Patricia Hewitt
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The Right Honourable Patricia Hewitt |
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| Secretary of State for Health | |
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In office 5 May 2005 – 27 June 2007 |
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| Prime Minister | Tony Blair |
| Preceded by | John Reid |
| Succeeded by | Alan Johnson |
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Secretary of State for Trade and Industry President of the Board of Trade |
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In office 8 June 2001 – 5 May 2005 |
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| Prime Minister | Tony Blair |
| Preceded by | Stephen Byers |
| Succeeded by | Alan Johnson |
| Minister for Women | |
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In office 8 June 2001 – 5 May 2005 |
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| Prime Minister | Tony Blair |
| Preceded by | The Baroness Jay of Paddington |
| Succeeded by | Tessa Jowell |
| Economic Secretary to the Treasury | |
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In office 27 July 1998 – 17 May 1999 |
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| Prime Minister | Tony Blair |
| Preceded by | Helen Liddell |
| Succeeded by | Melanie Johnson |
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Member of Parliament for Leicester West |
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In office 2 May 1997 – 12 April 2010 |
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| Preceded by | Greville Janner |
| Succeeded by | Liz Kendall |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
2 December 1948 Canberra, Australia |
| Political party | Labour |
| Spouse(s) | David Julian Gibson-Watt (1970–1978) Bill Birtles (1981–present) |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater |
Australian National University Nuffield College, Oxford Newnham College, Cambridge |
Patricia Hope Hewitt (born 2 December 1948) is an Australian-born British Labour politician, who served in the Cabinet until 2007, most recently as Secretary of State for Health.
Hewitt's political career began in the 1970s as a high-profile left-winger and supporter of Tony Benn, even being classified by MI5 as an alleged communist sympathiser. After nine years as General Secretary of the National Council for Civil Liberties, she became press secretary to Neil Kinnock, whom she assisted in the modernisation of the Labour Party. In 1997, she became the first female MP for Leicester West, a safe Labour seat, which she represented for thirteen years.
In 2001, she joined Blair's cabinet as President of the Board of Trade and Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, before becoming Health Secretary in 2005. During her tenure, the ban on smoking in public places became legally enforceable. Hewitt has sparked many controversies, notably her selection of a female job-applicant over a stronger male candidate, and her theory that fathers may not be a useful influence in the upbringing of children.
In March 2010, Hewitt was suspended from the Parliamentary Labour Party over the question of political lobbying irregularities, alleged by the Channel 4 Dispatches programme.
Born in Canberra, Australia, she is the daughter of Sir Lenox Hewitt (b. 1917), a leading civil servant (Secretary of the Australian Prime Minister's Department, and later chairman of Qantas), and Lady (Hope) Hewitt (1915–2011). She was educated at Canberra Girls' Grammar School (formerly Canberra Church of England Girls' Grammar School). She studied for her undergraduate degree in English Literature at Cambridge where she received a BA/MA. She later became a visiting fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford and was awarded an honorary MA. She speaks French and is a keen gardener.
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