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Dan Poulter
Poulter in 2013
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health Services
In office
4 September 2012 – 12 May 2015
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded bySimon Burns
Succeeded byBen Gummer
Member of Parliament
for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich
In office
6 May 2010 – 30 May 2024
Preceded byMichael Lord
Succeeded byPatrick Spencer
Personal details
Born
Daniel Leonard James Poulter

(1978-10-30) 30 October 1978 (age 46)[1]
Beckenham, London, England[2]
Political partyLabour (since 2024)
Other political
affiliations		Conservative (until 2024)
EducationUniversity of Bristol (LLB)
King's College London (MBBS)
Websitewww.drdanielpoulter.com

Daniel Leonard James Poulter[2][3] (born 30 October 1978) is a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich from 2010 to 2024. Poulter is a psychiatrist, and served as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department of Health between September 2012 and May 2015. Initially elected as a Conservative, he defected to Labour in April 2024.

Early life and career

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Daniel Poulter was born on 30 October 1978 in Beckenham, London.[2] He was privately educated at Vinehall School and Battle Abbey School before attending the University of Bristol, graduating with a law degree, before qualifying as a medical doctor at King's College London.[2]

Poulter was elected as a Conservative member of Hastings Borough Council in 2006, serving until 2007.[2] He was the deputy leader of Reigate and Banstead Council between 2008 and 2010. Poulter worked as a junior doctor training in obstetrics and gynaecological medicine and has published articles in the area of women's health.[2] At the time of meeting David Cameron in 2006, who inspired him to enter politics, he was working in mental health.[4]

During the 2011 parliamentary summer recesses, Poulter worked at the James Paget University Hospital in Gorleston in Norfolk, in the Accident and Emergency department.[5] In 2018, Poulter became a Member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and continues to work as an NHS mental health doctor.[6] In June 2021, Poulter became a non-executive director for Kanabo Group Plc, a medical cannabis company based in London.[7]

Parliamentary career

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Poulter was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich at the 2010 UK general election with 50.8% of the vote and a majority of 13,786.[8]

In 2011, he was credited with a "lifesaving" intervention in Parliament when he persuaded fellow Conservative MP Guy Opperman to seek urgent medical treatment.[9] Opperman subsequently had a brain tumour removed. Poulter announced he would resign from the British Medical Association in 2012, following an announced doctors' strike. He said he did not believe "striking as a doctor could ever be justified".[10] In September 2012, Poulter became the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department of Health.[1][11] His primary responsibilities as a Health Minister were for workforce issues, NHS estates and IT systems.[12]

At the 2015 UK general election, Poulter was re-elected as MP for Central Suffolk and North Ipswich, with an increased vote share of 56.1% and an increased majority of 20,144.[13][14]

After the election, Poulter returned to the back benches, and restarted work part-time as a doctor.[15] In October 2015, Poulter expressed his support for protests by doctors and others against the Conservative government's proposed changes to the junior doctors' contract.[16][17]

In April 2016, Poulter widened his criticism of the Conservative government, in a Guardian article.[18] Poulter was opposed to Brexit prior to the 2016 EU membership referendum.[19] He later voted along party lines concerning leaving the EU.[20]

At the snap 2017 UK general election, Poulter was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 60.1% and a decreased majority of 17,185.[21][22] He was again re-elected at the 2019 UK general election, with an increased vote share of 62.7%, and an increased majority of 23,391.[23][24]

In a March 2022 article penned by Poulter for the East Anglian Daily Times, he said "studies of healthy omnivores eating a diet rich in plant foods have failed to find consistent evidence that red meat is unhealthy".[25] In December 2022, he wrote an article in The Guardian advocating for increasing nurses' pay during the 2022 National Health Service strikes.[26]

On 27 April 2024, Poulter announced his defection to the Labour Party, the second Conservative MP to defect to Labour during that parliament after Christian Wakeford crossed the floor in 2022.[27] Poulter also declared that he would not be seeking re-election at the 2024 general election.[28]

