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Rebecca Pow

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Rebecca Pow
Official portrait, 2020
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Nature[a]
In office
14 November 2023 – 4 July 2024
Prime MinisterRishi Sunak
Preceded byTrudy Harrison
Succeeded byMary Creagh
In office
10 September 2019 – 7 July 2022
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byThérèse Coffey
Succeeded bySteve Double
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environmental Quality and Resilience
In office
28 October 2022 – 14 November 2023
Prime MinisterRishi Sunak
Preceded bySteve Double
Succeeded byRobbie Moore
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Arts, Heritage and Tourism
In office
23 May 2019 – 10 September 2019
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Boris Johnson
Preceded byMichael Ellis
Succeeded byHelen Whately
Member of Parliament
for Taunton Deane
In office
7 May 2015 – 30 May 2024
Preceded byJeremy Browne
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Personal details
Born (1960-10-10) 10 October 1960 (age 64)
Somerset, England
Political partyConservative
Spouse
Charles Clark
​
​
(m. 1992; died 2019)​
Children3
WebsiteOfficial website

Rebecca Pow[1] (born 10 October 1960), is a British Conservative politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Taunton Deane from 2015 to 2024. She also served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Nature from November 2023 to 4 July 2024.[2][3] Pow lost her bid to be elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the revised Taunton and Wellington seat to Gideon Amos of the Liberal Democrats in the 2024 United Kingdom General Election. Pow previously served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2019 to 2022.

Early life and career

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Rebecca Pow was born on 10 October 1960 in Inglesbatch, the daughter of Michael Pow, a farmer. She was brought up on the family farm, working there as a teenager and was an active member of both Bath and Taunton Young Farmers Clubs.[4]

After attending Priston village school, Pow continued her education at La Sainte Union Convent in Bath.[5] Pow studied Rural Environment Studies at Wye College, University of London, graduating in 1982.[6][5]

She had a 20-year career in radio and television, specialising in the environment, farming and gardening, including working for HTV in Bristol and BBC Radio 4.[5] Around 2005 she set up her own public relations consultancy, Pow Productions, as well as continuing to write on gardening and country living.[5]

Pow was previously a parish councillor for Stoke St Mary and trustee of the Somerset Wildlife Trust. After working for the National Farmers Union, she became a journalist specialising in environment, farming and gardening and has reported for BBC, ITV and Channel 4.[7][8][9][10] She stepped down as vice-president of Somerset Wildlife Trust in June 2018, following an online petition criticising her support for badger culling.[11]

Parliamentary career

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Pow speaking at the 2014 Conservative Party Conference

At the 2015 general election, Pow was elected to Parliament as MP for Taunton Deane with 48.1% of the vote and a majority of 15,491.[12][13]

She declared that she would vote Remain in the 2016 Brexit referendum.[14]

During the 2015–17 Parliament, Pow sat on the Environmental Audit Select Committee and Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee.[15]

Pow was re-elected as MP for Taunton Deane at the snap 2017 general election with an increased vote share of 52.9% and an increased majority of 15,887.[16][17]

Pow received local and national criticism for stating during the 2017 Budget debate that people in Taunton have "thousands of extra pounds in their pockets".[18][19]

In April 2018, Pow was awarded a Green Heart Hero Award by The Climate Coalition, a coalition of over 100 charities and community groups across the UK, for being the "Greenest New MP" for her environmental work.[20] A constituent recognising the award nevertheless criticised Pow's record on low carbon measures.[21]

Pow was appointed in September 2018 as a Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Ministerial team, before serving as PPS to Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Esther McVey until her Ministerial appointment in May 2019.[22][23]

In May 2019, it was alleged that Pow was one of a number of MPs who had legally claimed parliamentary expenses for an 'accommodation uplift' contrary to the measure's original purpose.[24]

On 10 September 2019, during the first Johnson ministry, Pow was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Her ministerial portfolio included the domestic natural environment, climate change adaptation, land use and floods and water.[25] She resigned from this position on 7 July 2022, as part of the July 2022 United Kingdom government crisis.[26]

At the 2019 general election, Pow was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 53.6% and a decreased majority of 11,700.[27][28]

