Steve Brine

Early life and career

Stephen Charles Brine was born on 28 January 1974 to Clive Charles and Gloria Elizabeth Brine. He attended Bohunt School, and Highbury College. He was a volunteer for the hospital broadcasting service Radio Lion at the Royal Surrey County Hospital. He studied history at Liverpool Hope University, where he also served a sabbatical year as president of its students' union.

After graduating, Brine worked as a radio journalist for the BBC. His first job was at BBC Southern Counties Radio in Guildford. He also did an internship in Chicago with the radio station WGN. Brine later worked as a director of the golf marketing agency Azalea Group.

Political career

Brine worked in the Conservative Central Office as a researcher during William Hague's leadership, and was the campaign director for the party in Hampshire during the 2001−2005 parliament. He was selected as the party's prospective parliamentary candidate (PPC) for Winchester in November 2006. Brine was a member of the party's A-List. His ideology was based on one-nation conservatism. In November 2022, he was elected chair of the Health and Social Care Select Committee.

He was elected as MP for Winchester in the 2010 general election with a majority of 3,048 (5.4%) votes. The seat had previously been held by the Liberal Democrat MP Mark Oaten since the 1997 general election, who had stood down prior to the 2010 general election. During the 2010−2015 parliament, he was a member of the Justice Select Committee.

Brine was one of 136 Conservative MPs who voted against the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013, which legalised same-sex marriage in England and Wales. His reason for voting against the Act was that he felt that the bill had been rushed and he alleged that it was an issue that had he had received the most opposition to from many of his constituents. In the same year, he was appointed as parliamentary private secretary (PPS) to Mike Penning, Minister of State at the Department for Work & Pensions and Minister for Disabled People. In July 2014, Brine became PPS to Penning in his new role as Minister of State for Policing within the Ministry of Justice.

He was re-elected in the 2015 and 2017 general election. In May 2015, Brine became PPS to Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Health. Following the appointment of Theresa May as the prime minister in July 2016, he was appointed as assistant government whip at HM Treasury, a role he held till June 2017 when he was promoted to Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Public Health and Primary Care at the Department of Health.

Brine supported the UK remaining within the EU in the 2016 UK EU membership referendum. He voted for then Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit withdrawal agreement in early 2019. In the indicative votes on 27 March, Brine voted for single market membership, customs union with the EU, the Norway-plus model, and against a no-deal Brexit. He had resigned from his ministerial post two days prior. Brine supported Jeremy Hunt in the 2019 Conservative Party leadership election. He voted for the legalisation of same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland.

In September 2019, he was one of 21 MPs expelled from the Conservative Party for voting for the European Union (Withdrawal) (No. 2) Act 2019 which aimed to prevent a no-deal Brexit. Brine was one of 10 MPs to be readmitted to the party on 29 October. He was re-elected in the 2019 general election, with his majority falling from 9,999 to 985.

Brine was one of 38 MPs to vote against the second national lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic in November 2020. He called for MPs and their staff to be prioritised for the COVID-19 vaccine in January 2021 and for all COVID-19 legislative restrictions to be removed by the end of April 2021.

Following the publication of civil servant Sue Gray's report into the Partygate scandal, Brine submitted a letter of no confidence in Prime Minister Boris Johnson calling for his resignation in May 2022. He initially endorsed Jeremy Hunt in the July 2022 Conservative Party leadership election but when Hunt was eliminated from the contest he endorsed Rishi Sunak.

In November 2022, he was selected by fellow MPs to be the chair of the Health and Social Care Select Committee. After being appointed, Brine said his priorities as chair were to get "better value for our money" from the NHS and improving young people's mental health care. In June 2023, he announced that he would be standing down as an MP at the 2024 general election.

Lobbying

Outside of his parliamentary role, he was also a strategic advisor for the pharmaceuticals company Sigma, healthcare recruitment firm Remedium Partners, and assistive technology company Microlink PC. He ended his involvement with these companies at the end of 2021 following then Prime Minister Boris Johnson's suggestion that he would ban MPs from having consultancy jobs following the Owen Patterson lobbying scandal.

In March 2023, it was announced that the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards Daniel Greenberg would be starting an investigation into further lobbying allegations related to his work as a paid advisor for Remedium. This followed the release of leaked WhatsApp messages by The Daily Telegraph as part of the Lockdown Files in which he stated in early 2021 that he had been "trying for months to help the NHS through a company I am connected with – called Remedium" and that he had attempted to contact the then Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matt Hancock and Chief Executive of NHS England Simon Stevens but had been rebuffed. Brine commented in response to the leak of the messages that he had been acting in the "national interest" in a "national crisis" and that "Ultimately, it led nowhere let alone secure any business for Remedium".

Post-parliamentary career

In 2024, Brine became a political advisor to the public relations firms M+F Health, GK Strategy, healthcare insurance firm Lime Health, and diagnostics research company Attomarker. He also became a columnist for the online community pharmacy publication Chemist + Druggist and the chair of trustees of the Winchester Cancer Sanctuary.

Personal life

Brine married Susie Toulson in 2003. She is a former speech and language therapist and works in early years. They have one daughter born in 2007 and one son born in 2010.

