Amber Rudd

Early life and education

Amber Rudd was born in London on 1 August 1963. Her brother is the public relations executive Roland Rudd, and her mother was briefly styled Marchioness Conyngham while married to Frederick Conyngham, 7th Marquess Conyngham.

She was educated at Cheltenham Ladies' College, an independent school in Gloucestershire, and from 1979-1981 at Queen's College, London, an independent day school for girls in London, followed by the Edinburgh University where she read history.

Business career

After graduating from university, Rudd joined J.P. Morgan & Co., working in both London and New York. She then worked in venture capital in London, raising funds for small businesses. After working as a financial journalist, she founded specialist executive search and human resources consultancy Lawnstone Ltd, with clients in financial services and in business media. She helped to find extras for the film Four Weddings and a Funeral for which she was credited as the "aristocracy co-ordinator", and appeared briefly in one of the church scenes in the film.

Political career

At the 2005 general election, Rudd was the Conservative candidate for the Labour-held seat of Liverpool, Garston.

Her name was subsequently added to the Conservative A-List and selected to contest the Hastings and Rye constituency in 2006, moving to the old town in 2007. In the 2010 General Election, Rudd was elected as the MP for Hastings & Rye with a majority of 1,993 votes. Shortly afterwards, Rudd was elected to serve as a Conservative member on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee.

Rudd is vice-chair of the Parliamentary committee on Female Genital Mutilation, which has campaigned against FGM and called for tougher legal penalties in the area. She has championed the cause of sex equality as chairperson of the APPG for Sex Equality, which published a report on women in work. Rudd chaired a cross-party enquiry into unplanned pregnancies which called for statutory sex and relationships education in all secondary schools. She has also called for a higher proportion of women in Cabinet.

In September 2012, she was made Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne. In October 2013, she became an assistant government whip. In July 2014, Rudd was appointed Minister for the Department for Energy and Climate Change.

Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change

Following the 2015 general election, she was promoted as Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change. In May 2015 she was appointed as a member of the Privy Council.

In July 2015, Private Eye reported that Rudd faces a potential conflict of interest because she is to decide on the proposed Hinkley Point C nuclear power station whilst her brother Roland is chairman (and founder) of Finsbury, which represents a construction company with a £100m contract to help build the nuclear plant. The Private Eye report noted that despite the MPs’ register of interests including a new category of 'family members engaged in lobbying' Rudd "makes no mention of her brother or his interests", and added, "The Eye asked the Department of Energy & Climate Change if Rudd had told its permanent secretary about Roland and Finsbury (another conflict of interest procedure) but it did not reply".

The links between decisions to be taken by the Department for Energy and Climate Change and Rudd’s brother’s lobbying interests had previously been reported in the Daily Mail. In May 2015, the newspaper’s chief political correspondent, Daniel Martin, reported that Rudd would not be making a decision on plans by Halite Energy Group to store natural gas in underground caves in Lancashire. Halite is represented by the lobbying firm Rudd’s brother chairs. Martin reported: "It is one of the first big decisions in Energy Secretary Amber Rudd’s in-tray – but she won’t be making it. Last night Miss Rudd conceded that she would play no part in the decision. But the Department for Energy and Climate Change insisted that this was not because of any conflict of interest. A spokesman said the decision was never due to have been made by her, and that it would be down to a junior minister. But last night officials were unable to say which minister would make the decision." On the 18 November 2015 she proposed the UK's remaining coal-fired power stations originally conceived by Sir Christopher Hinton, Baron Hinton of Bankside will be shut by 2025 with their use restricted by 2023. "We need to build a new energy infrastructure, fit for the 21st century."

In November 2015 a leaked letter showed that the government was not on course to deliver its Mandatory renewable energy target, leading to accusations from The Ecologist that Rudd had knowingly misled Parliament.

In July 2015, Craig Bennett of Friends of the Earth accused Rudd of hypocrisy in claiming to want to address climate change while at the same time, in his view, "dismantling an architecture of low-carbon policies carefully put together with cross-party agreement over the course of two parliaments". Rudd replied that "[Government] support must help technologies eventually stand on their own two feet, not encourage a permanent reliance on subsidy."

Comments about Hastings

In April 2013, a profile of Rudd appeared in the Financial Times which caused upset to some in her constituency as it reported her referring to "people who are on benefits, who prefer to be on benefits by the seaside...moving down here to have easier access to friends and drugs and drink". She responded by stating that "I am incredibly optimistic about Hastings. I described the well-known problems that Hastings has to the Financial Times but I also talked about the incredible investment in the town, the fact that unemployment is going down and that there are many positive things to say about it."

Local issues

Rudd has been actively involved in the campaign for the local fishing fleet in Hastings. Her maiden speech advocated wholesale reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP)

Rudd has also campaigned successfully for the construction of the Hastings to Bexhill Link Road. In early 2013 the Government gave the road the go ahead for construction after ten years of campaigning, and Rudd is now spearheading a campaign called Complete The Link to see the final stage of the road get funding for construction.

Personal life

Rudd married the writer A.A. Gill in 1990. Rudd and Gill have two children, Flora and Alasdair. The couple separated in 1995 and later divorced.

Rudd is a trustee of the Snowdon Trust, an organisation that helps young disabled people access education. Rudd has been director of the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize since 2003, an annual award for a first-time female playwright in the English language. She also serves as a governor of The St Leonards Academy in Hastings.