Helen Whately MP: votes, interests and costs
Helen Whately represents Faversham and Mid Kent in the House of Commons for Conservative and has done since 7 May 2015. Current post: Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, held since 5 November 2024.
Offices and committees
Current post held by Helen Whately, as recorded by UK Parliament:
Ministerial and shadow posts
| Post | Department | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions | Department for Work and Pensions | 5 November 2024 | Current |
Earlier ministerial and shadow posts
| Post | Department | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care) | Department of Health and Social Care | 26 October 2022 | 5 July 2024 |
| Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury) | HM Treasury | 16 September 2021 | 7 July 2022 |
| Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care) | Department of Health and Social Care | 13 February 2020 | 16 September 2021 |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport) | Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport | 10 September 2019 | 13 February 2020 |
| Shadow Secretary of State for Transport | Department for Transport | 8 July 2024 | 5 November 2024 |
Earlier committees
| Committee or post | From | To |
|---|---|---|
| Health and Social Care Committee | 25 October 2022 | 8 November 2022 |
| Finance (No.2) Bill | 8 December 2021 | 11 January 2022 |
| Public Accounts Committee | 30 November 2021 | 17 October 2022 |
| Draft Domestic Abuse Bill (Joint Committee) | 27 February 2019 | 6 November 2019 |
| Health and Social Care Committee | 8 July 2015 | 3 May 2017 |
Other posts
| Committee or post | From | To |
|---|---|---|
| Deputy Chair, Conservative Party | 17 April 2019 | 10 September 2019 |
| Vice-Chair, Conservative Party | 27 July 2018 | 17 April 2019 |
Source: Parliament Members API, read 15 October 2026, SHA-256 cb6cb7038e3c.
Register of interests
The Register of Members' Financial Interests lists 9 entries for Helen Whately: Donations and other support (including loans) for activities as an MP (8), Miscellaneous (1). The most recent was registered on 21 July 2026. Each entry is quoted as published, with its registration date; payments linked to an entry are listed under it.
Michael Hintz - £5,000.00
- How the donation was received: (a) Support linked to an MP but received by a local party organisation or indirectly via a central party organisation
- Whether the benefit was monetary or in kind: Monetary
- Description of the payment: Financial support towards the cost of salary for a researcher to assist the work of the Shadow Secretary of State.
- Value of the benefit: £5,000.00
- Name of the donor: Michael Hintz
- Status of the donor: Individual
Benjamin Tansey - £3,000.00
- How the donation was received: (a) Support linked to an MP but received by a local party organisation or indirectly via a central party organisation
- Whether the benefit was monetary or in kind: Monetary
- Description of the payment: Financial support towards the cost of salary for a researcher to assist the work of the Shadow Secretary of State.
- Value of the benefit: £3,000.00
- Name of the donor: Benjamin Tansey
- Status of the donor: Individual
Lord Michael Farmer - £5,000.00
- How the donation was received: (a) Support linked to an MP but received by a local party organisation or indirectly via a central party organisation
- Whether the benefit was monetary or in kind: Monetary
- Description of the payment: Financial support towards the cost of salary for a member of staff to assist the work of the Shadow Secretary of State.
- Value of the benefit: £5,000.00
- Name of the donor: Lord Michael Farmer
- Status of the donor: Individual
Richard Oldfield - £7,500.00
- How the donation was received: (a) Support linked to an MP but received by a local party organisation or indirectly via a central party organisation
- Whether the benefit was monetary or in kind: Monetary
- Description of the payment: Financial support towards the cost of salary for a member of staff to assist the work of the Shadow Secretary of State.
- Value of the benefit: £7,500.00
- Name of the donor: Richard Oldfield
- Status of the donor: Individual
Edward Sells - £10,000.00
- How the donation was received: (a) Support linked to an MP but received by a local party organisation or indirectly via a central party organisation
- Whether the benefit was monetary or in kind: Monetary
- Description of the payment: Financial support towards the cost of salary for a member of staff to assist my work as a Shadow Secretary of State.
- Value of the benefit: £10,000.00
- Name of the donor: Edward Sells
- Status of the donor: Individual
Edward Garton Woods - £5,000.00
- How the donation was received: (a) Support linked to an MP but received by a local party organisation or indirectly via a central party organisation
- Whether the benefit was monetary or in kind: Monetary
- Description of the payment: Financial support towards the cost of salary for a member of staff to assist my work as a Shadow Secretary of State.
- Value of the benefit: £5,000.00
- Name of the donor: Edward Garton Woods
- Status of the donor: Individual
Lord (Stanley) Fink - £5,000.00
- How the donation was received: (a) Support linked to an MP but received by a local party organisation or indirectly via a central party organisation
- Whether the benefit was monetary or in kind: Monetary
- Description of the payment: Financial support towards the cost of salary for a member of staff to assist the work of the Shadow Secretary of State.
- Value of the benefit: £5,000.00
- Name of the donor: Lord (Stanley) Fink
- Status of the donor: Individual
Richard Oldfield - £7,500.00
- How the donation was received: (a) Support linked to an MP but received by a local party organisation or indirectly via a central party organisation
- Whether the benefit was monetary or in kind: Monetary
- Description of the payment: Financial support towards the cost of salary for a member of staff to assist the work of the Shadow Secretary of State.
- Value of the benefit: £7,500.00
- Name of the donor: Richard Oldfield
- Status of the donor: Individual
My husband, Marcus Whately, is Chief Executive of GrowUp Farms, a salad producer.
