Helen Whately
Conservative Sitting MP
MP for Faversham and Mid Kent · in Parliament since 7 May 2015
Opposition Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
Website
X (formerly Twitter)
Parliamentary participation snapshot
Biography
Parliamentary service
| Constituency | From | To | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Faversham and Mid Kent | 4 July 2024 | Present | Elected 1 time |
| Faversham and Mid Kent | 7 May 2015 | 30 May 2024 | Elected 3 times |
Party affiliations
| Party | From | To |
|---|---|---|
| Conservative | 7 May 2015 | Present |
Election history
| Election | Constituency | Date | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kingston and Surbiton |
Previous ministerial & opposition roles
| Role | Type | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shadow Secretary of State for Transport | Opposition | 8 July 2024 | 5 November 2024 |
| Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care) | Government | 26 October 2022 | 5 July 2024 |
| Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury) | Government | 16 September 2021 | 7 July 2022 |
| Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care) | Government | 13 February 2020 | 16 September 2021 |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport) | Government | 10 September 2019 | 13 February 2020 |
| Deputy Chair, Conservative Party | Other | 17 April 2019 | 10 September 2019 |
| Vice-Chair, Conservative Party | Other | 27 July 2018 | 17 April 2019 |
Voting participation
189th of 650 current MPs · all MPs average 71.4% · Conservative average 73.8%
Participation by year
| Year | Eligible divisions | Voted | Participation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 236 | 175 | 74.2% |
| 2025 | 322 | 209 | 64.9% |
| 2024 | 200 | 171 | 85.5% |
| 2023 | 256 | 212 | 82.8% |
| 2022 | 251 | 205 | 81.7% |
| 2021 | 242 | 210 | 86.8% |
| 2020 | 190 | 172 | 90.5% |
| 2019 | 2 | 2 | 100.0% |
By Parliament
| Parliament | Eligible divisions | Voted | Participation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 58th | 1,068 | 917 | 85.9% |
| 59th | 631 | 439 | 69.6% |
Participation counts aye, no or teller votes in Commons divisions held while the MP sat. Absence has many legitimate causes (pairing, illness, parental leave, ministerial or Speaker duties).
Parliamentary activity
188th of 650 current MPs · all MPs average 489 · Conservative average 669
Annual breakdown
| Year | Debate contributions | Debates participated | Written questions | Oral questions | EDMs | Bills sponsored | Petitions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 65 | 30 | 86 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | 68 | 27 | 258 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | 95 | 34 | 124 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2023 | 137 | 39 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 167 | 49 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2021 | 249 | 45 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | 219 | 49 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Committee memberships
Not currently a member of any committee.
joint 1st of 515 current MPs (488 tied) · all MPs average 99.6% · Conservative average 99.9%
Committee membership history
- Health and Social Care Committee 2015–2017, 2022–2022 · attendance 100.0%
- Public Accounts Committee 2021–2022 · attendance 100.0%
1 bill committee served on
- Finance (No.2) Bill 2021
Hansard activity
95th of 650 current MPs · all MPs average 552 · Conservative average 899
Counts come from the Hansard record for the Commons and Westminster Hall within the dataset window. Individual contributions and topic analysis are not yet part of the dataset; search Hansard for the full record.
Parliamentary timeline
Generated from seat, party, role and committee records.
2015
- – Became MP for Faversham and Mid Kent
- – Joined Conservative
- – Joined Health and Social Care Committee
2018
- – Appointed: Vice-Chair, Conservative Party
2019
- – Appointed: Deputy Chair, Conservative Party
- – Left role: Vice-Chair, Conservative Party
- – Appointed: Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
- – Left role: Deputy Chair, Conservative Party
2020
- – Appointed: Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
- – Left role: Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
2021
- – Appointed: Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
- – Left role: Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
- – Joined Public Accounts Committee
2022
- – Left role: Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
- – Joined Health and Social Care Committee
- – Appointed: Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
2024
- – Became MP for Faversham and Mid Kent
- – Left role: Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
- – Appointed (opposition): Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
- – Appointed (opposition): Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
- – Left role: Shadow Secretary of State for Transport
Constituency: Faversham and Mid Kent
Statistics cover 7 November 2019 to 7 November 2026. Source: UK Parliament Members, Committees, Commons Votes, Hansard, Questions and Bills APIs, via the UK Politics Decoded dataset. View this MP’s raw JSON.