Rachel Clare Gilmour (formerly Oliver; born 13 October 1964) is a British Liberal Democrat politician who has been the Member of Parliament for Tiverton and Minehead since

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Early life

Gilmour is the daughter of the former England international rugby player David Wrench. Wrench later became leader of

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

Town Council and was a member of the Conservative Party. Gilmour grew up on the Somerset–Devon border and attended local schools including St John's Primary School in Wellington. She was then privately educated at

Cheltenham Ladies' College Cheltenham Ladies' College (CLC) is a private schools in the United Kingdom, private boarding and day school for girls aged 11 or older in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The school was established in 1853 to provide "a sound academic edu ...

, where she joined the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

aged 17. She studied law at

SOAS University of London The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury area ...

and English literature at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

Career

After a stint as an English Lecturer at Somerset College of Arts & Technology in Taunton, Gilmour began her career in corporate communications and public affairs. Having worked for national and international NGOs, she was appointed Director of Communications at the National Farmers' Union; becoming the first woman to join their board in 100 years. She went on to be Head of Strategy at the

Environment Agency The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enha ...

. Most recently she was employed as Director of Communications for Pangea 21, a group of health tech start-ups. Gilmour contested Nottingham North as the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate in the 1997 general election, coming third. She contested

Totnes Totnes ( or ) is a market town and civil parish at the head of the estuary of the River Dart in Devon, England, within the South Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It is about west of Paignton, about west-southwest of Torquay and ab ...

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, coming second behind Conservative incumbent Anthony Steen. The

UKIP The UK Independence Party (UKIP, ) is a Eurosceptic, right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. The party reached its greatest level of success in the mid-2010s, when it gained two Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), member ...

candidate in this election was

Craig Mackinlay Craig Mackinlay, Baron Mackinlay of Richborough, (born 7 October 1966), is a Conservative Party politician and businessman. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for South Thanet from 2015 to 2024. Initially a member of the UK Independence P ...

, later the Conservative MP for South Thanet. She fought both of these elections under her previous name of Rachel Oliver. In

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, she stood in

Taunton Deane Taunton Deane was a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with borough status in Somerset, England. Its council was based in Taunton. The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, by a merger of ...

to succeed fellow Liberal Democrat Jeremy Browne, but was defeated by Conservative candidate Rebecca Pow in an election which saw the Liberal Democrats reduced to just eight parliamentary seats nationally. She was previously a member of Taunton Deane Borough Council and currently represents the Clare & Shuttern ward on Mid Devon District Council. At the 2024 general election, Gilmour stood in the newly created seat of Tiverton and Minehead. Her Conservative opponent, Ian Liddell-Grainger, was the incumbent MP for the constituency of Bridgwater and West Somerset, which was abolished at this election and partially replaced by Tiverton and Minehead. On 4 July, Gilmour won the seat with a majority of 3,507 votes (7.4% of the vote) over Liddell-Grainger. This was in keeping with the national election results, which were the best for the Liberal Democrats and the worst for the Conservatives in modern history.

Controversy

On 14th January 2025, she referred herself to the

Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards is an officer of the British House of Commons. The work of the officer is overseen by the Commons Select Committee on Standards. The current commissioner is Daniel Greenberg. Duties The commissio ...

after it had emerged that she had appointed her son as one of her staff team. In January 2025, she claimed that

Butlin's Butlin's is a chain of large Seaside resort, seaside resorts in the United Kingdom, incorporated as Butlins Skyline Limited. Butlin's was founded by Billy Butlin to provide affordable holidays for ordinary British families. Between 1936 and 1 ...

was 'partly' to blame for issues around social mobility in her constituency. On 18 March 2025, the BBC reported that during Gilmour's visit to Hinkley Point Nuclear Power Station in her constituency, she was verbally abusive to a security guard after he had pointed out that her driving licence was expired. Witnesses stated that she described a film presented by site workers with further abusive language. She has since issued conflicting statements denying the allegations.

Personal life

She lives in Bampton with her husband, Patrick, a corporate lawyer. They have a son and a daughter. She also has two sons from her first marriage. She and Patrick share their home and garden with two dogs, three cats, and twenty-two rescue chickens.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gilmour, Rachel 1960s births Living people Alumni of King's College London Alumni of SOAS University of London Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Liberal Democrats (UK) councillors Liberal Democrats (UK) MPs for English constituencies 21st-century English women politicians UK MPs 2024–present Women councillors in England People educated at Cheltenham Ladies' College Councillors in Somerset Politicians from Devon Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Somerset Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Devon National Farmers' Union of England and Wales officials Year of birth missing (living people)