Helen Grant (politician)
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Helen Grant MP |
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| Minister for Sport and Tourism | |
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In office 7 October 2013 – 12 May 2015 |
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| Prime Minister | David Cameron |
| Preceded by | Hugh Robertson |
| Succeeded by | Tracey Crouch |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice | |
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In office 4 September 2012 – 7 October 2013 |
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| Prime Minister | David Cameron |
| Preceded by | Jonathan Djanogly |
| Succeeded by | Shailesh Vara |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Equalities | |
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In office 4 September 2012 – 8 May 2015 |
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| Prime Minister | David Cameron |
| Preceded by | Lynne Featherstone |
| Succeeded by | Caroline Dinenage (as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Women, Equalities and Family Justice) |
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Member of Parliament for Maidstone and The Weald |
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Assumed office 6 May 2010 |
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| Preceded by | Ann Widdecombe |
| Majority | 5,889 (12.0%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
28 September 1961 Willesden, Middlesex, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party |
Conservative (2006–present) Labour (2004–2006) |
| Spouse(s) | Simon Grant |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | University of Hull |
| Occupation | Solicitor |
| Website | helengrant.org |
Helen Grant (born 28 September 1961) is a British Conservative Party politician. She has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Maidstone and The Weald since 2010, when she replaced Ann Widdecombe.
Grant was the first black woman to be elected as a Conservative MP, having also been the first black woman to be selected as a candidate to stand for a Conservative-held parliamentary seat. She first served in government as jointly Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Women and Equalities (from 2012 to 2015) and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (2012 to 2013). She also became Minister for Sport and Tourism in 2013, a post she held until after the 2015 general election.
Grant was born in Willesden, north London to an English mother and a Nigerian orthopedic surgeon, but grew up in a single parent family after her parents separated and her father emigrated to the United States. She was raised in Carlisle where she lived on the city's Raffles council estate with her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She said in a 2008 interview with the Daily Mail that she was the victim of racist bullying at school. In a 2010 interview she spoke fondly of her childhood, and the house in which she grew up. "I had happy memories in that house and it gave me a good start in life, [...] There was deprivation around, there was certainly need, there was some domestic violence and there were some fights. But my memory of the square where we lived is that there was pride in people."
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