A life outside politics; The strong, passionate, Yorkshire Woman
Andrea is the Member of Parliament for Morley and Outwood having been elected in May 2015. She is from Yorkshire and has had a rounded and diverse career with over 15 years in management in the private sector working for multi-national companies. Having left school and going straight to work; she worked her way up from being a retail Saturday assistant to senior management. During the late 1990's/2000's Andrea was a retail store manager locally in the constituency at the White Rose Centre, also in Leeds, Guiseley and Wakefield. Further roles included; International Business Development Manager for an executive management training company in which she was solely responsible for increasing sales penetration in Europe and Asia through developing client relations in both the public and private sectors.
Andrea has also worked in the public sector and was previously a music tutor teaching in three secondary schools, and has ran her own business. In her late-thirties she decided to re-train and has since embarked on studying Economics through the Open University and a Degree in International Relations and Politics and she recently graduated at the age of 40. She combined both of this with her job, which shows her strength at being able to juggle a busy life with other commitments.
Family
Andrea and her partner, Jack, are the proud parents of a baby boy, Clifford George. Clifford entered the world on Wednesday 29th March. As an active proponent and the MP coordinator in Yorkshire for the Vote Leave campaign, Andrea was thrilled that her boy's birthday shared the date with the official triggering of Article 50.
Andrea was born and raised in Yorkshire. She has lived in her home county for several years and currently lives in Gildersome.
In Parliament Appointments
Between 2015 and the election in 2017, Andrea had the following appointments:
Member, Exiting the European Union Select Committee
Member and European Liaison Officer, Health Select Committee
Chair, All Party Parliamentary Group on Local Democracy
Chair, All Party Parliamentary Group on Patient Safety
Vice Chair and Secretary, All Party Parliamentary Group on UK Music
Vice Chair, All Party Parliamentary Group on Education
Officer, All Party Parliamentary Group on Animal Welfare
Member, All Party Parliamentary Group on Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire
Vice President, Local Government Association
Brexit
During the EU referendum campaign Andrea was appointed as the Vote Leave regional MP coordinator for all of the Yorkshire constituencies. The fantastic role meant that Andrea travelled across the region, taking part in TV interviews and debates about why she felt the nation would be better off outside of the European Union.
Andrea has been a passionate Brexiter since even before her election in 2015. As far back as 2014, Andrea was working on the 'Let Britain Decide' campaign, which advocated for the British people to have the final say on their membership of the EU through a referendum. Through travelling door to door and asking local people about their opinions on the Union, she realised many local residents shared her beliefs. The bureaucratic anchor had taken away Parliamentary sovereignty and prevented Britain from doing essential democratic tasks such as; deciding an immigration model, forging trade deals with historic friends and allies, making laws best suited to the British people and controlling budget contributions so that Britons would be able to keep more of what they earned.
Andrea continuously presented these beliefs to the public both locally and nationally and she was delighted with the referendum result on the 23rd of June.
Following the result and in Westminster, Andrea was elected by other MPs to the Exiting the European Union Select Committee. Her and 21 other colleagues have the essential responsibility of scrutinising the Brexit process and Andrea is determined to make sure the democratic outcome of the referendum is respected.
Hobbies & Interests; Charity Fundraiser, Singer, Healthcare Acitivist and Animal Lover
Andrea is a soprano singer and songwriter and an avid charity fundraiser. She has always used her music as a way in which to fundraise for charities including; Macmillan, Wish upon a Star, Help for Heroes, Home Start, Save The Children, the Army Benevolent Fund and the Doris Banham Dog Charity. Andrea has previously been a Musical Theatre Director of two children’s performing art academies. Teaching children from aged 6 to 18, she has put on musical productions such as Les Miserable.
Andrea has been campaigning for better patient care for over three years and is a Trustee and the Regional Representative (Voluntary) for the charity MRSA Action UK. Through this role she works with schools, medical trusts and was involved in consultations with the Department of Health regarding raising standards; this includes the Patient-Led Inspections. Andrea’s passion to make a difference in raising hospital standards was a result of the tragic death of her beloved Dad from the hospital superbug MRSA in 2011 at a local hospital, which was the catalyst that led her to decide to stand to be your MP as she wants to ensure compassionate care is a priority.
She has supported the charity Antibiotic Research UK, who are working on the next generation of antibiotics and Andrea recently addressed 700 people at a British Bioindustry event discussing why we need more investment in antibiotics, at which they raised over £30,000 for the charity. Andrea was also a reviewer for the National Institute for Health Research, who are working to establish the NHS as an internationally recognised centre of research excellence.
She has a compassionate nature with a desire to protect the most vulnerable and also animals. Andrea is a massive animal lover and has two Mini Schnauzer dogs called Lady & Godiva who recently won the Westminster Dogs of The Year Competition. At the last General Election she made a promise to vote against any legislation to repeal the Hunting Act and at the 2017 General Election she made the same pledge. Andrea firmly believes the reintroduction of fox hunting is unnecessary and unwanted by local people
Andrea is an upfront, direct, and strong Yorkshire woman who passionately stands up for what she believes in.