Gillian Keegan

Gillian Keegan (née Gibson; born 13 March 1968) is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Education since 2022.

She previously served as Minister of State for Care and Mental Health from 2021 to 2022, and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Africa from September to October 2022.

She grew up in Knowsley, Merseyside (Knowsley was in Lancashire up until 1974), and went to St Augustine of Canterbury Secondary School in Huyton.

She was the only pupil to get 10 O-Levels at her school.

Keegan has said that it was her experiences of trade unionism and the Militant-controlled Liverpool City Council while working in Kirkby in her youth during the 1980s that convinced her to support the Conservative Party.

She has a bachelor's degree in Business Studies from Liverpool John Moores University and graduated as a Master of Science in Strategy and Leadership (Sloan Fellowship) from the London Business School in 2011.

Keegan started her career aged 16 as an apprentice at the then AC Delco motor vehicle components factory in Kirkby and continued to have a business career working at Delco Electronics (part of the General Motors Group), NatWest Bank (senior buyer), MasterCard International (commercial director), Amadeus IT Group (group vice president of Multinational Customer Group based in Madrid) and Travelport (chief marketing officer) for over 27 years.

Keegan was a councillor on Chichester District Council from 2014 to 2018.

However, she did not become active in politics until 2014.

Keegan was elected as a councillor for the Rogate ward on Chichester District Council in 2014.

In 2015, she was advised to become an MP by Justine Greening, whom she met by chance at a London Business School (LBS) reunion; according to her, this demonstrated the power of the LBS network.

Keegan's father-in-law was the late Conservative MP Denis Keegan.

She unsuccessfully contested the constituency of St Helens South and Whiston at the 2015 general election.

In 2015 she became director of Women2Win—an organisation founded by Theresa May and Anne Jenkin, Baroness Jenkin of Kennington in 2005 to help elect more women Conservative MPs to Parliament.

She was appointed cabinet member for commercial services in May 2015.

Keegan has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Chichester since 2017.

She is a member of the Conservative Party.

Keegan grew up in Huyton, Merseyside.

She studied at Liverpool John Moores University and London Business School.

She held senior positions in various business sectors, including as chief marketing officer for Travelport.

She was elected to Parliament for Chichester at the 2017 general election.

She had left that position by September 2017.

Keegan was selected as the Conservative Parliamentary candidate for Chichester in May 2017, and was elected to the House of Commons at the 2017 general election.

She is the constituency's first female MP.

In September 2017, she was appointed to the Public Accounts Committee.

She stood down as a councillor in February 2018 and in the election that followed in April 2018, the seat was taken by the Liberal Democrat candidate Kate O'Kelly.

Keegan was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to HM Treasury in September 2018.

Keegan went on to beat O'Kelly by 21,490 votes at the 2019 general election.

In February 2019, Keegan was appointed as MP Apprenticeship Ambassador by Anne Milton, with responsibility to support apprenticeship schemes and promote them both within Parliament and to businesses within the UK, working alongside the Apprenticeship Ambassador Network consisting of various advocates of apprenticeship schemes.

In January 2019, she became PPS to the Secretary of State for Defence.

She became PPS to the Home Secretary in May 2019.

She endorsed Rory Stewart during the 2019 Conservative Party leadership election.

She became PPS to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care in September 2019.

She was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Apprenticeships and Skills in the February 2020 reshuffle by Boris Johnson.

In the 2021 cabinet reshuffle, Johnson promoted her to Minister of State for Care and Mental Health.

She was demoted to Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Africa when Liz Truss was appointed Prime Minister in September 2022.

In October 2022, she was appointed Secretary of State for Education by new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Keegan was born in Leigh, Lancashire, to an office manager father and a mother who did secretarial work.

She went to primary school in Yorkshire.

In February 2020, Keegan was appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Apprenticeships and Skills, a junior ministerial role at the Department for Education, and was the first former apprentice to hold the office.