London (Parliament Politics Magazine) – ictoria Atkins is a prominent British Politician. She has served as the Financial Secretary to the Treasury since 2022. Moreover, she has served as a member of the Conservative Party. After a few years, she started serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Louth and Horncastle. Before entering politics she worked as a barrister and specialized in the field of fraud. In 2017 she was appointed as the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Safeguarding at the Home Office. During the cabinet reshuffle, she was once again appointed as Minister of State for Prisons and Probation.
Bio & Early Life
Victoria Mary Atkins was born on 22nd March 1976 in London. She is the daughter of a famous politician and longtime conservative MP Robert Atkins. Her mother is Lady Dulcie Atkins who was a Conservative councilor. After a few years of her birth, Victoria was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Victoria was privately educated at the Arnold School. She also studied at a co-educational independent school in Blackpool Lancashire. Before entering into politics she studied law at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. In 1998, she was called to the bar (Middle Temple). After a few years, she started working as a Barrister in the field of Fraud.
Political Career
In 2012, Victoria remained unsuccessful in the first-ever Police and Crime Commissioner Elections. However, she got the chance to garner first-preference votes. In these elections, she lost to former police superintendent Martin Surl. She was later shortlisted for another safe seat in Salisbury in 2010. In 2015 she was shortlisted for Tonbridge and Malling seat, along with Edward Argar, Chris Philp, and Tom Tugendhat. The results didn’t come in favor of Victoria as Tugendhat won the selection. Her opponents were given other seats during the same election.
Parliamentary career
Victoria was selected along with three others as the Conservative candidate for Louth and Horncastle in 2014. There were around 200 local party members in Spilsby. This all refers to a safe conservative seat where everything is held by a party since 1924. The retiring MP was Sir Peter Tapsell, who was the Father of the House of Commons. He had served the area for around 50 years additionally to his previous Parliamentary service. Former Prime Minister John Major entered the House of Commons along with her father. She started supporting her father’s election campaign during this time.
When she became the MP for Louth and Horncastle in the general election it led to great results. She was later appointed as a member of the Home Affairs Select Committee in 2015. Apart from that she became part of the EU membership referendum. However, she was the one who consistently voted in favor of the referendum. In the 2017 general elections, she returned to her seat with a majority of 63.9% votes. Later in the year, she was appointed as a Junior Minister. Following the resignation of Priti Patel she joined this seat.
Personal Life, Net Worth & Relationships
Victoria got married to Paul Kenward. He is the managing director of British Sugar. The couple is blessed with one son together. Many people like her for keeping her personal and professional life private. She is one of the most influential politicians currently. Her estimated net worth of Victoria is $5 million.
Political Views and Decisions
In 2019 Victoria supported the appointment of Niamh Eastwood, the director of Release. She remained critical of the Home Office Drug policy on social media. Moreover, she wrote a letter to criticize all the happenings in drug consumption rooms. She had to face criticism for taking some actions after becoming a part of the parliament. Professor Alex Stevens who was a criminal justice expert resigned from his political position.
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Victoria believes in having a strictly political view when it comes to taking decisions. Kit Malthouse who was the Minister for Policing replaced Atkins as the minister. He was solely responsible for catering to the needs of the Government’s drug policy. In the general election of 2019, Victoria was re-elected for Louth and Horncastle. This time she won with an increased majority and obtained around 72.7% votes.
During the withdrawal of foreign defense forces and takeover by the Taliban, Victoria became the Minister of State for Prisons. She also became a member of the Ministry of Justice. Simultaneously Rachel Maclean joined the Parliamentary under Secretary of State. Both the ministers took big action for resettling the program and introducing the Operation Warm Welcome.