Sunday Times libel case

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In November 2017, The Sunday Times published two articles based on claims made to the newspaper by the MP Andrew Bridgen that Poulter had sexually assaulted three female MPs eight years previously. The Conservative Party Panel investigated the matter and exonerated Poulter, confirming that no woman had ever made a complaint about him. It dismissed the claims as having "no reliable evidence" to support them.[29] In February 2019, the Sunday Times apologised in open court to Poulter, acknowledging that the allegations were false, defamatory, and should not have been published. The articles were removed from the newspaper's website and Times Newspapers Limited agreed that it would not republish the same or similar allegations about Poulter in the future. The Sunday Times paid substantial damages to him, as well as his legal costs.[30][31]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Daniel Poulter MP". BBC Democracy Live. Archived from the original on 20 March 2011. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "POULTER, Dr Daniel Leonard James". Who's Who. A & C Black and Oxford University Press. November 2012. Retrieved 27 December 2012. Login or subscription required.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  3. ^ "No. 59418". The London Gazette. 13 May 2010. p. 8745.
  4. ^ Quinn, Ben (14 April 2016). "PM has broken pledges to help disadvantaged, says Tory ex-minister". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
  5. ^ "East MPs opt for fresh challenges in their summer break". BBC News. 8 August 2011. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
  6. ^ "Daniel Poulter MP, Central Suffolk and North Ipswich". TheyWorkForYou.
  7. ^ "Kanabo Appoints Dr Daniel Poulter MP as Non-Executive Director". businesswire.com. 29 June 2021.
  8. ^ "2010 General Election result". BBC News. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
  9. ^ McGurran, Deborah (17 May 2011). "Dr Dan Poulter MP: Doctor in the House". BBC News. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  10. ^ Poulter, Daniel (31 May 2012). "Striking as a doctor can never be justified – I am resigning from the BMA". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  11. ^ Daniel Poulter Archived 2 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine, parliament.uk Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  12. ^ "Health ministers' portfolios revealed by DH". GPonline.com. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
  13. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  14. ^ "2015 Election Results". BBC News.
  15. ^ "Poulter out and Gummer in as Tories reshuffle health ministers". nursingtimes.net. 13 May 2015. Retrieved 5 October 2012.
  16. ^ "Message from Dan Poulter - YouTube". YouTube. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  17. ^ Elgot, Jessica (17 October 2015). "Jeremy Hunt: I would protest if I were a 'misled' junior doctor". The Guardian.
  18. ^ Quinn, Ben (14 April 2016). "PM has broken pledges to help disadvantaged, says Tory ex-minister". The Guardian.
  19. ^ Goodenough, Tom (16 February 2016). "Which Tory MPs back Brexit, who doesn't and who is still on the fence?". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  20. ^ "MPS split on party lines over Johnson's bid to cut Parliamentary sittings". East Anglian Daily Times. 28 August 2019.
  21. ^ "Election of the Member of Parliament for the Central Suffolk & North Ipswich constituency" (PDF). 11 May 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 June 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  22. ^ "Suffolk Central & Ipswich North parliamentary constituency - Election 2017" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  23. ^ "Election of a Member of Parliament for Central Suffolk & North Ipswich" (PDF). 14 November 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 November 2019. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  24. ^ "Suffolk Central & Ipswich North parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". UK results. BBC. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
  25. ^ Poulter, Dan (2 March 2022). "OPINION: Why those who want to ban meat and dairy should think again". East Anglian Daily Times. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
  26. ^ "I'm a former Tory minister and a doctor – and I say give striking nurses a better pay deal | Dan Poulter". the Guardian. 16 December 2022. Retrieved 17 December 2022.
  27. ^ "Conservative MP and ex-minister Daniel Poulter defects to Labour". 27 April 2024 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  28. ^ Helm, Toby (27 April 2024). "Top Tory MP defects to Labour in fury at NHS crisis". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
  29. ^ "MP Dan Poulter wins damages over Sunday Times sex assault claims". BBC News. 25 February 2019.
  30. ^ "MP Dan Poulter wins damages over Sunday Times assault claims". The Guardian. 25 February 2019.
  31. ^ "Suffolk MP wins damages and apology from Sunday Times over unfounded allegations". East Anglian Daily Times. 25 February 2019.
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Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Central Suffolk and North Ipswich
2010–2024 		Succeeded by
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