Margot James, MP for Stourbridge, has been appointed minister for small business, consumer protection and corporate social responsibility.
James, a former business owner and founder, was also appointed as parliamentary under secretary of state for the department for business, energy and industrial strategy on 17 July. She sat on the business, innovation and skills select committee between 2010 and 2012.
Between 2012 and 2014, James served as parliamentary private secretary to Lord Green, the minister for trade and investment, setting up the all party parliamentary group for trade and investment. One of the APPG’s aims was to connect with, and support, SMEs in growing and exporting.
James has previously spoken out in support of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). In January 2015, she said: “The opportunity afforded by TTIP has huge potential, with the right safeguards in place, for growth on both sides of the Atlantic.”
She also supports the reduction of business rates and previously sent Freedom of Information requests to every local authority asking whether they were using their powers to reduce business rates.
She has praised the New Enterprise Allowance. In January 2015, she said: “This support has been essential to the thriving business environment, which has seen over 2,000 new businesses start up in my constituency, Stourbridge, since 2010.”
I am delighted to be joining the ministerial team at @bisgovuk and will do all I can to support businesses and employees in my new role
— Margot James (@margot_james_mp) July 17, 2016
Mike Cherry, national chairman at the Federation of Small Businesses, says the FSB is “delighted” to see her appointment. “We have worked closely with her in the past, both at a local and national level,” he adds. “The first priority in her ministerial in-tray must be to establish the small business commissioner to tackle late payments, and to work with the Treasury on how to boost economic growth.”
James co-founded Shire Health, a PR and medical education business, in 1986. This followed her work in sales and marketing for her father (a former coalman) at his company, Maurice James Industries, which he founded in the 1930s. Shire Health was sold to the WWP Group in 2004.
James has also worked as a mentor for the Prince’s Trust and Young Enterprise. She campaigned for the UK to remain in the EU.
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