Maria Frances Lewis Miller (born March 26, 1964, Wolverhampton) is a British politician and has been the Conservative Member of Parliament for Basingstoke since the 2005 general election.

Early life

Born in Wolverhampton but brought up in Bridgend, South Wales, and was educated at the Brynteg Comprehensive School in Bridgend before studying for a BSc in Economics at the London School of Economics, In 1985, she joined Greys Advertising Ltd as an advertising executive and in 1990 she left to become a marketing manager with Texaco. She rejoined Greys in 1994 and served for five years as a director. She became a director for the Rowland Group (became Publicis Consultants) for four years from 1999.

Parliamentary career

She joined the Conservative Party in 1983 and she contested Wolverhampton North East at the 2001 general election but was defeated by the sitting Labour MP Ken Purchase. She has served as the Patron of the Wolverhampton North East Conservative Association since 2001. She was chairman of the Wimbledon Conservative Association for a year from 2002.

She was first elected to the Commons at the 2005 general election following the retirement of the former Conservative MP, Andrew Hunter, who had defected to the Northern Ireland Democratic Unionist Party before he stepped down. In Parliament she served for a year from 2005 as a member of the Trade and Industry select committee. Later in 2005 David Cameron appointed her a spokesperson in the Shadow Education and Skills team. Since 2007, she has been Shadow Minister for the Family.

Personal life

Maria Miller has been married to Iain Miller since 1985 and they have two sons and a daughter.

External links

• Maria Miller, MP for Basingstoke official site
• Conservatives.com - Maria Miller MP official biography
• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Maria Miller MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Maria Miller MP
• Appearing on Woman's Hour in 2005
• BBC Politics page