Victoria Atkins MP - Who is the health secretary?

Victoria Atkins is the health secretary, having been appointed to the role in Rishi Sunak’s November 2023 cabinet reshuffle. She replaced Steve Barclay in the post, who was moved to the environment department to replace outgoing secretary of state Therese Coffey.

Victoria Atkins was first elected as the Conservative MP for Louth & Horncastle in 2015, being reelected in 2019 with a majority of 28,868.

The constituency of Louth and Horncastle is found in the north eastern corner of Lincolnshire. A large rural seat, it contains a substantial stretch of the Lincolnshire coast including the seaside resorts of Mablethorpe and Sutton on Sea, before moving inland to the Wolds where the towns of Louth and Horncastle can be found. Farming plays an important role in the local economy. Containing a relatively high proportion of retired voters, a high 69% of the electorate backed Brexit in the 2016 EU referendum.

Victoria Atkins was appointed Financial Secretary to the Treasury by Rishi Sunak in October 2022, holding the role until her cabinet promotion in November 2023.

She has also served as a junior Minister at the Home Office between 2017 and 2022. She resigned in July 2022 claiming she no longer had confidence in the leadership of Boris Johnson.

She served as the Under Secretary of State for Women between 2018 and 2020, and as Under Secretary of State for Safeguarding after 2020.

Before becoming an MP, Atkins worked as a barrister in the field of fraud.

Born in 1976, Victoria Atkins is the daughter of Sir Robert Atkins, the former Conservative MP and close personal friend of former Prime Minister, John Major.

Her husband Paul, is the Managing Director of British Sugar. The couple have one son.

Atkins was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of three, and was active on the issue in Parliament before becoming a Minister.

Unlike most of her constituents, Atkins was opposed to Brexit in the 2016 EU referendum.