View source for Virginia Bottomley

{{Short description|British politician (born 1948)}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name                = The Baroness Bottomley<br>of Nettlestone
| image               = Official portrait of Baroness Bottomley of Nettlestone crop 2.jpg
| caption             = Official portrait, 2018
| honorific-suffix    = [[His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council|PC]] [[Deputy Lieutenant|DL]]
| office              = [[Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport|Shadow Secretary of State for National Heritage]]
| primeminister       = 
| term_start          = 2 May 1997
| term_end            = 11 June 1997
| predecessor         = [[Jack Cunningham]]
| successor           = [[Francis Maude]]
| office1             = [[Secretary of State for National Heritage]]
| primeminister1      = [[John Major]]
| term_start1         = 5 July 1995
| term_end1           = 2 May 1997
| predecessor1        = [[Stephen Dorrell]]
| successor1          = [[Chris Smith, Baron Smith of Finsbury|Chris Smith]]
| office2             = [[Secretary of State for Health]]
| primeminister2      = [[John Major]]
| term_start2         = 10 April 1992
| term_end2           = 5 July 1995
| predecessor2        = [[William Waldegrave, Baron Waldegrave of North Hill|William Waldegrave]]
| successor2          = [[Stephen Dorrell]]
| office3             = [[Secretary of State for Health and Social Care|Minister of State for Health]]
| primeminister3      = [[Margaret Thatcher]]<br />[[John Major]]
| term_start3         = 28 October 1989
| term_end3           = 10 April 1992
| predecessor3        = [[Anthony Trafford]]
| successor3          = [[Brian Mawhinney]]
| office4             = [[Secretary of State for Environment|Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment]]
| primeminister4      = [[Margaret Thatcher]]
| term_start4         = 25 July 1988
| term_end4           = 28 October 1989
| predecessor4        = [[David Trippier]]
| successor4          = [[David Heathcoat-Amory]]
| office7             = Chancellor of the [[University of Hull]]
| 1blankname7         = {{nowrap|Vice Chancellor}}
| 1namedata7          = [[David Petley|Dave Petley]] (2022-23)
| term_start7         = 12 April 2006
| predecessor7        = [[Robert Armstrong, Baron Armstrong of Ilminster|Robert Armstrong]]
| term_end7           = 1 July 2023
| successor7          = [[Alan Johnson]]
| module              = {{Collapsed infobox section begin|Parliamentary representation
 |titlestyle      = border:1px dashed lightgrey}}{{Infobox officeholder
 |embed           = yes
|office5          = [[Member of the House of Lords]]<br />[[Lord Temporal]]
|term_start5      = 24 June 2005<br />[[Life Peerage]]
|term_end5        =
|office6          = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] <br /> for [[South West Surrey]]
|term_start6      = 4 May 1984
|term_end6        = 11 April 2005
|predecessor6     = [[Maurice Macmillan]]
|successor6       = [[Jeremy Hunt]]

{{Collapsed infobox section end}}
|birth_date       = {{birth date and age|1948|3|12|df=y}}<ref>{{cite web |title=Mrs Virginia Bottomley (Hansard) |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/people/mrs-virginia-bottomley/index.html |website=api.parliament.uk |access-date=1 January 2020}}</ref>
|birth_place      = [[Dunoon]], Scotland
|death_date       =
|death_place      =
|party            = [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]]
|education        = [[Putney High School]]
|alma_mater       = [[University of Essex]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br />[[London School of Economics]] ([[Master of Arts|MA]])

|spouse           = {{marriage|[[Peter Bottomley]]|1967}}
|children         = Josh · Cecilia · Adela
|signature        = Virginia Bottomley Signature.png
|website           = {{official website|https://members.parliament.uk/member/106/contact|name=Official website}}
|module2          = {{Listen
|embed            = yes
|title=Virginia Bottomley's voice
|filename=Virginia Bottomley in Front Row b01s0qnh.flac
|type=speech
|description=from the BBC [[Front Row (radio programme)|Front Row]], 25 April 2013<ref name="BBC-b01s0qnh">{{Cite episode|title= Virginia Bottomley|series= Front Row|url= https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01s0qnh|access-date= 18 January 2014|station= BBC Radio 4|date= 25 April 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130607002813/http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01s0qnh|archive-date= 7 June 2013|url-status= live}}</ref>}}
}}
| leader              = [[John Major]]
}}

'''Virginia Hilda Brunette Maxwell Bottomley, Baroness Bottomley of Nettlestone''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|PC|DL}} ([[née]] '''Garnett''', born 12 March 1948) is a British [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] politician and [[Executive search|headhunter]]. She was a [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] from 1984 to 2005. She became a member of the [[House of Lords]] in 2005.

