Rosie Winterton Explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Right Honourable
The Baroness Winterton of Doncaster
Office:Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons
First Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means
1Blankname:Speaker
1Namedata:Sir Lindsay Hoyle
Predecessor:Dame Eleanor Laing
Successor:Judith Cummins
Term Start:8 January 2020
Term End:30 May 2024
Office1:Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons
Second Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means
Term Start1:28 June 2017
Term End1:6 November 2019
1Blankname1:Speaker
1Namedata1:John Bercow
Sir Lindsay Hoyle
Predecessor1:Natascha Engel
Successor1:Nigel Evans
Office4:Minister of State for Local Government
Minister of State for Regional Economic Development and Coordination
Primeminister4:Gordon Brown
Term Start4:5 June 2009
Term End4:11 May 2010
Predecessor4:John Healey
Successor4:Grant Shapps
Office5:Minister of State for Pensions
Primeminister5:Gordon Brown
Term Start5:24 January 2008
Term End5:5 June 2009
Predecessor5:Mike O'Brien
Successor5:Angela Eagle
Office6:Minister for Yorkshire and the Humber
Primeminister6:Gordon Brown
Term Start6:24 January 2008
Term End6:11 May 2010
Predecessor6:Caroline Flint
Successor6:Office abolished
Office7:Minister of State for Transport
Primeminister7:Gordon Brown
Term Start7:28 June 2007
Term End7:3 October 2008
Predecessor7:Stephen Ladyman
Successor7:The Lord Adonis
Office8:Minister of State for Health Services
Primeminister8:Tony Blair
Term Start8:13 June 2003
Term End8:28 June 2007
Predecessor8:Jacqui Smith
Successor8:Ben Bradshaw
Office9:Parliamentary Secretary to the Lord Chancellor's Department
Primeminister9:Tony Blair
Term Start9:11 June 2001
Term End9:13 June 2003
Predecessor9:David Lock
Successor9:Office abolished
Office10:Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Term Start10:13 August 2024
Life peerage
Parliament11:United Kingdom
Constituency Mp11:Doncaster Central
Term Start11:1 May 1997
Term End11:30 May 2024
Predecessor11:Harold Walker
Successor11:Sally Jameson
Birth Name:Rosalie Winterton
Birth Date:10 August 1958
Birth Place:Leicester, England
Party:Labour
Alma Mater:University of Hull (BA)

Rosalie Winterton, Baroness Winterton of Doncaster, (born 10 August 1958), is a British Labour Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Doncaster Central from 1997 to 2024. She served as a deputy speaker in the House of Commons from 2017 to 2024.

Winterton served under Prime Minister Tony Blair as a minister in the Department for Health, then under Gordon Brown as Minister of State for Transport from 2007 to 2008, Minister for Work and Pensions from 2008 to 2009, and Minister for Local Government from 2009 to 2010, making her at the time the only one of the speaker and deputy speakers to have served as a minister in government. She later entered the Shadow Cabinet in May 2010 as the Shadow Leader of the House of Commons.

In September 2010, Winterton was nominated and elected unopposed as Labour Chief Whip and served in the post until October 2016. She was elected as one of three deputy speakers of the House of Commons on 28 June 2017 and re-elected unopposed on 7 January 2020,[1] [2] Winterton stood down at the 2024 general election and was elevated to the House of Lords later that year.

Early life

Rosalie Winterton was born on 10 August 1958 to Gordon and Valerie Winterton. She was educated at St Mary's (now Hill House School, Doncaster), Ackworth School (an independent school), and Doncaster Grammar School on Thorne Road[3] (now Hall Cross Academy). She then gained a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in history at the University of Hull,[4] graduating in 1979. Winterton worked as John Prescott's constituency personal assistant from 1980 to 1986,[4] and then as a parliamentary officer for Southwark Council for two years to 1988 and subsequently for the Royal College of Nursing for another two years to 1990.[4]

After working for four years in the private sector, as managing director of Connect Public Affairs, she returned to politics to assist John Prescott in 1994; Prescott had been elected as the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, and Winterton worked as Head of Office for the Deputy Party Leader until 1997.[4]

Parliamentary career

Winterton became an MP in the 1997 election, serving the safe Labour seat of Doncaster Central constituency with a vote share exceeding 50% in each general election until 2010, where her vote share fell to 39.7%.

