Helen Whately is a British politician who has served as Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury and Minister of State for Social Care. Since 2015, she has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Faversham and Mid Kent as a member of the Conservative Party. After graduating from the University of Oxford, she interned with PricewaterhouseCoopers as a management consultant. From 2007 through 2015, she worked as a management consultant in the healthcare sector of McKinsey & Company. Whately was elected in the 2015 general election to represent Faversham and Mid Kent.
Theresa May appointed Whately as Deputy Chair of the Conservative Party in 2019, while Boris Johnson retained his role as Prime Minister. From September 2019 to February 2020, she served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Arts, Heritage, and Tourism. In the 2020 cabinet reshuffle, she was appointed Minister of State for Social Care by Johnson. Whately was the Minister of Social Care in the United Kingdom during the COVID-19 epidemic. Johnson promoted her to the position of Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury in the 2021 cabinet reshuffle, where she served under Chancellor Rishi Sunak. She resigned in protest of Johnson’s leadership during the government crisis of 2022.
Helen Olivia Bicknell Whately Lightwood was born in Norwich, United Kingdom on June 23, 1976 (at the age of 46). She was raised close to Redhill, Surrey. Her mother was a physician and her father was a surgeon. She attended Woldingham School, a day and boarding school for 11–18-year-old girls in Surrey, before enrolling in the sixth form at the independent Westminster School in London. During her school years, she worked in hospitals with the intention of following in her parents’ footsteps and pursuing a medical career. However, in her first speech as a member of parliament, Whately stated that this experience inspired her to pursue a career in which she could improve healthcare as a whole.
After leaving school, Whately taught English in rural Nepal for a year. Lightwood studied Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, and was a member of the Oxford Union debating group, but she had no interest in student politics, stating that it “did not seem to be about getting things done.”
After graduating from college, she spent two years as a management consultant trainee at PricewaterhouseCoopers before joining AOL and helping to establish its internet film business. After that, she worked as a media policy advisor for the shadow secretary of state for culture, media, and sport at the time, Hugo Swire, and for the Conservative Party. This encounter motivated her to pursue a career in politics. In 2008, British social magazine Tatler named Whately one of ten emerging stars of the Conservative Party and predicted that she would become health secretary.
Conservative Party candidate Helen Whately lost the 2010 general election for the Kingston and Surbiton constituency by 7,560 votes (13.3%) to incumbent Liberal Democrat MP Ed Davey. From 2007 through 2015, Whately served as engagement manager for the healthcare division of the management consulting company McKinsey & Company. Helen Whately was chosen by the Conservative Party in February 2015 from an all-female shortlist to run for the Faversham and Mid Kent seat. Hugh Robertson, the previous Conservative representative for the district, decided in January not to seek re-election. She was also on the shortlist for Wealden, North East Hampshire, South Cambridgeshire, Bury St. Edmunds, and Banbury.
The general election of 2015 was won with 24,895 votes (54%) and a majority of 16,652 votes (36.4%). Considered a safe seat, the district has been represented by Conservative representatives since its inception in 1997. On June 2, Whately’s inaugural address centered on the National Health Service. She was appointed to the Commons Health Select Committee in July. She voted in favor of Prime Minister David Cameron’s decision to conduct airstrikes against ISIL targets in Syria in December.
She supported the United Kingdom’s continued membership in the European Union in the 2016 vote. She argued that British membership in the EU would result in increased economic growth, security, living standards for British citizens, and British influence in international issues. Whately was named the parliamentary private secretary (PPS) to international trade minister Greg Hands in July 2016. She was appointed chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Mental Health and the APPG for Fruit and Vegetable Farmers in October 2016.
In February 2017, she voted in favor of the government’s resolution to invoke Article 50 and begin the formal process of the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union. Whately, a supporter of “Remain,” characterized her decision as respecting the outcome of the referendum. Helen Whately retained her seat in the 2017 general election with 30,390 (61.1% of the vote) and an expanded majority of 17,413 (35%) votes. After the election, she became the PPS to Justine Greening, the secretary of state for education and minister for women and equality. She also became chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Health and Personalised Medicine, while retaining her position as head of the APPG for Mental Health and Fruit and Vegetable Farmers.
Helen Whately was condemned in July 2017 for accepting hospitality costing several thousand pounds from the Saudi Arabian government before defending its record in a parliamentary discussion. Following an urgent question by Liberal Democrat MP Tom Brake over fears of the imminent execution of 14 men for protest-related offenses, some of whom were children at the time of their alleged offenses, the debate ensued. Whately had urged legislators to “appreciate that the government of Saudi Arabia is taking steps to enhance their activities on human rights,” but an opposition Labour Party MP blasted him as a “serial regime apologist.”
In January of 2018, she was appointed as the personal assistant to Brandon Lewis, minister without portfolio and chairman of the Conservative Party. She became Vice Chair of the Conservative Party for Women later in the year, after Maria Caulfield resigned in protest over the government’s Brexit strategy. In 2019, Whately voted for the Brexit departure agreement negotiated by then-prime minister Theresa May. She also opposed a referendum on any Brexit departure arrangement.
Whately was elevated to the position of Deputy Chair of the Conservative Party on April 17, 2018. Prime Minister Boris Johnson named her as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Arts, Heritage, and Tourism on September 10. At the general election in December, she was re-elected with a larger majority of 21,976 (43.6%) votes. Whatley joined the Department of Health and Social Care as minister of state for social care in February 2020. During the 2021 cabinet reshuffle, Whately was named Exchequer Secretary of the Treasury. She resigned on the morning of July 7, 2022, as part of a wave of resignations in opposition to Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Helen Whately, in conjunction with the Kent County Council, advocated for the opening of two new schools in Maidstone, Kent, in order to ease pressure on primary school places and provide extra spaces for children with special needs. This led to the establishment of Maidstone Primary Academy and Bearsted Academy, a secondary special education institution.
Whately campaigned against Maidstone’s Local Plan (a policy document that outlines the framework for growth in the area until 2031) because, in her opinion, it lacked sufficient funds for infrastructure and road improvements and could harm local landmarks like Leeds Castle. Helen Grant, MP for Whately and Maidstone and The Weald, wrote to Sajid Javid
Helen Whately is married to Marcus Whately; their wedding took place in 2005. She met her husband for the first time at Oxford University. Her husband is the co-founder and co-chief executive officer of an energy company as of 2022. This couple has three children. She has an older sibling. Since 2015, she has served as vice president of the Maidstone branch of the Mencap charity for people with learning disabilities. She was a member of the British Junior Eventing Squad as a horse rider, and at college, she was captain of the riding team and earned two half-blues. Helen Whately and her spouse have three children as of September 2022. The pair splits their time between London and a town near Faversham.
What is Helen Whately’s net worth? The estimated net worth of Helen Whately is approximately $3 million. Her primary source of income is her political profession. The sum of Helen Whately’s monthly salary and other career earnings exceeds $800,000 every year. She is one of the United Kingdom’s wealthiest and most prominent politicians. Her great career has afforded her a luxury lifestyle and exotic automobile excursions. Helen Whately’s attractive height of 1.68 meters and healthy body weight complement her personality.