==Early life and career==
Virginia Hilda Brunette Maxwell Garnett was born in [[Dunoon]], Scotland, to Barbara Rutherford-Smith, [[Jarrow March|Jarrow hunger marcher]], a teacher and elected Conservative member of the [[Inner London Education Authority]] and [[William John Garnett|W. John Garnett]] CBE, former director of what was then called [[The Industrial Society]], grandson of Cambridge physicist and educational adviser [[William Garnett (professor)|William Garnett]] and of Sir Edward Poulton, Hope professor of zoology at Oxford.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/obituary-john-garnett-1239782.html|title=Obituary: John Garnett|date=18 September 1997|website=The Independent|access-date=27 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190627221257/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/obituary-john-garnett-1239782.html|archive-date=27 June 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite ODNB |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-33333 |title=The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |year=2004 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/33333 |isbn=978-0-19-861412-8 |access-date=29 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180430114234/http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-33333 |archive-date=30 April 2018 |url-status=dead  }}</ref> Her paternal aunt was [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] [[Greater London Council]] member [[Peggy Jay]]. She met [[Peter Bottomley]], her future husband, when she was 12 years old; they wed seven years later In 1967.

Bottomley was at [[Putney High School]], in southwest London, before  studying sociology at the [[University of Essex]]. She graduated again MSc at the [[London School of Economics]].

She began her working life as a social scientist and was a researcher for the [[Child Poverty Action Group]].<ref>{{cite newspaper The Times |title= Poor families 'can expect little help with food bills' |date= 22 November 1971 |issue= 58331 |page= 3}}</ref> She was a [[social worker|psychiatric social worker]] with the Institute of Psychiatry, a [[magistrate]] ([[Justice of the Peace]]), and she chaired an Inner London Juvenile Court.<ref>{{cite news |last= Whitehead |first= Peter |date= 1 December 2010 |title= Interview: A discreet new life away from the spotlight |work= Financial Times |url= https://www.ft.com/content/56c9505e-fd57-11df-b83c-00144feab49a |access-date= 16 March 2023}}</ref>

