Charlotte Owen, Baroness Owen of Alderley Edge
 | This article is about a person involved in a recent elevation. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses, and initial news reports may be unreliable. The last updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. (June 2023) |
Charlotte Owen | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born | Charlotte Katherine Tranter Owen |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Alma mater | University of York[1] |
| Occupation | Special adviser[2] |
she is a British former special adviser.[3] On 9 June 2023 it was announced that she will be granted a life peerage in Boris Johnson's 2022 Prime Minister's Resignation Honours.[2] Owen will be the youngest life peer in British history.[4]
Life and career
Charlotte Katherine Tranter Owen was born in 1993. Owen graduated from the University of York in 2015, gaining an upper second class honours degree in Politics and International Relations.[1] A friend from the University of York described her as '...fun, bit of a party girl, don’t remember her showing any great prowess for legislative scrutiny'.[5]
She worked as an intern for strategic communications consultancy Portland, before working as a constituency intern for Tory MP William Wragg for one month. For six months, Owen worked as a parliamentary intern to Boris Johnson, before becoming a parliamentary assistant to Alok Sharma for seven months.[4]
Following this, for twenty-one months, Owen was a senior parliamentary assistant to Jake Berry and Johnson, before exclusively working for Johnson for a year and two months afterwards. She then became a special adviser to Johnson within the Number 10 Policy Unit. She was retained in this role following the formation of the Truss ministry in September 2022.[6] Under the Truss government, Owen's role was split evenly between Liz Truss and the Chief Whip and Parliamentary Secretary to the Treasury, Wendy Morton.[7] She was not retained in her post by Truss’ successor, Rishi Sunak, following his appointment as Prime Minister in October 2022.
Owen received a life peerage upon the publication of Johnson’s 2022 resignation honours list in June 2023. At 29, she is the youngest ever life peer.[8] The decision was criticised by some[by whom?] due to perceptions of Owen as being inexperienced and having not provided any significant contributions to British politics or society.[5][9] Commenting on Owen's career to date, Liz Bates of Sky News said '...not an illustrious political career by any stretch...'[10]
References
- ^ a b Mendick, Robert (10 November 2022). "Concern at Boris Johnson's attempt to make ex-aide youngest life peer". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2023-06-12. Retrieved 2023-06-12.
- ^ a b "Resignation Peerages 2023" (PDF). gov.uk. 9 June 2023. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2023-06-12. Retrieved 2023-06-12.
- ^ William, Helen (9 June 2023). "Boris Johnson's seven allies who are to join the House of Lords". The Irish News. Archived from the original on 2023-06-12. Retrieved 2023-06-12.
- ^ a b Rogers, Alexandra (9 June 2023). "Partygate aides among those named in Boris Johnson's resignation honours list but others miss out". Sky News. Archived from the original on 2023-06-12. Retrieved 2023-06-12.
- ^ a b Utley, Olivia (12 June 2023). "I went to university with Charlotte Owen. If she's a worthy lifetime peer, I'm a baroness". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2023-06-12. Retrieved 2023-06-12.
- ^ Bulbul, Nuray (12 June 2023). "Who is Charlotte Owen? The country's youngest life peer in history". Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 2023-06-12. Retrieved 2023-06-12.
- ^ Steerpike (8 November 2022). "Boris's babes to join the Lords". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 2023-06-12. Retrieved 2023-06-12.
- ^ "Who is Charlotte Owen? The youngest life peer after being named in Boris Johnson's honours list". ITV News. 12 June 2023. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
- ^ "Charlotte Owen: Who is ex-Boris Johnson aide nominated as youngest-ever life peer?". Yahoo News. June 12, 2023.
- ^ Mathers, Matt (13 June 2023). "Who is Charlotte Owen and why is she getting a peerage?". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2023-06-13. Retrieved 2023-06-13.