe | General Election 2024 | Sky News". election.news.sky.com. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
^ "Former Clifton High School pupil voted MP for Rushcliffe". Friends of Clifton High. 21 January 2020. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
^ Bond, Daniel (16 December 2019). "Class of 2019: Meet the new MPs". Politics Home. Archived from the original on 17 December 2019. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
^ Chamber, Max; Davis, Ruth; McLeod, Charlotte. "Power Down" (PDF). Policy Exchange. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 November 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
^ Wallace, Mark (16 October 2019). "The finalists for tonight's candidate selection in Rushcliffe". ConservativeHome. Archived from the original on 6 November 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
^ "Drugs: Breaking the Cycle" (PDF). parliament.uk. 3 December 2012. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 November 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
^ Chambers, Max; McLeod, Charlotte; Davis, Ruth. "Future Courts" (PDF). Policy Exchange. p. 2. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 November 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
^ "Pioneering Cyber Security Document Helps Secure Human Rights Abroad". TechUK. 25 November 2014. Archived from the original on 9 November 2019. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
^ "Ruth Davis" (PDF). SMi. p. 1. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 November 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
^ "Ruth Davis on Security Career and Mentoring". BT. 19 November 2018. Archived from the original on 6 November 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
^ Waugh, Rob (18 June 2019). "Why cybersecurity training is important for your business". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 6 November 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
^ "Ceredigion". parliament.uk. Archived from the original on 4 November 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
^ ^a ^b Toulson, Gemma (17 October 2019). "New Conservative parliamentary candidate for Rushcliffe selected to replace Ken Clarke". Nottingham Post. Archived from the original on 28 October 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
^ Walker, Peter (27 June 2019). "Veteran Tory MP Ken Clarke: 'I'm minded to step down now'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 23 December 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2019.
^ "Parliamentary career". parliament.uk. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
^ Phibbs, Harry (28 February 2020). "More PPS appointments emerge". ConservativeHome. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
^ @MhariAurora (6 July 2022). "Another PPS resignation – Ruth Edwards" (Tweet). Retrieved 6 July 2022 – via Twitter.
^ "How Ruth Edwards voted on measures to prevent climate change". They Work For You. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
^ "Ruth Edwards".
^ "The Register of Members' Financial Interests As at 19 April 2022". UK Parliament. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
^ Morgan-Bentley, Paul; Kenber, Billy (22 November 2021). "The politicians, their private firms and a key question over tax". The Times.(subscription required)
^ Edwards, Ruth; Jones, Fay; Trott, Laura (11 July 2022). "Sunak will champion women – not erase us". The Times. Retrieved 11 July 2022.
^ Wallace, Mark (17 October 2019). "Edwards selected for Rushcliffe". ConservativeHome. Archived from the original on 25 October 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2019.