==Member of Parliament and in government==
After unsuccessfully contesting the [[Isle of Wight (UK Parliament constituency)|Isle of Wight]] in the [[1983 United Kingdom general election|1983 general election]] (34,904 votes), she was elected to [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] with 21,545 votes in a [[1984 South West Surrey by-election|by-election in 1984]] (filling the seat left vacant by the death of [[Maurice Macmillan]], son of former prime minister [[Harold Macmillan]]),<ref name="bbc1">{{Cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/vote_2005/england/4491189.stm|title=Looking back on 21 years as an MP|publisher=BBC|date=27 April 2005|access-date=22 February 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407103716/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/vote_2005/england/4491189.stm|archive-date=7 April 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> as the Member for [[South West Surrey]]. She was PPS to [[Chris Patten]] and then to Foreign Secretary [[Sir Geoffrey Howe]]. She received her first ministerial position in 1988 as a [[Parliamentary Under-Secretary]] at the [[Secretary of State for the Environment|Department of the Environment]]<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://news.google.ie/newspapers?id=kA01AAAAIBAJ&sjid=nqULAAAAIBAJ&pg=2064,6173463&dq=virginia+bottomley&hl=en|title=Thatcher surprise shake-up for Health|date=26 July 1988|access-date=22 February 2010|work=[[The Glasgow Herald]]|page=1|author=Geoffrey Parkhouse|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305144819/https://news.google.ie/newspapers?id=kA01AAAAIBAJ&sjid=nqULAAAAIBAJ&pg=2064,6173463&dq=virginia+bottomley&hl=en|archive-date=5 March 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="parliament.uk">{{Cite web|url=http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/virginia-bottomley/25740|title=Baroness Bottomley of Nettlestone|publisher=www.parliament.uk|access-date=4 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120618042444/http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/virginia-bottomley/25740|archive-date=18 June 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> and was appointed [[Minister of State]] at the [[Department of Health (United Kingdom)|Department of Health]] in 1989.<ref name="parliament.uk" /> She was appointed a member of the [[Privy Council of the United Kingdom|Privy Council]] (PC) upon joining [[John Major]]'s Cabinet as [[Secretary of State for Health]] in 1992,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/04/12/world/in-london-s-shock-a-cabinet-is-named.html|title=In London's Shock, A Cabinet Is Named|newspaper=New York Times|date=12 April 1992|access-date=22 February 2010|author=William E. Schmidt|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130531060511/http://www.nytimes.com/1992/04/12/world/in-london-s-shock-a-cabinet-is-named.html|archive-date=31 May 2013|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=WW>{{Who's Who | id= U8194 | doi= 10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U8194 | title=Bottomley of Nettlestone}}</ref> becoming the ninth woman to serve in the British cabinet.<ref>{{cite news |last= Mikhailova |first= Anna |date= 23 December 2019 |title= Sir Peter Bottomley, the new Father of the House: 'Each department I was in, I would say - you have at least one minister too many' |work= The Telegraph |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2019/12/23/sir-peter-bottomley-new-father-house-department-would-say/ |access-date= 16 March 2023}}</ref> She served as Health Secretary until 1995.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/218381.stm|title=Care in the community failures|work=BBC News|date=20 November 1998}}</ref>

Bottomley and [[Ann Widdecombe]] have been listed as co-founders of [[Lady Olga Maitland]]'s pro-nuclear [[Women and Families for Defence]] group.<ref name="Martin">{{cite news |last1=Martin |first1=Lorna |title=The battle of Greenham Common is over. But their spirit still burns |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2006/aug/20/lornamartin.theobserver |work=The Guardian |date=19 August 2006}}</ref>

She served as [[Secretary of State for National Heritage]] from 1995 to 1997.<ref name=WW/><ref>{{cite newspaper The Times |last= Alberge |first= Dalya |date= 7 July 1995 |title= Bottomley keen to join her 'Ministry of the Future' |issue= 65313 |page= 9}}</ref> During this period, she appeared in the [[Eurovision Song Contest 1996]], wishing luck to the United Kingdom's entrant, [[Gina G]], in her postcard.<ref>{{cite news |last= Hall |first= James 21 May 2021 |date= |title= Just a Little Bit... crooked: How Gina G's Ooh Aah Eurovision glory was stolen |work= The Telegraph |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/artists/just-little-bit-crooked-gina-gs-ooh-aah-eurovision-glory-stolen/ |access-date= 17 March 2023 }}</ref>

After the [[1997 United Kingdom general election|1997 general election]], she returned to the [[backbenches]], and became a [[Recruiter|headhunter]] at Odgers, where she headed and now chairs the company's Board & CEO Practice.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.odgersberndtson.com/en-gb/people/virginia-bottomley|title=Virginia Bottomley|author=<!--not stated-->|website=Odgers Berndtson|access-date=25 January 2022}}</ref>

===Retirement===
She stepped down from the House of Commons when the [[2005 United Kingdom general election|2005 general election]] was called.<ref name="bbc1" /> On 24 June 2005 she was created a [[life peer]] with the title '''Baroness Bottomley of Nettlestone''', ''of [[St Helens, Isle of Wight|St Helens]] in the County of [[Isle of Wight]]'',<ref name=WW/><ref>{{London Gazette |issue=57688 |date=29 June 2005 |page=8439}}</ref> the parish where she was baptised and celebrated her marriage.

