Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
Karen Bradley took which position from Jun 2017 to 2018?
Karen Bradley Karen Anne Bradley ( née Howarth , born 12 March 1970 ) is a British Conservative Party politician who served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2018 to 2019 , and has served as Member of Parliament ( MP ) for Staffordshire Moorlands since 2010 . Bradley was appointed to the Cameron Government in 2014 as Minister of State for the Home Department . During the formation of the May Government in July 2016 , she was appointed to the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Culture , Media and Sport , where she remained until being appointed Northern Ireland Secretary in January 2018 . Early life and career . Bradley was born in Newcastle-under-Lyme . Her family moved to Buxton , Derbyshire and she was educated at the local comprehensive and Imperial College London , graduating with a BSc in Mathematics . In 1991 , Bradley joined Deloitte & Touche and became a tax manager , and after seven years she became a senior tax manager with KPMG . In 2004 she set up business as a fiscal and economic consultant before rejoining KPMG in 2007 , where she remained until her election to the House of Commons . Parliamentary career . Bradley unsuccessfully contested Manchester Withington at the 2005 general election , coming third to the Liberal Democrats John Leech . Bradley was a member of the Conservative Partys A-List and was selected for Staffordshire Moorlands in July 2006 . She was elected as the constituencys member of parliament at the 2010 general election . Following her election to Parliament in 2010 , Bradley was a member of the Work and Pensions Select Committee between July 2010 and October 2012 , the Procedure Committee between October 2011 and November 2012 , and in May 2012 was elected co-secretary of the backbench 1922 Committee . In September 2012 , Bradley was appointed as a junior Government whip . In December 2012 , Bradley joined the Administration Committee , of which she was a member until March 2014 . In February 2014 , Bradley joined the Home Office as the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Preventing Abuse , Exploitation and Crime . In July 2016 , Bradley was appointed to the position of Secretary of State for Culture , Media and Sport by Prime Minister Theresa May . In late November 2016 , she denied the appointment of Althea Efunshile , a former deputy chief of Arts Council England , as a non-executive director on the board of the state-owned broadcaster , Channel 4 . She was criticised because Efunshile was a black female candidate while the other four candidates were all white men and were either appointed or re-appointed . This action led to a letter of complaint being sent to her by a cross-party group of MPs . On 12 December 2017 , the government announced the appointment which her successor ratified . In January 2018 , Bradley was appointed Secretary of State for Northern Ireland after the resignation of James Brokenshire due to ill health . In July 2018 , she came under criticism in the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee for failing to take action on British government discrimination against former soldiers and police . Andrew Murrison challenged her on her account of what she had done , and she said she would write to him . Sylvia Hermon commented : I wait and wait for letters . In a September 2018 interview for House magazine , a weekly publication for the Houses of Parliament , Bradley admitted she had not understood Northern Irish politics before being appointed Secretary of State for Northern Ireland , saying : I didnt understand things like when elections are fought , for example , in Northern Ireland – people who are nationalists don’t vote for unionist parties and vice versa , she said . In March 2019 , Bradley was criticised by all sides in Northern Ireland and faced calls to resign for invoking the Nuremberg defence when defending the actions of UK forces during the Troubles , saying : The fewer than 10% [ of killings ] that were at the hands of the military and police were not crimes , they were people acting under orders and fulfilling their duties in a dignified and appropriate way . A clarification on her remarks was made by Bradley later that day in the House of Commons , and the following day she issued an apology . The families of victims raised concerns that Bradley was attempting to influence a UK government decision on whether or not to prosecute British soldiers involved in killing 14 civilians on Bloody Sunday in January 1972 . Bradley was dismissed as Northern Ireland Secretary by Prime Minister Boris Johnson upon his appointment in July 2019 . Bradley was reelected at the 2019 general election , with an increased majority of 16,428 votes . She was elected as Chair of the Procedure Committee on 29 January 2020 , defeating Bob Blackman to the post . Personal life . Bradley is married to Neil Bradley . They have two sons . She is a fan of Manchester City Football Club . External links . - karenbradley.co.uk — Bradleys website - Bradley on TheyWorkForYou.com - Bradley on Conservative Party site