We are delighted to be welcoming Dame Andrea Leadsom MP to a dinner event on Thursday 4th April at the Vines, Black Bourton.
Dame Andrea Jacqueline Leadsom has been the Member of Parliament for South Northamptonshire since 2010. She has served as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2016 to 2017, Leader of the House of Commons from 2017 to 2019 and Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy from 2019 to 2020. Andrea has twice run to become Leader of the Conservative Party, in both 2016 and 2019.
Andrea Leadsom was a prominent member of the Leave campaign during the 2016 referendum on EU membership, and gained standing in referendum TV debates. On David Cameron's resignation, Leadsom became one of five candidates in the 2016 Conservative Party leadership election. In the second round of voting by MPs, she came second to Theresa May. Theresa May then appointed Leadsom as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she become Prime Minister.
Andrea served in the May government as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2016 to 2017. Following the 2017 general election, she was appointed Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council. On 22 May 2019, she resigned in protest at May's Brexit strategy. Two days later, May announced her resignation as party leader, taking effect on 7 June. Andrea stood as a candidate to succeed May as leader of the Conservative Party in June 2019 but was eliminated in the first round of voting, finishing 8th out of 10 candidates with 11 votes. Upon the appointment of Boris Johnson as Prime Minister, Andrea was appointed Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. She left the Cabinet in the 2020 cabinet reshuffle and remains in the House of Commons as a backbencher.