Amanda Solloway

Amanda Jane Solloway (née Edghill; born 6 June 1961) is a British Conservative Party politician and Science Minister for the UK Government. She has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Derby North since December 2019, having previously served from May 2015 to June 2017.

Solloway was born Amanda Jane Edghill in Nottingham. She has a younger sister and brother.

She was educated at Bramcote Hills Grammar School at Bramcote, Broxtowe, Nottinghamshire, which became comprehensive in 1978, and is now is part of Bramcote Hills Sport and Community College.

She started working at 16 behind the counter of an off-licence, worked as a management trainee at Sainsbury's and stayed for 13 years, then worked in a regional training role at Help the Aged, moved to Baird Clothing to become head of training 1998 and founded her own consultancy in 2008.

Solloway was first elected in the 2015 general election for the Derby North Constituency, with a majority of 41 votes, unseating the incumbent Labour MP Chris Williamson who had been the MP for Derby North since 2010. She became a Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Minister of State for the Department of International Development.

She was opposed to Brexit prior to the 2016 referendum.

Solloway has been a campaigner on mental health and homelessness issues in Derby North and in Parliament. She was one of three parliamentary champions for HS2, the high-speed rail network which is intended to be built between London and the North.

Solloway lost her seat in the 2017 general election to Williamson; on a night where Labour made gains across the United Kingdom. She continued to be active in Derby North, including in the 2018 Derby City Council election and 2019 Derby City Council election, where the Conservatives made gains in wards in the Derby North Constituency.

Solloway regained Derby North for the Conservatives in the 2019 general election with a majority of 2,540, with Chris Williamson (standing as an independent) in sixth place.

In the 2020 cabinet reshuffle on 14 February 2020, Solloway was appointed as a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Science, Research and Innovation at the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy by Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Solloway spent 15 years in retail management with J Sainsbury and a further 15 years within HR in the charity sector (Help the Aged and Save the Children), and in private sector (Baird Clothing Group) supporting manufacturing, warehousing and retail. In 2018, Solloway set up the mental health community interest company, 'Head High', which works with the community to make a difference in people's lives and champions mental health awareness.

Solloway lives in Borrowash in Erewash district, Derbyshire. She married Robert Solloway in 1983 in Basford, Nottinghamshire; the couple have two daughters.

Solloway is patron of the Friends Of The Baby Unit at Royal Derby Hospital. She ran the London marathon, in 2016 and 2017, and, in doing so, raised money for that hospital's baby unit.

2019 general election

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Amanda Solloway	21,259	45.2	0.8
	Labour	Tony Tinley	18,719	39.8	8.7
	Liberal Democrats	Greg Webb	3,450	7.3	2.7
	Brexit Party	Alan Graves	1,908	4.1	4.1
	Green	Helen Hitchcock	1,046	2.2	2.2
	Independent	Chris Williamson	635	1.4	1.4
Majority			2,540	5.4	N/A
Turnout			47,002	64.2	5.4
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing	4.8

2017 general election

2015 general election