Anne Milton

The Right Honourable Anne Milton MP
Minister of State for Skills and Apprenticeships
Incumbent
Assumed office 12 June 2017
Prime Minister	Theresa May
Sec. of State	Justine Greening
Preceded by	Robert Halfon
Minister for Women
Incumbent
Assumed office 12 June 2017
Prime Minister	Theresa May
Preceded by	Nicky Morgan (2014)
Deputy Chief Government Whip Treasurer of the Household
In office 11 May 2015 – 12 June 2017
Prime Minister	David Cameron Theresa May
Preceded by	Greg Hands
Succeeded by	Julian Smith
Vice-Chamberlain of the Household
In office 14 July 2014 – 11 May 2015
Prime Minister	David Cameron
Preceded by	Desmond Swayne
Succeeded by	Kris Hopkins
Lord Commissioner of the Treasury
In office 4 September 2012 – 14 July 2014
Prime Minister	David Cameron
Preceded by	Angela Watkinson
Succeeded by	Gavin Barwell
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Public Health
In office 11 May 2010 – 4 September 2012
Prime Minister	David Cameron
Sec. of State	Andrew Lansley
Preceded by	Gillian Merron (Minister of State)
Succeeded by	Anna Soubry
Member of Parliament for Guildford
Incumbent
Assumed office 5 May 2005
Preceded by	Sue Doughty
Majority	17,040 (30.7%)
Personal details
Born	(1955-11-03) 3 November 1955 Cuckfield, England
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Neil Milton (Divorced) Graham Henderson (2000–present)
Children	4
Alma mater	Central Sussex College City University

Anne Frances Milton (née Turner; born 3 November 1955) is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Guildford since 2005. Milton was appointed Minister of State responsible for Skills and Apprenticeships at the Department for Education, and Minister of State for Women in the Government Equalities Office, in June 2017. She was previously the Deputy Chief Government Whip in the House of Commons, ^[1]

After service on the Health Select Committee, in November 2006 Milton was appointed Shadow Minister for Tourism.^[2] In July 2007, she was appointed Shadow Health Minister.^[3] In 2010, she was appointed as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health as part of the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government.^[4] As a result of a ministerial reshuffle in September 2012, Milton was appointed a Government Whip and Lord Commissioner of the Treasury.

Early life and career

Milton was educated at Haywards Heath Grammar School (now Central Sussex College Sixth Form Campus in 2005) in West Sussex. She trained as a nurse at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London and worked for the NHS for 25 years, as a District Nurse and for people requiring palliative care.^[5]

Milton was a councillor in the Borough of Reigate and Banstead 1999–2004 and led the Conservative Group on the council. She was a member of the South East England Regional Assembly and Vice-Chairman of the Conservative Medical Society. She applied to go on the Conservative Party's list of Parliamentary candidates in 1999, and was rated highly by the party. In the selection for Bexhill and Battle in August 2000 and at Bridgwater, she was among the three finalists but lost out narrowly and did not find another seat for the 2001 general election.

Parliamentary career

In 2002, Milton was selected for Guildford, a seat which the Conservatives had unexpectedly lost in 2001 to the Liberal Democrat Sue Doughty with the constituency becoming a marginal. She was elected as the MP for Guildford at the 2005 general election. Milton won by just 347 votes, after two recounts.

Milton speaking at a Health Hotel session on the credit crunch and public health during the 2009 Conservative Party Conference.

Once in Parliament, she was appointed to the Health Select Committee, serving until December 2006, following her appointment as Shadow Minister for Tourism. She announced her backing for David Cameron in the Conservative Party leadership election on 11 October 2005, becoming the 29th Conservative MP to support him. She offered herself as a candidate for the 1922 Committee executive in January 2006 but was not elected. In February 2006, Milton was among a minority of Conservative MPs to oppose exceptions for private clubs from the proposed Smoking ban in England.^[6] Milton had previously announced her opposition to a partial ban, stating it was "the worst possible solution".^[7] In summer 2007 David Cameron appointed her Shadow Minister for Health.

Milton emerged well from the 2009 MPs expenses scandal, being deemed a Daily Telegraph "saint" for not claiming any money for her second home despite her constituency being 30 miles from Westminster.^[8] Milton retained her seat in the 2010 general election, increasing her majority to 14 per cent.

In July 2010, Milton suggested that doctors should describe obese patients as 'fat' to encourage them to take responsibility for their condition. This was criticised by campaigners who pointed out that a clinical definition was being replaced with a subjective, pejorative term.^[9]

In March 2015, she was appointed to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and therefore granted the title The Right Honourable.^[10]

Private life

She married Neil Milton in 1979 in Haywards Heath; the couple later divorced. Her current husband, Dr Graham Henderson, whom she married in February 2000 in Surrey, works in the NHS in community medicine and is Director of Public Health for the East Surrey PCT. She has four children, including a son born in July 1987 and a daughter born in August 1993.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Anne Milton.

• Anne Milton's official website
• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 2010–present
• Voting record at Public Whip
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou
• Guildford Conservatives
• Ask the MP December 2005
• BBC Politics page