Kelly Tolhurst

Kelly Tolhurst was first elected as the Conservative MP for Rochester and Strood in 2015. Born in the constituency, she worked in marketing and ran a marine survey business with her father. She began her political career in 2011 when she was elected to represent Rochester West ward on Medway council, taking over from Mark Reckless. When Reckless resigned as Conservative MP for Rochester and Strood to contest the seat for UKIP, Tolhurst stood in the by-election but came second. At the following year’s general election, she took the seat back for the Conservatives, winning with a majority of 7,133. Following her election, she joined the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee and the European Scrutiny Committee. In 2016, Tolhurst put forward a private member’s bill aimed at tackling problem debt – the Families With Children in Debt (Respite) Bill was subsequently included in the 2017 Conservative manifesto. In 2018, she became an assistant government whip and has also served as a parliamentary under-secretary at the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy as well as the Department for Transport. Formerly parliamentary under-secretary for housing, communities and local government, she resigned her role in January 2021 after devastating family news.