Caroline Dinenage

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Dame Caroline Dinenage[1]
DBE, MP
Official portrait of Caroline Dinenage MP crop 2.jpg
Official portrait, 2019
Minister of State for Digital and Culture
In office
13 February 2020 – 15 September 2021
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byNigel Adams
Succeeded byThe Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay
(as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Arts)
Minister of State for Social Care
In office
9 January 2018 – 13 February 2020
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Boris Johnson
Preceded byPhilip Dunne
Succeeded byHelen Whately
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Family Support, Housing and Child Maintenance
In office
14 June 2017 – 9 January 2018
Prime MinisterTheresa May
Preceded byCaroline Nokes
Succeeded byKit Malthouse
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Women, Equalities and Early Years
In office
8 May 2015 – 14 June 2017
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Theresa May
Preceded byPosition Established
Succeeded byPosition Abolished
Member of Parliament
for Gosport
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded byPeter Viggers
Majority23,278 (48.0%)
Personal details
Born
Caroline Julia Dinenage

(1971-10-28) 28 October 1971 (age 50)
Portsmouth, Hampshire, England
Political partyConservative
Spouse(s)
  • Carlos E Garreta
    ​
    ​
    (m. 2002; div. 2012)​
  • ​
    (m. 2014)​
Children2
Parent(s)
Alma materSwansea University
Websitewww.caroline4gosport.co.uk

Dame Caroline Julia Dinenage, Baroness Lancaster of Kimbolton, DBE, MP (born 28 October 1971) is a British Conservative Party politician who was elected as Member of Parliament (MP) for Gosport at the 2010 general election.[2] and re-elected in 2015,[3] 2017[4] and 2019.[5]

Dinenage served as a Minister from May 2015 until September 2021 [6]in six different government departments, under 3 successive Prime Ministers as  Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Government Equalities Office, Ministry of Justice, Department for Education and Department for Work and Pensions. In January 2018 Minister of State at the Department of Health and Social Care, and in February 2020 at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

Dinenage was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2022 Political Honours.[7]

Early life and career[]

Dinenage was born on 28 October 1971,[8][9] the daughter of television presenter Fred Dinenage and Beverley Summers.

She attended Wykeham House private school for girls, Oaklands RC Comprehensive School, Waterlooville, and then studied Politics and English at Swansea University.[10]

Dinenage established her first manufacturing company aged 19 and was a director/company secretary of Dinenages Ltd for 20 years.[11]

In May 1998 she was elected as the youngest member in Winchester District Council.[12] She stood as the Conservative Party candidate for Portsmouth South in the 2005 general election.[13]

Parliamentary career[]

Dinenage speaking at the Week of Women panel discussion in 2016 alongside Karen Pierce.

Dinenage was elected as Member of Parliament for Gosport in 2010,[14] after the retirement of Sir Peter Viggers.

Dinenage sat on the Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee 2012-2015,[15] in 2013, she was appointed as a Small Business Ambassador by Prime Minister, David Cameron.[16]

Dinenage successfully campaigned for a medal for the veterans of the Arctic convoys of World War II.[17] She served as the vice-chair (Royal Navy) of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Armed Forces 2010-2014[18] and was a member of the UK's NATO Parliamentary Assembly and s vice-chair of the NATO Science and Technology Sub-Committee.[19]

As Justice Minister, campaign group Action 4 Ashes praised Dinenage for her swift action in introducing important changes to cremation regulation.[20]

In her role as Minister for Women and Equalities, Dinenage implemented the Gender Pay Gap reporting regulations which came into force in April 2017.[21]

As Education Minister she delivered the government’s manifesto commitment of 30 hours free childcare for 3 and 4 year olds.[22]

Minister for Care[]

In this role Dinenage launched a consultation on Changing Places toilets[23] the resulting building regulation  changes would ensure larger accessible toilets were added to more than 150 major buildings a year. [24]

In June 2018 Dinenage launched the Carers Action Plan to support unpaid carers in England. [25]

In November 2019 she introduced plans for making learning disability and autism training mandatory for all Health and Social Care professionals.[26]

Minister for Digital and Culture[]

Following the outbreak of COVID-19 in the UK, Dinenage helped secure the £2 billion Culture Recovery Fund.[27]

She also had ministerial responsibility for Online Safety Bill [28]which was published in draft form in 2021.

