Rebecca Pow
MP
Official portrait, 2020
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Nature
Assumed office
14 November 2023
Prime MinisterRishi Sunak
Preceded byTrudy Harrison
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environmental Quality and Resilience[lower-alpha 1]
In office
28 October 2022 – 14 November 2023
Prime MinisterRishi Sunak
Preceded bySteve Double
Succeeded byRobbie Moore
In office
10 September 2019 – 7 July 2022
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byThérèse Coffey
Succeeded bySteve Double
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Arts, Heritage and Tourism
In office
23 May 2019 – 10 September 2019
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Boris Johnson
Preceded byMichael Ellis
Succeeded byHelen Whately
Member of Parliament
for Taunton Deane
Assumed office
7 May 2015
Preceded byJeremy Browne
Majority11,700 (18.4%)
Personal details
Born (1960-10-10) 10 October 1960
Somerset, England
Political partyConservative
Spouse
Charles Clark
​
​
(m. 1992; died 2019)​
Children3
WebsiteOfficial website

Rebecca Faye Clark (born 10 October 1960), better known by her maiden name as Rebecca Pow,[1] is a British politician who serves as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Nature since November 2023.[2][3] also having previously served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2019 to 2022.

A member of the Conservative Party, Pow has represented Taunton Deane as Member of Parliament since 2015.

Early life and education

The daughter of Michael Pow, a farmer, she was born at Inglesbatch near Bath in Somerset, South West England. Brought up on the family farm, she worked there as a teenager and was an active member of both Bath and Taunton Young Farmers Clubs.[4]

After attending Priston village school, Pow continued her education at La Sainte Union Convent in Bath.[5] Pow studied Rural Environment Studies at Wye College, University of London, graduating in 1982.[6][5]

Early career

She had a 20-year career in radio and television, specialising in the environment, farming and gardening, including working for HTV in Bristol and BBC Radio 4.[5] Pow also ran the Taste of Somerset, the first independent initiative for local food and drink producers which ultimately became The Taste of the West. Around 2005 she set up her own public relations consultancy, Pow Productions, as well as continuing to write on gardening and country living.[5]

Pow was a Governor at Thurlbear C of E school for 10 years and a Parish Councillor in her local village, Stoke St Mary.

Political career

Pow speaking at the 2014 Conservative Party Conference

Standing for election to Parliament for the first time in May 2015, Pow became the MP for Taunton Deane with a majority of 15,491 votes (26.8% of the vote). In July 2016, Pow was made Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to Gavin Barwell MP, Minister for Housing, Planning and Minister for London in the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). Pow supported the Conservative Government's moves to cap welfare, improve education and opportunities for young people, control immigration and deal with the deficit. She described herself as "a traditional Conservative with a twist of the contemporary with [her] own added touch of green!"[7] Pow was selected at an Open Primary held in Taunton in July 2013. It was the first time a candidate had been selected for the constituency in this way, with the audience voting. She was also the first female Conservative MP to represent Taunton Deane. She declared that she would vote Remain in the 2016 referendum on the UK's membership of the EU.[8]

Pow was previously a parish councillor for Stoke St Mary and trustee of the Somerset Wildlife Trust. After working for the National Farmers Union, she became a journalist specialising in environment, farming and gardening and has reported for BBC, ITV and Channel 4.[9][10][11][12] She stepped down as vice-president of Somerset Wildlife Trust in June 2018, following an online petition criticising her support for badger culling.[13]

During the 2015–17 Parliament, Pow sat on the Environmental Audit Select Committee and Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee.[14] She declared that she would vote Remain in the 2016 referendum on the UK's membership of the EU.[8]

After Theresa May called the 2017 general election, Pow announced she would seek reelection as MP for Taunton Deane. On 8 June 2017, she was returned as Member of Parliament for Taunton Deane. Whilst her vote share increased by 4.8% the local Lib Dem candidate's vote increased by 6.3% – so Pow's majority slipped from 26.8% to 25.2%.