==Personal life==
Bottomley is involved with charitable and academic bodies in addition to business. She was on the founding Council of the [[University of the Arts, London]]. She was a Council Member of the [[Ditchley Foundation]] and was President of [[Farnham Castle]], Centre for International Briefing. From 2000 until May 2012 she sat on the Supervisory Board of [[Akzo Nobel]], taking over Courtaulds and then ICI. She was a [[non-executive director]] of [[Bupa]], a healthcare company. She was on the Advisory Council of the [[International Chamber of Commerce]] UK (ICC UK) and the [[Judge Business School|Judge School of Management]], Cambridge. Bottomley has been a trustee and is a fellow of the Industry and Parliament Trust. She was National President of the [[Abbeyfield Society]]<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.abbeyfield.com/Pages/Patrons.aspx |title=Abbeyfield Society: Patrons |access-date=4 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707072828/http://www.abbeyfield.com/Pages/Patrons.aspx |archive-date=7 July 2011 |url-status=dead  }}</ref> and a Vice-Patron of Carers and of [[Cruse Bereavement Care]]. She was a [[lay canon]] of [[Guildford Cathedral]], and a [[Freedom of the City of London|Freeman]] of the [[City of London]].

In  2006, she was elected and installed as Chancellor of the [[University of Hull]], succeeding [[Lord Armstrong of Ilminster]] in April 2006.<ref>{{cite news |date= 26 January 2006 |title= Ex-Minister is new Uni Chancellor |work= BBC News |url= https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/humber/4650368.stm |access-date= 16 March 2023 }}</ref> She was also appointed a [[Deputy Lieutenant]] of [[Surrey]] on 22 March of that year and [[Sheriff of Hull]] since 2013.<ref>{{cite web |title=Deputy Lieutenant Commissions Lieutenancy of Surrey 22 March 2006 |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/L-57933-1009 |website=The London Gazette |access-date=16 November 2023 |language=en}}</ref><ref>BBC [https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-21362803 Lord Mandelson picked for High Steward of Hull post] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191213120736/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-21362803 |date=13 December 2019 }}, 7 February 2013; accessed 21 March 2014.</ref> She is the longest serving trustee of The Economist newspaper.<ref>{{cite web |title= Our Trustees |publisher= The Economist Group |url= https://www.economistgroup.com/esg/trustees |access-date= 16 March 2023 }}</ref> 

Virginia Garnett married [[Peter Bottomley]] in 1967, after the birth of their eldest child;<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/virginias-early-summer-of-love-books-and-a-baby-1532773.html|location=London, UK|work=The Independent|first=Michael|last=Durham|title=Virginia's early summer of love, books and a baby|date=12 July 1992|access-date=29 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160911182101/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/virginias-early-summer-of-love-books-and-a-baby-1532773.html|archive-date=11 September 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.johnmajor.co.uk/resnbott.html |title=Biography at John Major site |access-date=9 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100830222008/http://www.johnmajor.co.uk/resnbott.html |archive-date=30 August 2010 |url-status=dead  }}</ref> he was an MP from 1975 until 2024.<ref>{{Who's Who |id= U8193 |doi= 10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U8193 |title=Bottomley, Sir Peter (James) }}</ref>

During her time in Prime Minister John Major's cabinet, the satirical puppet show ''[[Spitting Image]]'' often portrayed Major as having an unrequited crush on Bottomley.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Billen |first1=Andrew |title=An entire political era was covered in rubber by Spitting Image |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/an-entire-political-era-was-covered-in-rubber-by-spitting-image-z5blvd0ck8n |access-date=13 September 2018 |work=[[The Times]] |url-access=subscription |issue=69283 |date=28 March 2008 |location=London, England |page=11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180913192223/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/an-entire-political-era-was-covered-in-rubber-by-spitting-image-z5blvd0ck8n |archive-date=13 September 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Bottomley's family includes many figures in politics and public life. Her brother, [[Christopher Garnett]], was the chief executive of [[train operating company]] [[GNER]].<ref>{{cite news |last= Harper |first= Keith |date=  21 July 2001 |title= Profile: Christopher Garnett |work= The Guardian |url= https://www.theguardian.com/business/2001/jul/21/transportintheuk |access-date= 16 March 2023}}</ref> Her aunt Pauline married [[Roland Hunt]] (who is not connected to [[Sir Nicholas Hunt]], father of Jeremy Hunt who succeeded her as MP).{{cn|date=December 2022}}

