Kelly Tolhurst
Kelly Jane Tolhurst (born 23 August 1978) is a British Conservative Party politician serving as Member of Parliament (MP) for Rochester and Strood since 2015. Tolhurst served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Rough Sleeping and Housing from 2020 to 2021 and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Transport in 2020. She is a former Councillor for the Rochester West ward on Medway Council. Early life. Tolhurst was born in Rochester; her father was a local boat builder, Morris Tolhurst. She was educated locally at Chapter High School. From 2008, she ran a marine  survey business, called Tolhurst Associates, with her father, with employment in marketing previous to this point. Political career. Tolhurst was elected to the Rochester West ward on Medway Council in 2011 and served as a councillor until 2018 when she resigned. In the by-election for the ward that followed in March 2018, the seat was taken by the Labour candidate Alex Paterson. She was selected to contest the 2014 Rochester and Strood by-election which was triggered by the defection of Mark Reckless to UKIP. Tolhurst lost the by-election, held on 20 November 2014, but regained the seat  for the Conservatives at the 2015 general election six months later, securing a majority of over 7,000. She was re-elected in 2017. Tolhurst has served on the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee, the European Scrutiny Committee and the Business, Innovation and Skills Committee. She was made an assistant government whip during the reshuffle on 9 January 2018. Tolhurst was appointed the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on 19 July 2018. In February 2020, Tolhurst was appointed as the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport at the Department for  Transport, succeeding Nus Ghani who had been relieved of ministerial responsibilities. Tolhurst garnered criticism in March 2020 after commenting in the House of Commons that the government were not responsible for "propping up" airlines as a result of the collapse of Flybe. Tolhurst campaigned to remain in the European Union prior to the 2016 referendum. Tolhurst was appointed as the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Local Government and Homelessness at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government in September 2020, replacing Luke Hall, who had in turn replaced Simon Clarke in a different position in the same department . She resigned from this position in January 2021 after receiving "devastating family news".