Lucy Frazer (born 17 May 1972) is a British politician serving as Minister of State for Housing and Planning since October 2022. A member of the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

, she previously served as

Solicitor General for England and Wales His Majesty's Solicitor General for England and Wales, known informally as the Solicitor General, is one of the law officers of the Crown in the government of the United Kingdom. They are the deputy of the Attorney General, whose duty is to ad ...

and Minister of State for Prisons. She has been the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for South East Cambridgeshire since 2015. Prior to being elected to

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

, she practiced as a barrister and was appointed a

Queen's Counsel In the United Kingdom and in some Commonwealth countries, a King's Counsel (post-nominal initials KC) during the reign of a king, or Queen's Counsel (post-nominal initials QC) during the reign of a queen, is a lawyer (usually a barrister o ...

in 2013.

Early life

Born on 17 May 1972 in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, Frazer is descended from Jewish immigrants among whom was her grandfather Hyman Frazer, headmaster of Gateway Grammar School in

Leicester Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city l ...

Education

Frazer was educated at Gateways School for Girls,

Leeds Girls' High School Leeds Girls' High School (LGHS) was an independent, selective, fee-paying school for girls aged 3–18 founded in 1876 in Headingley, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It merged with Leeds Grammar School in 2005 to form The Grammar School at Le ...

and

Newnham College, Cambridge Newnham College is a women's constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was founded in 1871 by a group organising Lectures for Ladies, members of which included philosopher Henry Sidgwick and suffragist campaigner Millic ...

, where she was elected

President of the Cambridge Union This is a list of presidents of Cambridge Union since its foundation in 1815. 1815–1916 It was resolved at a Private Business Meeting held on Monday, May 8, 1916, to hold no elections for terminal officers in the Easter Term, nor subsequentl ...

Career

Before entering politics, Frazer worked as a barrister in

commercial law Commercial law, also known as mercantile law or trade law, is the body of law that applies to the rights, relations, and conduct of persons and business engaged in commerce, merchandising, trade, and sales. It is often considered to be a branc ...

in London. She was appointed

at the age of 40. She was selected as the Conservative Party prospective Parliamentary candidate for South East Cambridgeshire in December 2013. Frazer went on to be elected at the 2015 general election with 28,845 votes (48.5%), a majority of 16,837. She was elected to the

Education Select Committee The Education Select Committee is a select committee of the House of Commons in the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Department for Education and any asso ...

later that year. After her

maiden speech A maiden speech is the first speech given by a newly elected or appointed member of a legislature or parliament. Traditions surrounding maiden speeches vary from country to country. In many Westminster system governments, there is a convention th ...

, in which she jokingly referred to

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three ...

's sale of Scots into colonial slavery as "an answer to the

West Lothian question The West Lothian question, also known as the English question, is a political issue in the United Kingdom. It concerns the question of whether MPs from Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales who sit in the House of Commons should be able to vote ...

– but not one, of course, that I would recommend", she apologised for any offence her remarks had caused. Frazer supported the UK remaining within the European Union prior to the 2016 referendum. In July 2016, she became

Parliamentary Private Secretary A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the ...

to the

Paymaster General His Majesty's Paymaster General or HM Paymaster General is a ministerial position in the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom. The incumbent Paymaster General is Jeremy Quin MP. History The post was created in 1836 by the merger of the posi ...

and

Minister for the Cabinet Office The Minister for the Cabinet Office is a position in the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom. The minister is responsible for the work and policies of the Cabinet Office, and since February 2022, reports to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lanc ...

Ben Gummer Benedict Michael Gummer (born 19 February 1978) is a British businessman and former politician. He is a partner of Gummer Leathes, a property developer. He is a senior adviser to McKinsey & Company, the management consultancy, a visiting fellow ...

. Frazer put forward a

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Pla ...

to Parliament for making

upskirting Upskirting or upskirt photography is the practice of taking nonconsensual photographs under a person's skirt or kilt, capturing an image of the crotch area, underwear, and sometimes genitalia. An "upskirt" is a photograph, video, or illust ...

an offence in England and Wales; this attained

royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in oth ...

on 12 February 2019. Before the act was passed, only the

common law offence Common law offences are crimes under English criminal law, the related criminal law of some Commonwealth countries, and under some U.S. State laws. They are offences under the common law, developed entirely by the law courts, having no specific ...

of outraging public decency could be prosecuted. The act removed the common law requirement of at least two witnesses to the offence. She was made Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice in January 2018. She moved to become

in May 2019. On 25 July 2019, Prime Minister

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as ...

appointed Frazer as Minister of State for Prisons. She was temporarily reappointed as Solicitor General when

Suella Braverman Sue-Ellen Cassiana "Suella" Braverman (; ''née'' Fernandes, born 3 April 1980) is a British barrister and politician who has served as Home Secretary since 25 October 2022. She previously held the position from 6 September to 19 October 2022 ...

took maternity leave in March 2021, as well as appointed as a

Privy Counsellor The Privy Council (PC), officially His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the sovereign of the United Kingdom. Its membership mainly comprises senior politicians who are current or former members of ei ...

. Frazer returned to her role as Minister of State for Prisons on Braverman's return from leave on 10 September 2021. On 16 September 2021, Frazer was appointed

Financial Secretary to the Treasury The financial secretary to the Treasury is a mid-level ministerial post in His Majesty's Treasury. It is nominally the fifth most significant ministerial role within the Treasury after the first lord of the Treasury, the chancellor of the Excheq ...

. In November 2021 it was claimed that Frazer had a conflict of interest in respect of a contract held by her husband's company to supply temporary staff to Government departments. It had previously been disclosed that six of these workers had been employed using a controversial tax-avoidance scheme. In June 2022, Frazer stated that she would vote in support of Johnson in the 2022 vote of confidence in his Conservative Party leadership. Frazer served as Minister of State for Transport from September to October 2022. On 26 October 2022, following the appointment of

Rishi Sunak Rishi Sunak (; born 12 May 1980) is a British politician who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party since October 2022. He previously held two cabinet positions under Boris Johnson, lastly as ...

as Prime Minister, Frazer was appointed Minister of State for Housing and Planning.

Personal life

Frazer is married to David Leigh, who is chief executive of a recruitment company. They have two children. The couple were accused of having a conflict of interest over a Government contract.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Frazer, Lucy 1973 births Living people People educated at Leeds Girls' High School Politicians from Yorkshire Alumni of Newnham College, Cambridge Presidents of the Cambridge Union English barristers 21st-century King's Counsel Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 2015–2017 UK MPs 2017–2019 UK MPs 2019–present 21st-century British women politicians Solicitors General for England and Wales Female justice ministers Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom 21st-century English women 21st-century English people