Prior to the 2024 general election, Pow's constituency of Taunton Deane was abolished, and replaced with Taunton and Wellington. In March 2024, Pow was selected as the Conservative candidate for Taunton and Wellington at the 2024 general election.[29]

Personal life

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Pow met her late husband, Charles Clark, at a Young Farmers Club event. They were married for 27 years, until his death in 2019, and had three children together.[4]

Notes

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  1. ^ Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Nature Recovery and the Domestic Environment from 10 September 2019 to 7 July 2022

References

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  1. ^ "No. 61230". The London Gazette. 18 May 2015. p. 9125.
  2. ^ "Ministerial Appointments commencing: 25 October 2022". GOV.UK. Archived from the original on 29 October 2022. Retrieved 29 October 2022.
  3. ^ "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Environmental Quality and Resilience)". GOV.UK. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
  4. ^ a b Taylor, Michael (21 June 2019). "Taunton MP Rebecca Pow's tribute to 'greatest man I know' after death of husband Charles Clark". SomersetLive. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  5. ^ a b c d Carr, Tim, ed. (18 May 2015). The Politicos Guide to the New House of Commons 2015: Profiles of the New MPs and Analysis of the 2015 General Election Results. Biteback Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84954-924-0.
  6. ^ Proctor, Kate (30 April 2021). "Green Ker-Pow: The Rebecca Pow interview". Politics Home. Archived from the original on 17 May 2021. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  7. ^ "Election Taunton Deane result: Conservative Rebecca Pow". Western Daily Press. 8 May 2015. Archived from the original on 10 May 2015. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  8. ^ "Rebecca Pow". Conservative Party. Retrieved 9 May 2015.[dead link]
  9. ^ Wright, Oliver (6 May 2014). "Why it's harder than it looks to evict a Liberal Democrat MP". Independent. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  10. ^ "Rebecca Pow". Garden Media Guild. Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  11. ^ Cole, Amy (22 June 2018). "Taunton's MP and Michael Eavis resign as vice presidents of wildlife trust amid badger cull row". Somerset County Gazette. Archived from the original on 27 April 2023.
  12. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  13. ^ "Taunton Deane Parliamentary constituency". BBC News. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  14. ^ "European Referendum". Rebecca Pow. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  15. ^ "Rebecca Pow MP". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 9 November 2015. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  16. ^ "General Election 2017: these are the Taunton Deane candidates". somersetlive.co.uk. 12 May 2017. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  17. ^ "Taunton Deane". BBC News. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
  18. ^ Linham, Laura (24 November 2017). "Here's why everyone is mad at Taunton Deane MP Rebecca Pow for comments she made about the budget". Somerset Live. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
  19. ^ Williams, Zoe (27 November 2017). "Such is the poverty of Tory ideas that they deny poverty even exists". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  20. ^ "Green Heart Hero Awards". The Climate Coalition. Archived from the original on 9 April 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
  21. ^ "LETTER: Is MP Rebecca Pow really that green?". Somerset County Gazette. 24 May 2018.
  22. ^ "List of Parliamentary Private Secretaries (PPS): June 2019" (PDF). Cabinet Office. Gov UK. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  23. ^ "List of Parliamentary Private Secretaries (PPS): September 2018" (PDF). Cabinet Office. Gov UK. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  24. ^ Mikhailova, Anna; Young, Charles (10 May 2019). "MPs claim expenses for adult children: allowances topped up under rule originally intended to help young families". The Telegraph – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  25. ^ "Rebecca Pow MP". gov.uk.
  26. ^ Evans, James (7 July 2022). "Rebecca Pow resigns as environment minister". SomersetLive. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
  27. ^ "Statement of Persons Nominated" (PDF).
  28. ^ BBC Election Results 2019 GE https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/constituencies/E14000988
  29. ^ "Conservatives choose MP Rebecca Pow to fight next General Election election". West Somerset Free Press. Retrieved 4 March 2024.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rebecca Pow.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament
for Taunton Deane
2015–2024 		Succeeded by
Constituency abolished
Political offices
Preceded by Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Arts, Heritage and Tourism
2019 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Rural Affairs and Biosecurity
2019–2022 		Succeeded by
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