# Jill Mortimer

Jillian Wendy Mortimer (née Sowerby; born 20 March 1965) is a British Conservative Party politician, who as Member of Parliament (MP) represented Hartlepool from 2021 to 2024.

## Early and personal life

Born on 20 March 1965 in Leeds, Jillian Sowerby's father was a builder and her mother was a greengrocer. She attended Parklands Girls High School before reading Law at Teesside University as a mature student at the age of 50, studying alongside two of her three children. One of her grandmothers grew up in Hartlepool. She is married to Nicholas Mortimer.
Before entering the House of Commons, Mortimer was a farmer in Knayton, North Yorkshire, hand-rearing Dexter cows and selling the beef and lamb from the gate of the farm and also training to become a barrister. Today the farm operates as an upmarket B&B with planning permission granted for yurts and shepherd's huts to be added to the site. She announced her intention to buy a property in the Hartlepool following her election, however she did not do so.

## Politics

Mortimer served as a Councillor for Raskelf & White Horse Ward on Hambleton District Council between May 2019 and October 2021.
At the 2019 general election, Mortimer stood as the Conservative candidate in Leeds East, coming second with 35.7% of the vote behind the incumbent Labour MP Richard Burgon.

## Parliamentary career

Confirmed as the Conservative prospective parliamentary candidate for Hartlepool on 26 March 2021, in advance of the subsequent by-election, following the resignation of Mike Hill, Labour MP, Mortimer won the by-election describing her priorities for Hartlepool as: "recovering from the pandemic, regenerating our high streets and local communities, unlocking the opportunities of Brexit to help create good quality sustainable jobs, helping businesses deliver more apprenticeships and recruiting more police officers."
During the campaign, Labour Party Deputy Leader Angela Rayner, accused Mortimer of "tax avoidance" for living in the Cayman Islands with her first husband, Marcus Killick (appointed OBE in 2014 "for services to the regulation of financial services in Gibraltar").
Dame Amanda Milling, co-chairman of the Conservative Party, tweeted that Rayner had made an "eye-popping error" by "trying to slur" Mortimer because Killick had been working for the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority, the primary financial services regulator for the British Overseas Territory. Dame Amanda further stated Mortimer and her ex-husband "did not gain any tax advantage from living in the Cayman Islands, nor did she advise any others on this".
Elected at the 2021 by-election as MP for Hartlepool with 51.9% of the vote and a majority of 6,940, Mortimer made her maiden speech in the House of Commons on 21 September 2021.
In June 2022, during the vote of confidence in the Conservative Party leadership, Mortimer supported the Prime Minister.
In September 2022, Mortimer resigned as a PPS after two weeks in the role to focus on her constituency, before submitting a letter of no confidence in the leadership of Liz Truss on 20 October 2022.
Mortimer contested the 2024 general election being defeated by the Labour candidate, Jonathan Brash, who was returned to Parliament as Hartlepool's MP.