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Sally-Ann Hart

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Sally-Ann Hart
Official portrait, 2019
Member of parliament
for Hastings and Rye
In office
12 December 2019 – 30 May 2024
Preceded byAmber Rudd
Succeeded byHelena Dollimore
Personal details
Born (1968-03-06) 6 March 1968 (age 56)
Tynemouth, Northumberland, England
Political partyConservative
Websitewww.sallyannhart.org.uk

Sally-Ann Hart (born 6 March 1968)[1] is a British politician who was the member of parliament (MP) for Hastings and Rye from 2019 to 2024. A member of the Conservative Party, she succeeded Amber Rudd, the former home secretary.[2]

Early life and career

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Hart grew up in Hexham, Northumberland.[3] She studied geography at King's College London before qualifying as a lawyer and working for a law firm in the City of London. She went on to become a solicitor and then a magistrate in Hastings with a focus on family law, and she has cited this work as one of her motivations for becoming a member of parliament.[4][5] Before her election as an MP, Hart was a magistrate in Hastings.[4][6]

Political career

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Councillor

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The first elected position Hart was elected to was as a councillor representing the Eastern Rother ward on Rother District Council in East Sussex. First elected in 2015, she was re-elected in 2019.[6] On the council, Hart held the position of cabinet member for tourism and culture.[7]

Member of parliament

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Hart stood as the Conservative Party candidate for North West Durham at the 2017 general election. Receiving 16,516 votes (34.5%), she failed to be elected by 8,792 votes, finishing in second place behind the Labour Party candidate, Laura Pidcock.[8]

At the 2019 general election, Hart was selected to stand as the Conservative candidate for Hastings and Rye. At a constituency hustings on 5 December 2019, she was asked about an article she had shared on Facebook which suggested that people with learning difficulties should not be guaranteed a minimum wage. She defended the view, and said "it's about the happiness to work"[9] and that "some people with learning difficulties, they don't understand about money".[10] In a statement made to The Guardian, Hart said, "I was trying to emphasise that more needs to be done to help those with learning disabilities into the workplace and having properly paid work. My comments have been taken out of context, but I do apologise if any offence or alarm has been caused."[9]

Hart was elected as MP for Hastings and Rye 12 December 2019 with 26,896 votes (49.6%) and a majority of 4,043 votes, an increase from the previous majority of 346.[11]

In December 2019, an inquiry was initiated by the Conservative Party into Hart after it was discovered that, in 2017, she had shared a video which contained the conspiracy theory that the Jewish billionaire George Soros controls the European Union. She liked a comment underneath the video which said "Ein Reich" ("One Empire"), a Nazi slogan.[12] A second investigation was opened days later over her sharing a blog post, in January 2017, by the anti-Islam activist Cheri Berens. Hart described the blog, in which Berens condemned the 2017 Women's March against US President Donald Trump as being used to promote a "Muslim agenda", as an "affecting read".[13]

On 10 August 2020, in an interview with Krishnan Guru-Murthy for Channel 4 News, Hart said that the investigation into the allegations over her social media posts had concluded and that she was "not found to be anti-Semitic, Islamophobic or anything else", although she had attended social media training.[14]

On 19 January 2021, Hart was one of 33 Conservative MPs to rebel against the government in support of the Genocide Amendment to the Trade Bill,[clarification needed] alongside other Conservative parliamentarians including David Davis and Iain Duncan Smith.[15]

Following an interim report on the connections between colonialism and properties now in the care of the National Trust, including links with historic slavery, Hart was among the signatories of a letter to The Daily Telegraph in November 2020 from the "Common Sense Group" of Conservative parliamentarians. The letter accused the National Trust of being "coloured by cultural Marxist dogma, colloquially known as the 'woke[broken anchor] agenda'".[16]

In February 2023, the Hastings & Rye Conservative Association deselected Hart as its candidate for the next general election,[17] but she was reselected in a members' ballot in March 2023.[18]

Hart introduced a private members' bill to the House of Commons (Child Support Collection (Domestic Abuse) Act 2023) in 2023. It had its first reading on 15 June 2023. The bill was jointly sponsored by Lord Farmer and received royal assent on 29 June 2023.[19]

Parliamentary committees and APPGs

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From May 2020, Hart was a member of the Scottish Affairs Select Committee and the Speaker's Advisory Committee on Works of Art. She was also a member of the Education (Careers Guidance in Schools) Bill Committee in September 2021.