- The type of interest: Other
Source: Register of Members' Financial Interests API, read 29 October 2026. The register entry on UK Parliament.
Business costs (IPSA)
IPSA, the body that sets and pays MPs' business costs, records staffing spending of £225,228 for Helen Whately in 2024-25 against a budget of £250,820. The figure for 2023-24 was £198,260. IPSA lists office spending of £15,829 in the same year. IPSA publishes each budget, the amount spent and the amount left (the remaining amounts are in IPSA's files); no total across budgets is published, so none is given here.
| IPSA figure | 2024-25 | 2023-24 | 2022-23 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Staffing: spent | £225,227.54 | £198,259.72 | £176,372.89 |
| Office costs: spent | £15,828.85 | £16,488.34 | £10,994.33 |
| Accommodation: spent | £25,061.51 | £24,115.90 | £20,396.53 |
| Winding-up: spent | £0.00 | £0.00 | |
| Travel and subsistence (no cap): spent | £3,392.12 | £3,671.45 | £3,531.54 |
| Other costs (no cap): spent | £0.00 | £0.00 | £0.00 |
Budgets set for 2024-25: office costs £33,020, staffing £250,820, accommodation £49,330 (Standard non-London area budget; Standard budget for renting a property in the London area, with an uplift to cover the cost of three dependants).
IPSA's CSVs for 2024-25, 2023-24, 2022-23, read 15 October 2026; constituency as IPSA lists it: Faversham and Mid Kent CC.
Staff roles listed by IPSA, 2024-25
Chief of Staff (permanent part time), Constituency Support Manager (permanent full time), Senior Parliamentary Assistant (permanent full time), Parliamentary Assistant ×2 (permanent full time), Caseworker (permanent part time), Intern (fixed term part time), Intern (fixed term full time) (IPSA CSV)
IPSA annual publications · All MPs' 2024-25 costs (table and CSV)
Votes in the Commons
Helen Whately is recorded voting in 433 divisions since 4 July 2024, according to the Commons Votes API. Of these, 37 were votes on statutory instruments or procedural motions, which are not listed below. The 30 most recent on bills and motions are listed here. On 20 October 2026 Helen Whately voted No on "Northern Ireland Troubles Bill: Third Reading".
Source: Commons Votes API, read 29 October 2026. Only divisions in which a vote is recorded for the MP are counted. The full list on UK Parliament.
Written questions
Helen Whately has tabled 465 written questions since 4 July 2024, according to the Written Questions API. The latest 10 were addressed to Department for Work and Pensions.
Carer's Allowance: Personal Independence Payment
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants receiving the higher Daily Living rate of Personal Independence Payment are in receipt of Carers Allowance.
Unemployment: Artificial Intelligence
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to train job coaches to support workers at risk of losing their jobs from Artificial Intelligence.
Unemployment
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the National Insurance rate, Minimum Wage and Employment Rights Act on the unemployment rate.
Pathways to Work
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Answer of 23 April 2025 to Question 47466 on Pathways to Work: Impact Assessments, what the most recent equivalent disaggregation is by health category; what definitions are used i …
Social Security Benefits: Artificial Intelligence
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many departmental staff are part of teams considering the impact of Artificial Intelligence on the social security and welfare system.
Universal Credit
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households in receipt of Universal Credit have a total gross household income, including earnings and other income, within each of the following bands: (a) £0–£20,000; (b) £20,001–£40,000; (c)
Department for Work and Pensions: Written Questions
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to respond to Question 125451 from the hon. Member for Faversham and Mid Kent.
Pathways to Work: Impact Assessments
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 23 April 2025 to Question 47466 on Pathways to Work: Impact Assessments with specific reference to anxiety, depression and ADHD/ADD, and with further reference to the Departmen …
Pathways to Work: Impact Assessments
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 23 April 2025 to Question 47466 on Pathways to Work: Impact Assessments, what is the most recent equivalent disaggregation by health category for this data.
Pathways to Work: Impact Assessments
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 23 April 2025 to Question 47466 on Pathways to Work: Impact Assessments, a) what is the most recent equivalent disaggregation by health category and b) what definitions are use …
Source: Written Questions API, read 15 October 2026, SHA-256 8ac94dddd661. Question wording as listed by the API, which gives the opening words of longer questions. All questions by Helen Whately.
2024 general election
Helen Whately won Faversham and Mid Kent at the general election of 4 July 2024 with 14,816 votes (31.8%), a majority of 1,469 over Mel Dawkins (Labour). Result as published: Con hold.
Commons Library results, read 14 October 2026 · Faversham and Mid Kent figures
Statements and pledges on this site
Statements
- Helen Whately on unemployment among 18 to 24-year-olds, 27 April 2026
Helen Whately said: “Unemployment among 18 to 24-year-olds is at 14.3%—that means that one in seven young people is unemployed.” This page repeats what Office for National Statistics reports.
Official corrections
Records in which Helen Whately corrected an answer or the Commons record, or which the UK Statistics Authority addressed to Helen Whately:
- Helen Whately corrected a written answer on Liver Diseases: Screening
- Helen Whately corrected a written answer on Coronavirus: Disability
- Helen Whately corrected a written answer on Coronavirus: Screening
- Helen Whately corrected a written answer on Gambling
Built 15 October 2026 from official records; register entries and votes are re-read on a rolling schedule. This page sets out what the record shows and gives no rating of the MP. Official UK Parliament page · All MPs · Something wrong? Tell us.