Constituency work[]

Dinenage worked with local partners to secure ‘Enterprise Zone’ status for the Daedalus disused military airfield at Lee-on-the-Solent in 2010.[29]

Following her campaign against prosposals which would have seen the closure of the Royal Navy School of Engineering at HMS Sultan - the Government indefinitely delayed the closure of the site.[30]

Dinenage has campaigned for local road improvements,[31][32] helping secure £25.7m Government funding for the Stubbington Bypass, due for completition in 2022.[33]

Personal life[]

Dinenage has two children with her first husband Carlos Garreta, a Royal Navy officer. In February 2014, she married Mark Lancaster, Baron Lancaster of Kimbolton, a former MP and now member of the House of Lords, giving Dinenage the title Baroness Lancaster.[34]

She has completed a parachute jump and abseiled off Portsmouth’s Spinnaker Tower[35] to raise funds for the MS Society. A patron of Conservatives against Fox Hunting,[36] she was named one of Queen guitarist and animal welfare campaigner, Dr Brian May’s ‘Heroes of 2010’.[37]

References[]

  1. ^ https://members.parliament.uk/member/4008/contact
  2. ^ "Election result for Gosport (Constituency) - MPs and Lords - UK Parliament". members.parliament.uk. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  3. ^ "Gosport (Constituency) 2015 results - General election results - UK Parliament". electionresults.parliament.uk. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  4. ^ "Gosport (Constituency) 2017 results - General election results - UK Parliament". electionresults.parliament.uk. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  5. ^ "Last election result for Caroline Dinenage - MPs and Lords - UK Parliament". members.parliament.uk. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  6. ^ "Caroline Dinenage MP". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  7. ^ "Political Honours conferred: January 2022". Gov.uk. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  8. ^ "No. 59418". The London Gazette. 13 May 2010. p. 8742.
  9. ^ "Caroline Dinenage MP". BBC News. Retrieved 25 July 2010.
  10. ^ "Caroline Dinenage, Conservative, Gosport". Daily Echo. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
  11. ^ "Caroline Dinenage MP, Gosport". TheyWorkForYou.
  12. ^ "Archive | Archive of stories uploaded to the Daily Echo website". Daily Echo. 8 April 2003. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  13. ^ "Portsmouth South". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
  14. ^ "Gosport". BBC News. Retrieved 11 May 2010.
  15. ^ "Select Committee Membership - UK Parliament". Parliament.uk. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  16. ^ "'Cameron cutie' Caroline Dinenage dumps husband to date Tory MP Mark Lancaster who walked out on baby". 30 June 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
  17. ^ "Gosport MP Caroline Dinenage pushes for medals for Arctic Convoy vets". Daily Echo. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
  18. ^ "Caroline Dinenage MP | About Caroline". Caroline4gosport.co.uk. Archived from the original on 17 July 2011. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  19. ^ "Caroline Dinenage". Politics.co.uk. 28 October 1971. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  20. ^ "Baby ashes scandal: Shropshire campaigners hail Caroline Dinenage MP for work". www.shropshirestar.com.
  21. ^ "Women & Equalities". Caroline Dinenage. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  22. ^ "Draft Childcare (Early Years Provision Free of Charge) (Extended Entitlement) Regulations 2016 - Monday 5 December 2016 - Hansard - UK Parliament". hansard.parliament.uk. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  23. ^ "Government launches Changing Places consultation - Muscular Dystrophy UK". www.musculardystrophyuk.org. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  24. ^ "Changing Places toilets for severely disabled people to be compulsory in new public buildings". GOV.UK. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  25. ^ "Carers Action Plan" (PDF).
  26. ^ "Mandatory Learning Disability Autism Training". www.homecare.co.uk. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  27. ^ "'Caroline celebrates culture lifeline'". Caroline Dinenage. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  28. ^ "Written questions and answers - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament". questions-statements.parliament.uk. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  29. ^ "Gosport's HMS Daedalus site to become an Enterprise Zone". Portsmouth.co.uk. 17 August 2011. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  30. ^ "Gosport Royal Navy base HMS Sultan safe from closure until 2029, says MoD in estates U-turn". www.portsmouth.co.uk. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  31. ^ "Transport secretary is stuck in traffic on visit to Gosport - Portsmouth News". Portsmouth.co.uk. 12 November 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  32. ^ "Campaign starts to get new bypass built before 2026 - Portsmouth News". Portsmouth.co.uk. 16 April 2013. Retrieved 9 May 2015.
  33. ^ "'Critical' bypass wins government approval". BBC News. 21 May 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  34. ^ "Gosport MP Caroline Dinenage weds fellow politician at House of Commons chapel". Portsmouth News. 17 February 2014. Archived from the original on 12 September 2017. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  35. ^ "Caroline Dinenage to abseil down Spinnaker". ITV News. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  36. ^ "About Us". Conservatives Against Fox Hunting. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  37. ^ "Brian May | Conservatives Against Fox Hunting: when animal welfare beats party loyalty". the Guardian. 17 December 2010. Retrieved 2 November 2021.

External links[]

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Gosport
2010–present 		Incumbent
Political offices
Position established Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Women, Equalities and Early Years
2015–2017 		Position abolished
Preceded by Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Family Support, Housing and Child Maintenance
2017–2018 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of State for Social Care
2018–2020 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of State for Digital and Culture
2020–present 		Incumbent
Retrieved from ""