Hart was the chair, vice-chair or an officer of several all-party parliamentary groups including on special educational needs and disability (SEND), school exclusions and alternative provision, almshouses and wetlands.[20] She was also the secretary of the APPG on hospitality and tourism.[21]

Personal life

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Hart was born in Northumberland. She is married with three grown-up children.[4]

Electoral history

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UK general elections
Date of election Constituency Party Votes % of votes Result
2017 general election North West Durham Conservative 16,516 34.5 Not elected
2019 general election Hastings and Rye Conservative 26,896 49.6 Elected
2024 general election Hastings and Rye Conservative 10,481 22.8 Not elected

References

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  1. ^ Brunskill, Ian (19 March 2020). The Times guide to the House of Commons 2019. HarperCollins Publishers Limited. p. 223. ISBN 978-0-00-839258-1. OCLC 1129682574.
  2. ^ "Conservatives win Hastings and Rye General Election as Sally-Ann Hart increases majority". Hastings and St. Leonards Observer. 13 December 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  3. ^ "Biography of Sally-Ann". The HerStory of Rye. Retrieved 19 May 2024.
  4. ^ a b c "About Sally-Ann Hart". Sally-Ann Hart.
  5. ^ "Sally-Ann Hart - Parliamentary Candidate". Hastings and Rye Conservatives. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  6. ^ a b "Councillor Mrs Sally-Ann Hart". Rother District Council. 18 November 2020. Retrieved 18 November 2020.[dead link]
  7. ^ "Sally-Ann Hart: It's not just commuters being hit by the train strike". Conservative Home. 17 January 2017.
  8. ^ "Durham North West parliamentary constituency". BBC News. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  9. ^ a b Busby, Mattha (6 December 2019). "Tory candidate defends low pay for people with learning disabilities". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  10. ^ "Tory candidate says disabled people should be paid less as they 'don't understand money'". The Independent. 6 December 2019.
  11. ^ "Hastings & Rye parliamentary constituency". BBC News. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
    - "Amber Rudd holds Hastings and Rye with a greatly reduced majority". The Independent. 9 June 2017.
  12. ^ "Tory Party accused of 'inaction' over antisemitism investigations into MPs". The Jewish Chronicle. 13 July 2020.
    - "Two Tories win seats despite investigations over antisemitism". Jewish News. 13 December 2019.
    - Proctor, Kate (7 December 2019). "Tories investigate three candidates over alleged antisemitism". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  13. ^ "Hastings and Rye candidate Sally-Ann Hart under investigation by Conservative party". The Hastings Observer. 11 December 2019.
    - Smyth, Chris (16 December 2019). "Two new Tories facing prejudice inquiries". The Times. Retrieved 17 December 2019.
  14. ^ Guru-Murthy, Krishnan (10 August 2020). "Tory MP: Migrant crossings are 'unacceptable and putting lives at risk'". Channel 4 News.
  15. ^ "The 33 Conservative MPS who rebelled over the Genocide Amendment". Conservative Home. 19 January 2021.
    - "Rebels aim to insert genocide amendment in UK-China trade bill". The Guardian. 18 January 2021.
  16. ^ Hart, Sally-Ann (9 November 2020). "Britain's heroes". Letter to The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  17. ^ Gladstone, Richard (7 February 2023). "Hastings and Rye MP Sally-Ann Hart has confirmed her deselection to stand as an MP at the next General Election". Sussex World. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  18. ^ "Sally-Ann Hart wins local members vote". Hastings & Rye Conservatives. 23 March 2023.
  19. ^ "Child Support Collection (Domestic Abuse) Act 2023". UK Parliament. 2023.
  20. ^ "All Party Parliamentary Group on SEND". National Association of Headteachers.
    - "APPG: School Exclusions and Alternative Provision". The Centre for Social Justice. 14 October 2020. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
    - "APPG on Almshouses". Communities that Work. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
    - "Wetlands APPG". Parallel Parliament. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  21. ^ "House of Commons - Register Of All-Party Parliamentary Groups as at 1 July 2020: Hospitality and Tourism". UK Parliament. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
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