Sara Britcliffe
MP
Official portrait, 2019
Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party
Assumed office
13 November 2023
LeaderRishi Sunak
Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party for Youth
In office
30 September 2022 – 13 November 2023
LeaderLiz Truss
Rishi Sunak
Member of Parliament
for Hyndburn
Assumed office
12 December 2019
Preceded byGraham Jones
Majority2,951 (7.0%)
Personal details
Born (1995-02-21) 21 February 1995
NationalityBritish
Political partyConservative
Alma materUniversity of Manchester
Websitewww.sarabritcliffe.org.uk

Sara Alice Britcliffe (born 21 February 1995) is a British Conservative Party politician, who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hyndburn since the general election of 2019.[1][2] At the age of 24, she was the youngest Conservative MP elected in the election, and the first to represent the constituency since 1992.

She was also a previously on Hyndburn Borough Council between 2018 and 2021. She has been the Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party for Campaigning and Candidates since November 2023.

Early life

Britcliffe attended St Christopher's Church of England High School, Accrington.[3] Her father, Peter, is the councillor for the Oswaldtwistle division on Lancashire County Council.[4] She has two older brothers. Her mother, Gabrielle Kroger, died in 2004, when Britcliffe was nine years old.[5] She studied modern languages at the University of Manchester.[6]

Britcliffe served in the ceremonial role of mayoress between 2017 and 2018, alongside her father, who was the mayor on Hyndburn Borough Council. He stood down from the council in 2018.[7][8] She was elected as a councillor for the ward of St. Andrews (previously represented by her father) at the 2018 Hyndburn Borough Council election.[9] Britcliffe did not stand in the next election in 2021 and her seat was won by her father.[10] Prior to her political career, she managed a sandwich shop in Oswaldtwistle.[6]

Parliamentary career

Britcliffe was selected as the Conservative candidate for the constituency of Hyndburn on 6 November 2019.[6] Her father had previously contested the seat at the general elections of 1997 and 2001.[11] She was elected as MP for the constituency at the general election of 2019, with a majority of 2,951 (7.0%).[12] The seat had been represented by Labour Party MPs since the general election of 1992. Its last Conservative MP was Ken Hargreaves, who had held the seat from 1983 to 1992.[13] At the age of 24, she was the youngest Conservative MP elected in the election.[14]

Her first overseas trip was to Pakistan, as part of an all-party delegation in February 2020.[15] Britcliffe was a member of the Women and Equalities Committee between March 2020 and March 2021.[16] She is a member of the parliamentary council of the centre-right think tank the Northern Policy Foundation, and of the Northern Research Group.[17][18]

On 28 April 2020, Britcliffe became the first MP to deliver her maiden speech from outside the House of Commons, after parliament adopted a system in which members could contribute to debates virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic.[19] On 29 January 2021, she became a Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) in the Department for Education.[20] She resigned as PPS on 6 July 2022, in protest at Prime Minister Boris Johnson's handling of the Chris Pincher scandal.[21] Britcliffe endorsed Nadhim Zahawi in the July 2022 Conservative Party leadership election.[22] After Zahawi was eliminated, she backed Liz Truss.[23]

On 30 September 2022, Britcliffe became the Conservative Party's Vice-Chairman for Youth.[24] In this role, she has highlighted the importance of the party engaging with issues that affect young people, including housing and childcare, particularly given its poor poll ratings with this group in 2022.[25]

References

  1. ↑ "Members Sworn". Hansard. 18 December 2019. Archived from the original on 19 December 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  2. ↑ Britcliffe, Sara [@SarBritcliffeMP] (20 February 2020). "25 today! In this time zone anyway" (Tweet). Retrieved 21 February 2020 – via Twitter.
  3. ↑ "General Election Hustings". St Christopher's Church of England. 3 December 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  4. ↑ Jacobs, Bill (17 December 2019). "New Hyndburn MP Sara, 24, promises 'youthful' view". Lancashire Telegraph. Archived from the original on 29 December 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  5. ↑ "'Moving' farewell to leader's ex-partner". LancsLive. 9 December 2004. Archived from the original on 30 December 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  6. 1 2 3 Jacobs, Bill (6 November 2019). "Conservatives choose Sara Britcliffe to fight Hyndburn election". Lancashire Telegraph. Archived from the original on 29 December 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  7. ↑ "Hyndburn's Youngest Mayoress Reflects on First Six Months". Acorn News. Archived from the original on 29 December 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  8. ↑ Jacobs, Bill (20 April 2018). "Hyndburn faces a less colourful election with three of its major political figures missing from the campaign trail". Lancashire Telegraph. Archived from the original on 30 December 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  9. ↑ Marko, Nic (4 May 2018). "Hyndburn elections 2018: Full round-up and results". Lancashire Telegraph. Archived from the original on 29 December 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  10. ↑ Earnshaw, Tom (6 May 2021). "Hyndburn Borough Council local elections 2021 results in full". LancsLive. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  11. ↑ Bond, Daniel (16 December 2019). "Class of 2019: Meet the new MPs". Politics Home. Archived from the original on 17 December 2019. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  12. ↑ "Hyndburn". BBC News. Archived from the original on 30 December 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  13. ↑ Grieve, Jonathan (13 December 2019). "Historic night as swing to Tories sees Sara Britcliffe turn Hyndburn blue". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
  14. ↑ "Fresh Tory faces make their way to Westminster". The Times. 16 December 2019. Archived from the original on 29 December 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2019.(subscription required)
  15. ↑ "British MPs meet Sarwar, assure raising voice over Kashmir". The News International. 22 February 2020. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  16. ↑ "Parliamentary career". parliament.uk. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  17. ↑ Black, Michael (25 June 2020). "Conservative think tank set up in bid to boost the North". The Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
  18. ↑ "'Red Wall' Tories form group to campaign for northern England". BBC News. 10 October 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
  19. ↑ "MP makes history as she delivers first maiden speech from outside the Commons". Express & Star. 28 April 2020. Retrieved 28 April 2020.
  20. ↑ Jacobs, Bill (29 January 2021). "Hyndburn MP Sara Britcliffe gets her foot on the government ladder". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  21. ↑ Lovett, Samuel; Stone, Jon (6 July 2022). "All the Tory MPs who have quit Boris Johnson's government in less than 24 hours". The Independent. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  22. ↑ Fenton, Amy (7 July 2022). "Hyndburn and Haslingden MP Sara Britcliffe says Nadhim Zahawi is a 'great man' to replace Boris Johnson as PM". Lancs Live.
  23. ↑ Jacobs, Bill (2 August 2022). "East Lancs MPs back Liz Truss as next PM". Lancashire Telegraph. Retrieved 29 September 2022.
  24. ↑ @SarBritcliffeMP (30 September 2022). "Brilliant to join the team!" (Tweet). Retrieved 26 January 2023 – via Twitter.
  25. ↑ Doherty, Caitlin (14 December 2022). "The Conservatives' Millennial Problem Could Cost Them The Next Election". Politics Home. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
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