Her cousins include [[Peter Jay (diplomat)|Peter Jay]] (the former [[British Ambassador to the United States]]<ref name=Moya_2010>{{cite news |last= Moya |first= Elena |year= 2010 |title= Big-name hunter Virginia Bottomley fights to bag more jobs for women |work= The Guardian |url= https://www.theguardian.com/business/2010/jun/10/virginia-bottomley-interview |access-date= 15 March 2023 }}</ref> and son-in-law to [[James Callaghan]]), and [[Lord Hunt of Chesterton]] (father of historian and former Labour MP [[Tristram Hunt]]).

More distant relatives include [[Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay]]<ref name=Moya_2010/> and [[Baron Jay of Ewelme]] (former FCO PUSS and [[British Ambassador to France]]).

[[Julia Cleverdon]] married Bottomley's late father, John.<ref>Davidson, Andrew (2007), [http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/news/741087/MT-interview-Julia-Cleverdon/?DCMP=ILC-SEARCH "The MT interview: Julia Cleverdon"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304161156/http://www.managementtoday.co.uk/news/741087/MT-interview-Julia-Cleverdon/?DCMP=ILC-SEARCH |date=4 March 2012 }}, ''[[Management Today]]'', 28 September 2007; retrieved 3 January 2011.</ref> Her husband's niece is [[Kitty Ussher]] (a former Labour minister).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.emag.org.uk/media_stories.php?id=721 |title=She fought for the euro; now one of Brown's stars will be the City's champion |publisher=EMAG/[[The Times]] |date=9 July 2007 |access-date=18 June 2009 |archive-date=4 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004162920/http://www.emag.org.uk/media_stories.php?id=721 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120908183540/http://www.debretts.com/people/biographies/browse/b/5821/Virginia+Hilda.aspx ''Debrett's People of Today'']
* {{Hansard-contribs|mrs-virginia-bottomley|Virginia Bottomley}}

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{{S-bef|before=[[Maurice Macmillan]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[South West Surrey]]|years=[[1984 South West Surrey by-election|1984]]–[[2005 United Kingdom general election|2005]]}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Jeremy Hunt]]}}
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{{S-off}}
{{S-bef|before=[[William Waldegrave, Baron Waldegrave of North Hill|William Waldegrave]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[Secretary of State for Health]]|years=1992–95}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Stephen Dorrell]]}}
|-
{{S-bef|before=[[Stephen Dorrell]]}}
{{S-ttl|title=[[Secretary of State for National Heritage]]|years=1995–97}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Chris Smith, Baron Smith of Finsbury|Chris Smith]]<br /><small>''{{nowrap|as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport}}''</small>}}
{{S-end}}

{{Secretary of State for Health}}
{{Secretary of State for Culture}}
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{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bottomley, Virginia}}
[[Category:1948 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Dunoon]]
[[Category:Politicians from London]]
[[Category:People educated at Putney High School]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Essex]]
[[Category:Alumni of the London School of Economics]]
[[Category:Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]]
[[Category:Secretaries of state for national heritage]]
[[Category:English Anglicans]]
[[Category:Female members of the Cabinet of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Secretaries of state for health (UK)]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:People associated with the University of Hull]]
[[Category:People associated with the University of Surrey]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1983–1987]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1987–1992]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1992–1997]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1997–2001]]
[[Category:UK MPs 2001–2005]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) life peers]]
[[Category:Deputy lieutenants of Surrey]]
[[Category:Life peeresses created by Elizabeth II]]
[[Category:Life peers created by Elizabeth II]]
[[Category:Governors of the London School of Economics]]
[[Category:20th-century British women politicians]]
[[Category:21st-century British women politicians]]
[[Category:20th-century English women]]
[[Category:20th-century English politicians]]
[[Category:21st-century English women politicians]]
[[Category:21st-century English politicians]]
[[Category:Wives of knights]]
[[Category:Spouses of British politicians]]
[[Category:Bottomley family|Virginia]]
[[Category:UK MPs who were granted peerages]]