Sarah Southern (born 1980,

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

) is a British businesswoman and former Conservative Party official and aide to

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

David Cameron David William Donald Cameron, Baron Cameron of Chipping Norton (born 9 October 1966) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016. Until 2015, he led the first coalition government in the UK s ...

. In 2012, she became embroiled in a so-called "Cash for Access" controversy after undercover journalists from ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'' filmed the Conservative co-treasurer Peter Cruddas apparently offering access to the Prime Minister and his Chancellor George Osborne for £250,000. Southern is alleged to have introduced the journalists to Cruddas, while boasting to friends she had made "a tidy sum" by introducing people to the Prime Minister.

Career

Southern briefly attended South Africa's

Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch University (SU) (, ) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant university in Sub-Sahara ...

before reading Politics and International Relations at the UK's

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public research university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as the University Extension College, Reading, an extension college of Christchurch College, Oxford, and became University College, ...

, completing the degree in 2001. Following her graduation she took a job at the

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for environmental quality, environmenta ...

where she was employed as a press officer, but left the post seven months later to work for the Conservative Party. Initially she was the national organiser of the party's youth movement, Conservative Future, but went on from this to hold a number of positions over the next several years. Later roles within the Conservative Party include project manager for oversees voluntary project, Secretary-General of the International Young Democrat Union and senior event manager. She was appointed to the latter post in December 2009 and during the year she held the position claims to have become a close and trusted aide to Party leader David Cameron. During the 2010 general election campaign she was a member of the party's media strategy team. In November 2010, following the announcement of a forthcoming

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

on the issue of whether or not to introduce the alternative voting system in the United Kingdom, Southern was appointed operations director of No to AV, the campaign to oppose the idea. Following the conclusion of that in May 2011, Southern established her own business, Sarah Southern Consulting, in June 2011. On 24 March 2012, ''

'' released a video undercover reporters from the newspaper had secretly filmed Conservative Party co-treasurer Peter Cruddas allegedly offering them access to Prime Minister David Cameron and Chancellor George Osborne for £250,000. Southern is alleged to have introduced the reporters to Cruddas, and in the video described herself as a political aide. Cruddas resigned shortly after the video's release.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Southern, Sarah 1980 births Living people Businesspeople from Newcastle upon Tyne Stellenbosch University alumni Alumni of the University of Reading English businesspeople Conservative Party (UK) officials