Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Disabled People
In office 4 September 2012 – 7 October 2013
Prime Minister
David Cameron
Preceded by
Maria Miller
Succeeded by
Mike Penning
Member of Parliament for Tatton
Incumbent
Assumed office 8 June 2017
Preceded by
George Osborne
Majority
17,387 (35.5%)
Member of Parliament for Wirral West
In office 6 May 2010 – 30 March 2015
Preceded by
Stephen Hesford
Succeeded by
Margaret Greenwood
Chair of the British Transport Police Authority
In office 19 November 2015 – 2 May 2017
Preceded by
Millie Banerjee
Succeeded by
Ron Barclay-Smith
Personal details
Born
Esther Louise McVey
(1967-10-24) 24 October 1967 (age 56) Liverpool, Lancashire, England
Political party
Conservative
Spouse
Philip Davies
(m. 2020)
[1]
Residence(s)
West Kirby, Wirral Peninsula, England
Alma mater
Queen Mary, University of London
City, University of London
Liverpool John Moores University
Esther Louise McVey, Lady Davies, (born 24 October 1967) is a British politician and television presenter serving as Minister of State without Portfolio since 2023.[2] A member of the Conservative Party, she has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tatton since the 2017 general election, having previously been the MP for Wirral West from 2010 to 2015. She previously served in cabinet as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in 2018 and Minister of State for Housing and Planning from 2019 to 2020.
Born in Liverpool, McVey was raised in foster care for the first two years of her life and was then raised by her biological family. She was privately educated at The Belvedere School before going on to study at Queen Mary University of London and City, University of London. After working at her family's construction business, she became a television presenter, co-presenting GMTV with Eamonn Holmes.
McVey first entered the House of Commons as MP for Wirral West at the 2010 general election. She served in the Cameron–Clegg coalition as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Disabled People from 2012 to 2013, prior to serving as Minister of State for Employment from 2013 to 2015. She was sworn into the Privy Council in 2014 and attended Cabinet after that year's reshuffle. At the 2015 general election she lost her seat; she subsequently spent eighteen months serving as Chair of the British Transport Police Authority before returning to parliament in the 2017 general election, succeeding former Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne in the Tatton constituency.
McVey served in the second May ministry as Deputy Chief Whip from 2017 to 2018. She was appointed Work and Pensions Secretary in January 2018. In July, she apologised for misleading the House of Commons over the new Universal Credit scheme by claiming a National Audit Office report showed it should be rolled out faster, when in fact the report concluded the roll-out should be paused. She resigned in November 2018 in opposition to Theresa May's draft Brexit withdrawal agreement. She founded the Blue Collar Conservative parliamentary caucus, before standing in the 2019 Conservative Party leadership election, but was eliminated in the first round after finishing in last place with nine votes. After the contest, she attended Cabinet as Minister of State for Housing and Planning until Boris Johnson's first Cabinet reshuffle.
After leaving the Johnson Cabinet, McVey returned to the backbenches. She subsequently, with her MP husband, jointly hosted weekly programmes on GB News titled Friday[3] and Saturday Morning with Esther and Philip; she also regularly wrote for the Daily Express.[4] In the November 2023 cabinet reshuffle, she was appointed Minister Without Portfolio in the Cabinet Office by Rishi Sunak, her third Cabinet role, reported to have been tasked with "leading the government's anti-woke agenda".
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
^Shipman, Tim (15 July 2018). "The odd couple clicked at last, but Tory plotters won't be pacified as easily as Donald Trump". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 16 November 2018. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
^"Ministerial Appointments November 2023 – GOV.UK". www.gov.uk.
^"Friday Morning with Esther and Philip". Sky. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
^Steerpike (6 March 2022). "Tory power couple's TV love-in". The Spectator. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
Esther Louise McVey, Lady Davies, (born 24 October 1967) is a British politician and television presenter serving as Minister of State without Portfolio...
entrepreneur Duncan McVey (died 2010), New Zealand footballer EstherMcVey (born 1967), British Conservative Party politician George McVey (1865 – 1896), American...
class conservatives. It was founded in 2012 by former cabinet minister EstherMcVey and a former conservative parliamentary candidate for Workington and...
June 2021, Davies received hospitality worth £3,687.60, and his wife EstherMcVey received £2,287.60, from companies linked to the betting industry. From...
appointments and government communications. The post is currently held by EstherMcVey since November 2023. "Salaries of Members of His Majesty's Government...
campaign, Greenwood narrowly unseated the Conservative cabinet minister EstherMcVey. In March 2018, Greenwood began acting as Shadow Secretary of State for...
cut personal taxation until he "[got] the economy growing". Hunt said EstherMcVey would be deputy prime minister if he were to become prime minister. He...
the 2020 British cabinet reshuffle, Pincher was appointed to succeed EstherMcVey as the Minister of State for Housing. On 8 February 2022, during Johnson's...
Work and Pensions Secretary by Prime Minister Theresa May, succeeding EstherMcVey. She was re-appointed by Boris Johnson on 24 July 2019 and succeeded...
scandal. From 2015 to 2018, Jenrick was Parliamentary Private Secretary to EstherMcVey (Employment Minister), Michael Gove and Liz Truss (Justice Secretaries)...
Vaizey dated and proposed marriage to businesswoman and current UK MP EstherMcVey. He then dated and married Solicitor, Alexandra Mary-Jane Holland b.1970...
June 2021. Archived from the original on 1 June 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2021. McCann, Jaymi (15 May 2021). "Demand for inquiry as Priti Patel accused of lobbying...
adjournment of the deportation to the United States of alleged computer hacker Gary McKinnon. She also suspended the registration scheme for carers of children and...
coming second with 34.8% of the vote behind the incumbent Labour MP Pat McFadden. Mullan was selected as the Conservative candidate for Crewe and Nantwich...
Archived from the original on 29 November 2006. Retrieved 15 February 2010. McSmith, Andy (22 August 2006). "Cameron push for more female MPs 'an insult...
as part of its Poppy Appeal. "GB News shakes up weekday schedule as EstherMcVey exits". Media Mole. "Ex-Cumbria journalist reveals what it's like to...
2018 Prime Minister Theresa May Preceded by Damian Green Succeeded by EstherMcVey Chief Secretary to the Treasury In office 14 July 2016 – 11 June 2017...
attending meetings Simon Hart Laura Trott Victoria Prentis John Glen EstherMcVey Tom Tugendhat Andrew Mitchell Johnny Mercer Departures Sir Gavin Williamson...
17 June 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2018. "Brexit: Dominic Raab and EstherMcVey among ministers to quit over EU agreement". BBC News. 16 November 2018...
5.5% swing towards the Conservatives, but lost to Labour candidate Sarah McCarthy-Fry by 1,139 votes. A critic of women-only shortlists, Mordaunt worked...
Minister of State at the Department for Business and Trade. The backbencher EstherMcVey was appointed Minister without Portfolio in the Cabinet Office. Reactions...
programme broadcast on 11 March that was hosted by two Conservative MPs, EstherMcVey and Philip Davies, where they interviewed a fellow Conservative MP, Chancellor...