References

References

1. "About Steve Brine". Steve Brine.
2. (24 May 2019). "A visit from former student Mr Steve Brine MP". Bohunt School.
3. (18 September 2007). "Winchester Hospital Radio birthday interview". Steve Brine.
4. "Speakers". The British Iranian Chamber of Commerce.
5. (5 April 2011). "BBC Local Radio". Hansard.
6. (5 June 2017). "British Conservative Member of Parliament Candidate Steve Brine: 'They [London attackers] have been radicalized here'". WGN.
7. (4 December 2018). "Brine recognised as Parliamentary Golfer of the Year". Golf Today.
8. "Winchester". UK Polling Report.
9. (6 July 2017). "Cabinet and Ministerial appointments following the 2017 general election". NHS Providers.
10. (15 November 2006). "Steve Brine selected for Winchester". Conservative Home.
11. "Where are the original A-Listers now? The 27 who have been selected for target seats". Conservative Home.
12. (13 August 2020). "Our One Nation group has today published an excellent piece of work. @SBGreenWinch @winacc".
13. "Winchester". BBC News.
14. Walker, Peter. (14 January 2019). "Ex-Lib Dem Mark Oaten says he is now 'comfortable with being gay'". The Guardian.
15. "Steve Brine MP". parliament.uk.
16. (5 February 2013). "MP-by-MP: Gay marriage vote". BBC News.
17. (6 February 2013). "Winchester MP Steve Brine votes against gay marriage". Hampshire Chronicle.
18. Napier, Andrew. (14 February 2013). "Senior Winchester Tory worker criticises MP Steve Brine over gay marriage vote". Hampshire Chronicle.
19. (21 October 2013). "Winchester MP Steve Brine promoted to be ministerial aide". Hampshire Chronicle.
20. Napier, Andrew. (4 August 2014). "New Government post for Winchester MP Steve Brine". Hampshire Chronicle.
21. "Winchester". BBC News.
22. Franklin, James. (1 June 2015). "Hampshire MP made an aide to Jeremy Hunt". Southern Daily Echo.
23. "Steve Brine MP". parliament.uk.
24. "Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Public Health and Primary Care". gov.uk.
25. (29 March 2019). "How MPs voted on May's withdrawal deal defeat". Financial Times.
26. Seymour, Michael. (26 March 2019). "Steve Brine MP's government resignation letter in full". The Hampshire Chronicle.
27. Brine, Steve. (27 May 2019). "Steve Brine: Why I am voting for Hunt". Conservative Home.
28. "Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Bill — New Clause 1 — Marriage of Same-Sex Couples". TheyWorkForYou.
29. (5 September 2019). "Who were the Conservative Brexit rebels?". BBC News.
30. Walker, Peter. (29 October 2019). "Tories restore party whip to 10 MPs who sought to block no-deal Brexit". The Guardian.
31. Day, Sophie. (5 November 2020). "Winchester's MP voted against second lockdown". Hampshire Chronicle.
32. (12 January 2021). "Government urged to publish Covid vaccine manufacturing schedule". The Telegraph.
33. Brine, Steve. (21 February 2021). "By the end of April there will be no justification for Covid legislative restrictions". PoliticsHome.
34. Napier, Andrew. (28 May 2022). "Winchester MP Steve Brine calls for vote of confidence in Prime Minister Boris Johnson". Hampshire Chronicle.
35. Napier, Andrew. (11 July 2022). "Winchester MP Steve Brine voices support for Jeremy Hunt in leadership contest". Hampshire Chronicle.
36. Aitken, Catriona. (1 August 2022). "Rishi Sunak in Winchester speaking at Conservative party members event hosted by Steve Brine MP". Southern Daily Echo.
37. (2 November 2022). "NHS Providers responds to the appointment of Steve Brine MP as chair of the health and social care committee". NHS Providers.
38. Brine, Steve. (2 November 2022). "Steve Brine MP reacts to election as Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee". UK Parliament.
39. (23 June 2023). "Conservative MP Steve Brine to stand down at next election". BBC News.
40. "Register of Members' Financial Interests as at 15 March 2021". UK Parliament.
41. Napier, Andrew. (31 October 2019). "Steve Brine MP criticised for taking on private part-time work in health sector". Hampshire Chronicle.
42. Hinton, Megan. (22 November 2020). "Hampshire MPs' extra income, gifts and donations revealed". Basingstoke Gazette.
43. "The Register of Members' Financial Interests As at 19 April 2022". parliament.uk.
44. Neate, Rupert. (24 January 2022). "Former Tory minister criticised for lobbying role on Covid contract". The Guardian.
45. "1. Correspondence from Rt Hon Lord Pickles to Steve Brine MP 24 January 2022". parliament.uk.
46. (10 November 2021). "Steve Brine's second job with Sigma Pharmaceuticals". Hampshire Chronicle.
47. Mason, Rowena. (17 March 2023). "Tory chair of health committee being investigated over NHS lobbying claims". The Guardian.
48. Martin, Daniel. (17 March 2023). "Tory MP faces Commons suspension over lobbying investigation". The Telegraph.
49. (17 March 2023). "Tory MP Steve Brine being investigated over lobbying claims". BBC News.
50. Mason, Rowena. (9 May 2023). "Steve Brine breached rules when lobbying ministers in pandemic, watchdog finds". The Guardian.
51. "Teams". M+F Health.
52. "Advisory Board 2025". Lime Health.
53. "The Team". Attomarker.
54. "Our People". GK Strategy.
55. Halliwell, James. (5 June 2024). "C+D reveals new columnist - and regular column 'Political Pills'". Chemist + Druggist.
56. Haw, Sebastian. (27 August 2024). "Hampshire Chronicle".
57. (30 June 2017). "Lord Toulson". The Times.
58. "Brine, Stephen Charles". A & C Black.
59. (23 November 2007). "Daughter for the Brines". Hampshire Chronicle.
60. (23 November 2010). "Winchester MP welcomes new addition to his family". Hampshire Chronicle.