She entered government in 2001, serving as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Lord Chancellor's Department, and became a Minister of State at the Department for Health in June 2003; in January 2006 her responsibilities were changed to Health Services,[5] including responsibility for NHS dentistry. She presided over the introduction of the new NHS dental contract of April 2006.

In June 2007, she was appointed Minister of State at the Department for Transport by the new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown.[6] Winterton was subsequently appointed Minister for Yorkshire and the Humber in addition to her DfT responsibilities on 24 January 2008. She was promoted to Minister of State for Pensions at the Department for Work and Pensions in the October 2008 reshuffle, retaining her Ministerial brief for Yorkshire and the Humber.

In the June 2009 reshuffle, Winterton was moved to Minister of State for Regional Economic Development and Co-ordination at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department for Communities and Local Government and, in that role, was invited to attend cabinet when her responsibility was on the agenda.

In September 2010, she was nominated and elected unopposed as Labour Chief Whip and served until October 2016, when she was replaced by Nick Brown.[7]

In June 2017, Winterton was elected to serve as Second Deputy Chairman of Ways and Means.[8]

She is a member of Labour Friends of Israel.

On 27 February 2022, Winterton announced her intention to stand down at the 2024 general election.[9]

Expenses scandal

Winterton was one of a number of Government Ministers who secretly repaid back some of expenses money which they had wrongly claimed. In the row over MPs' expenses, it was claimed she used taxpayers' cash to soundproof the bedroom of her south London flat.[10] According to The Daily Telegraph, the minister claimed a total of £86,277 over four years in additional costs allowance – close to the total allowed under Parliament's green book.

Honours

In June 2006, she was appointed a member of the Privy Council,[11] and she was sworn in on 19 July 2006.

She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2016 New Year Honours.

After standing down as an MP, Winterton was nominated for a life peerage in the 2024 Dissolution Honours.[12] [13] She was created Baroness Winterton of Doncaster, of Doncaster in the County of South Yorkshire, on 13 August 2024.

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: Labour's Rosie Winterton elected as deputy Commons speaker. 28 June 2017. 28 June 2017. BBC News.
  2. News: Commons rejects Labour's amendment to Queen's speech - as it happened. Andrew. Sparrow. Kevin. Rawlinson. 28 June 2017. 28 June 2017. The Guardian.
  3. Web site: About Rosie. Rosie Winterton. 18 October 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191018164929/https://www.rosiewinterton.co.uk/rosie-winterton. 18 October 2019.
  4. Web site: Rt Hon Rosie Winterton MP : The Department of Health - About us: Ministers and department leaders. https://web.archive.org/web/20070205125828/http://www.dh.gov.uk/AboutUs/MinistersAndDepartmentLeaders/MinisterOverview/MinistersBiography/fs/en?CONTENT_ID=4110148&chk=HfXq6M. 5 February 2007. 5 February 2007. 6 October 2016.
  5. Web site: Voting Record - Rosie Winterton MP, Doncaster Central (10648) . The Public Whip . 19 July 2016.
  6. http://www.number10.gov.uk/output/Page12240.asp Her Majesty's Government
  7. News: Jeremy Corbyn rewards loyalists in confident reshuffle. New Statesman. Bush, Stephen. 6 October 2016. 4 November 2019.
  8. News: Labour's Rosie Winterton elected as deputy Commons speaker. 28 June 2017. BBC News. 28 June 2017. en-GB.
  9. News: Deputy Speaker Dame Rosie Winterton to step down at next election. 27 February 2022. BBC News. 27 February 2022.
  10. News: MPs' expenses: Rosie Winterton claimed for soundproofing bedroom. The Daily Telegraph . London. Holly. Watt. 29 May 2009. 20 July 2010.
  11. http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page9749.asp Norman Reginald appointed to the Privy Council
  12. Web site: Dissolution Peerages 2024 . 4 July 2024 . GOV.UK . en.
  13. News: Whannel . Kate . 4 July 2024 . Theresa May and 'bionic' MP awarded peerages . BBC News . en . 4 July 2024.