Felicity Buchan

Felicity Christiana Buchan (born 1970) is a British politician and former banker who serves as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Kensington in London. A member of the Conservative Party, serving as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing and Homelessness in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities since October 2022. Prior to this, Buchan served as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury from September to October 2022.

Felicity Buchan
MP
Official portrait, 2019
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing and Homelessness
Assumed office
30 October 2022
Prime MinisterRishi Sunak
Preceded byAndrew Stephenson
Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury
In office
8 September 2022 – 28 October 2022
Prime MinisterLiz Truss
Preceded byAlan Mak
Succeeded byJames Cartlidge
Member of Parliament
for Kensington
Assumed office
12 December 2019
Preceded byEmma Dent Coad
Majority150 (0.3%)
Personal details
Born1970 (age 52–53)
Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Political partyConservative
Alma materChrist Church, Oxford
Websitefelicitybuchan.com

Prior to her political career, Buchan worked in investment banking for JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America. Buchan stood unsuccessfully in two separate constituencies in the 2015 and 2017 elections.[1][2] She was first elected to the House of Commons in the 2019 election, defeating incumbent Labour MP Emma Dent Coad.

Early life and education

Buchan was born in Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, the daughter of Charles and Georgina Buchan.[3][4] She attended the Fraserburgh Academy comprehensive school in Fraserburgh and subsequently studied law at Christ Church, Oxford.[5][6]

Financial career

Buchan worked for a decade at American investment bank JPMorgan Chase in their syndicate and capital markets division and was promoted to vice president of their European syndicate.[7] She left the company in 2001 to join Bank of America as a managing director in its debt capital markets division.[8] As of September 2022, she holds at least £70,000 of shares in both companies.[9]

After leaving the financial services industry, she volunteered at a North Kensington children's charity and was the chair of governors of Bousfield Primary School.[5]

Early political career

Buchan contested South Down in Northern Ireland as a Conservative candidate in the 2015 general election, coming last with 318 (0.7%) votes.[1] She then contested the South Shields seat in Tyne and Wear in 2017, where she came second to the incumbent Labour Party MP, Emma Lewell-Buck, with 10,570 (25.9%) votes.[2]

During the 2017 campaign, Buchan wrote an article for the website BrexitCentral in which discussed her support for "a tough Brexit deal: that means leaving the Single Market, the Customs Union and the ECJ" and decried a London-centric view of politics.[10]

Member of Parliament (2019-present)

2019 election

She was selected as the Conservative candidate for Kensington on 16 July 2019. Buchan had been the treasurer and a member of the board for the Kensington Chelsea & Fulham Conservatives Local Association, roles she had held until 2019.[11][3] In an interview, Buchan stated she lived in Kensington for 25 years.[12]

When asked about her prior comments on Brexit during her 2017 campaign, she stated that she had "always campaigned for a good negotiated deal" and that she was not in favour of a "hard Brexit".[13] She was elected as MP in the 2019 general election with a majority of 150.[14]

Tenure

After her election, she pledged to accept and help to implement the recommendations of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry "with a sense of urgency". The purpose of the inquiry is to investigate the Grenfell Tower fire which occurred in 2017 in North Kensington, which lies within her constituency.[15] She was a member of the Treasury Select Committee between March 2020 and December 2021. Buchan has been a member of the Finance Committee since March 2020.[16]

On 7 September 2020, Buchan voted against a Labour Party amendment to the Fire Safety Bill which was intended to implement the recommendations of the first phase of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry before the end of the consultation process. This was criticised by campaign group Grenfell United and opposition politicians. She defended her vote by stating the government was "committed to implementing the recommendations", and criticised the Labour Party for "misrepresenting the vote" for political reasons.[17]

On 23 August 2021, Prime Minister Boris Johnson appointed Buchan as the UK's trade envoy to Iceland and Norway.[18] Buchan was appointed as a Parliamentary Private Secretary in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in September 2021.[19] Buchan resigned from her PPS role on 6 July 2022, in protest against the leadership of Prime Minister Boris Johnson over his handling of the Chris Pincher scandal.[20]

In the September 2022 Conservative leadership election, Buchan supported Liz Truss, arguing she would be best positioned to lead the party to victory in marginal constituencies.[21] Following Truss' victory, Buchan was appointed as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury.[22] In the October 2022 leadership election, Buchan supported the candidacy of Rishi Sunak.[23] Following Sunak's victory, Buchan was appointed as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Housing and Homelessness in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities in October 2022.[24][25]

Personal life

Buchan is a member of the Chelsea Arts Club.[3]

References
  1. "South Down parliamentary constituency – Election 2015". UK Parliament. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  2. "South Shields – 2017 Election Results – General Elections Online". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 12 January 2019. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  3. "Buchan, Felicity Christiana, (born 1970), MP (C) Kensington, since 2019". Who's Who & Who Was Who. 2020. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u293963. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  4. Hughes, Brendan (7 April 2015). "Tories sending British members to contest Westminster seats in north". The Irish News. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2019.
  5. Bond, Daniel (16 December 2019). "Class of 2019: Meet the new MPs". Politics Home. Archived from the original on 17 June 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  6. "Meet Felicity". Felicity Buchan. Archived from the original on 6 January 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  7. Hogan, Roger (6 September 1999). "BBB borrowers boosted". The Australian Financial Review. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  8. Townsend, Piers (19 April 2001). "BoA bolsters debt capital markets team". Financial News. Archived from the original on 10 August 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  9. "The Register of Members' Financial Interests As at 5 September 2022". UK Parliament. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  10. Buchan, Felicity (1 June 2017). "Labour can no longer take South Shields for granted thanks to Corbyn and Brexit". BrexitCentral. Archived from the original on 6 June 2017.
  11. Wallace, Mark (16 July 2019). "Felicity Buchan selected as Conservative candidate for Kensington". ConservativeHome. Archived from the original on 28 September 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  12. DKAmedia (11 December 2019). ""I celebrate contributions of the Polish community" – Felicity Buchan, Tory candidate for Kensington". BritishPoles.uk (in Polish). Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  13. Gregory, Julia (3 December 2019). "The woman on a quest to win back Kensington – a jewel in the Conservative crown". MyLondon. Archived from the original on 5 August 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  14. "Kensington". BBC News. Archived from the original on 22 September 2020. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  15. "Grenfell truth must come out, urges Conservative Kensington MP". South West Londoner. 13 December 2019. Archived from the original on 5 July 2022. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
  16. "Parliamentary career for Felicity Buchan". Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  17. "Grenfell recommendations will be implemented, says Robert Jenrick". BBC News. 8 September 2020. Archived from the original on 10 September 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  18. "PM announces new Trade Envoys to boost British business around the world". GOV.UK (Press release). 23 August 2021. Archived from the original on 23 August 2021. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  19. @felicitybuchan (22 September 2021). "I am delighted to be appointed a Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (@beisgovuk). I am looking forward to working with the excellent Ministerial team of @KwasiKwarteng @GregHands @GeorgeFreemanMP @Lee4NED @scullyp" (Tweet). Retrieved 5 July 2022 – via Twitter.
  20. "Tory MP in most marginal London seat quits government role in protest at PM". ITV News. 6 July 2022. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  21. Buchan, Felicity (1 August 2023). "Liz Truss can keep hold of our most marginal seats". ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  22. "Ministerial Appointments: September 2022". gov.uk. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  23. "How many backers do Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt have?". BBC News. 21 October 2022. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  24. "Ministerial Appointments: October - November 2022". gov.uk. 25 October 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  25. "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Housing and Homelessness)". gov.uk. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
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