Gillian Keegan

Gillian Keegan
MP
Member of Parliament
for Chichester
Assumed office
8 June 2017
Preceded by Andrew Tyrie
Majority 22,621 (37.8 %)
Personal details
Political party Conservative
Spouse(s) Michael Keegan
Alma mater Liverpool John Moores University
London Business School
Website www.gilliankeegan.com

Gillian Keegan is a British politician who has been the Conservative MP for Chichester since the 2017 general election. She is the constituency's first female MP.[1]

Early life

Gillian Keegan grew up in Knowsley, Merseyside, and went to St Augustine of Canterbury Secondary School (renamed St Thomas Beckett) in Huyton. She has a bachelor's degree in Business Studies from Liverpool John Moores University and a Master of Science in Strategy and Leadership (Sloan Fellowship) from London Business School in 2011.[2]

Professional career

Keegan started her career aged 16 as an apprentice at a car factory in Kirkby, Liverpool and went on to have a business career working at Delco Electronics (part of the General Motors Group), NatWest Bank (Senior Buyer), MasterCard International (Commercial Director), Amadeus IT Group (Group Vice President of Multinational Customer Group based in Madrid) and Travelport (Chief Marketing Officer)[3] over 27 years.

Political career

Keegan, who was aged 49 in May 2017, says that it was her experiences of trade unionism and the Militant-controlled Liverpool City Council while working in Kirkby that convinced her to support the Conservative Party. However, she did not become active in politics until 2014.[4] In 2015, she was advised in her ambitions to become an MP by Justine Greening, whom she met by chance at a London Business School (LBS) reunion; according to her, this demonstrated the power of the LBS network.[5] She unsuccessfully contested the constituency of St Helens South and Whiston in the 2015 general election. In 2015 she became Director of Women2Win—an organisation founded by Theresa May and Baroness Anne Jenkin in 2005 to help elect more women Conservative MPs to Parliament.[6] She had left that position by September 2017.[7]

Keegan was elected as a councillor for the Rogate ward on Chichester District Council in 2014.[1] She was appointed cabinet member for commercial services in May 2015.[8] She stood down as a councillor in February 2018 and in the election that followed in April 2018, the seat was taken by the Liberal Democrat candidate Kate O'Kelly.[9]

Keegan was selected as the Conservative Parliamentary candidate for the Chichester constituency in May 2017,[6] and was elected to the House of Commons in the General Election held on 8 June 2017.[10] In September 2017, she was appointed to the Public Accounts Committee.[11]

Other interests

Keegan was a member of the Board of Governors of Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust[6] from 2015 to 2017.

Personal life

Keegan, who owns several properties and has homes in France and Spain,[12] lives in Petworth with her husband Michael, CEO of Fujitsu UK and Ireland, and has two stepsons.[13][14] Her father-in-law, Denis Keegan, was Conservative MP for Nottingham South.[15]

Keegan is godmother to two of House of Commons Speaker John Bercow's children.[16]

References

  1. 1 2 "Conservative's bid to be Chichester's first female MP". Chichester Observer. 3 May 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  2. ↑ Women2Win. "Gillian Keegan". women2win.com. Women2Win. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  3. ↑ "Gillian Gibson Named to Travelport Post". TravelAgentCentral.com (Press release). Questex. 18 January 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  4. ↑ Riley-Smith, Ben (6 May 2017). "'Theresa factor' credited with surge in women candidates as party looks set to make history by securing more women MPs than ever before". The Telegraph. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  5. ↑ "Gillian Keegan". London Business School. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  6. 1 2 3 "Keegan selected in Chichester". conservativehome.com. Conservative Home. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  7. ↑ "Gillian Keegan MP featured in The Times 'Back to Westminster' series". Women2Win. 11 September 2017. Missing or empty |url= (help); |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  8. ↑ "New cabinet is announced at Chichester District Council". Chichester District Council. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  9. ↑ "District councillor elected for Rogate". Chichester Observer. 13 April 2018. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  10. ↑ "Gillian Keegan MP". UK Parliament. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
  11. ↑ "Membership - Public Accounts Committee". UK Parliament. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  12. ↑ Gillian Keegan, mySociety, retrieved 2017-10-15
  13. ↑ "Mrs Gillian Keegan". Chichester District Council. Retrieved 2017-10-14.
  14. ↑ "Register of interests". Chichester District Council. Retrieved 2017-10-14.
  15. ↑ "Economy and Jobs". Hansard Online. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  16. ↑ "What we learned from MPs' maiden speeches". BBC News. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Andrew Tyrie		 Member of Parliament for Chichester
2017–present		 Incumbent


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