Pow received local and national criticism for stating during the 2017 Budget debate that people in Taunton have "thousands of extra pounds in their pockets.[15][16]

In 2018, Pow was awarded a Green Heart Hero Award by The Climate Coalition, a coalition of over 100 charities and community groups across the UK, for being the "Greenest New MP" for her environmental work.[17] A constituent recognising the award nevertheless criticised Pow's record on low carbon measures.[18] Pow served as a Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Ministerial team, before serving as PPS to Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Esther McVey[19] until her Ministerial appointment in May 2019.[20]

In May 2019, it was alleged that Pow was one of a number of MPs who had legally claimed parliamentary expenses for an 'accommodation uplift' contrary to the measures original purpose.[21]

In 2019, during the second May ministry, Pow was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Arts, Heritage and Tourism at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

On 10 September 2019, during the first Johnson ministry, Pow was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Her ministerial portfolio included the domestic natural environment, climate change adaptation, land use and floods and water.[22] She resigned from this position on 7 July 2022, as part of the July 2022 United Kingdom government crisis.[23]

Personal life

Pow met her late husband, Charles Clark, at a Young Farmers Club. They were married for 27 years, until his death in 2019, and had three children together.[4]

Notes

  1. ↑ Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Nature Recovery and the Domestic Environment from 10 September 2019 to 7 July 2022

References

  1. ↑ "No. 61230". The London Gazette. 18 May 2015. p. 9125.
  2. ↑ "Ministerial Appointments commencing: 25 October 2022". GOV.UK. Archived from the original on 29 October 2022. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  3. ↑ "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Environmental Quality and Resilience)". GOV.UK. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
  4. 1 2 Taylor, Michael (21 June 2019). "Taunton MP Rebecca Pow's tribute to 'greatest man I know' after death of husband Charles Clark". SomersetLive. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Carr, Tim, ed. (18 May 2015). The Politicos Guide to the New House of Commons 2015: Profiles of the New MPs and Analysis of the 2015 General Election Results. Biteback Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84954-924-0.
  6. ↑ Proctor, Kate (30 April 2021). "Green Ker-Pow: The Rebecca Pow interview". Politics Home. Archived from the original on 17 May 2021. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  7. ↑ "About Me". Rebecca Pow.
  8. 1 2 "European Referendum". Rebecca Pow. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  9. ↑ "Election Taunton Deane result: Conservative Rebecca Pow". Western Daily Press. 8 May 2015. Archived from the original on 10 May 2015. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  10. ↑ "Rebecca Pow". Conservative Party. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  11. ↑ Wright, Oliver (6 May 2014). "Why it's harder than it looks to evict a Liberal Democrat MP". Independent. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  12. ↑ "Rebecca Pow". Garden Media Guild. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  13. ↑ Cole, Amy (22 June 2018). "Taunton's MP and Michael Eavis resign as vice presidents of wildlife trust amid badger cull row". Somerset County Gazette. Archived from the original on 27 April 2023.
  14. ↑ "Rebecca Pow MP". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 9 November 2015. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  15. ↑ Linham, Laura (24 November 2017). "Here's why everyone is mad at Taunton Deane MP Rebecca Pow for comments she made about the budget". Somerset Live. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  16. ↑ Williams, Zoe (27 November 2017). "Such is the poverty of Tory ideas that they deny poverty even exists". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  17. ↑ "Green Heart Hero Awards". The Climate Coalition. Archived from the original on 9 April 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  18. ↑ "LETTER: Is MP Rebecca Pow really that green?". Somerset County Gazette.
  19. ↑ "List of Parliamentary Private Secretaries (PPS): September 2018" (PDF). Cabinet Office. Gov UK. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  20. ↑ "List of Parliamentary Private Secretaries (PPS): June 2019" (PDF). Cabinet Office. Gov UK. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  21. ↑ Mikhailova, Anna; Young, Charles (10 May 2019). "MPs claim expenses for adult children: allowances topped up under rule originally intended to help young families". The Telegraph – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  22. ↑ "Rebecca Pow MP". gov.uk.
  23. ↑ Evans, James (7 July 2022). "Rebecca Pow resigns as environment minister". SomersetLive. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
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