Rebel trio who always ploughed their own furrow

ANNA SOUBRY

BEFORE she became an MP, Anna Soubry was a journalist, TV presenter (she presented the soap section on This Morning) and barrister.

The ardent Remainer was elected to Parliament in 2010 as MP for Broxtowe in her home county of Nottinghamshire, winning the seat from Labour.

She served in David Cameron’s coalition administration in ministerial jobs in the Department of Health and Ministry of Defence, where she was the first elected woman minister in the department.

She moved to the Business Department after the 2015 election.

Miss Soubry, 62, has repeatedly rebelled against the government over Brexit, and earlier this month secured ministers’ agreement to show her economic advice on the risks of No Deal after tabling an amendment in the Commons.

Police launched an investigation last month after she was allegedly targeted for abuse by yellow jacket-wearing pro-Brexit protesters outside Parliament.

HEIDI ALLEN

ELECTED to Parliament as MP for South Cambridgeshire in 2015, Mrs Allen made a name for herself from the start for her willingness to speak out against her own government’s policies where she felt they were damaging.

She used her maiden speech in the Commons to denounce planned cuts to tax credits, warning they would force working families into debt.

She later put pressure on then PM David Cameron to take in Syrian refugees. And after campaigning for Remain in the 2016 referendum, she became one of the strongest voices on the Tory benches against a hard Brexit, calling for a second referendum. The 44-year-old – who enjoyed a corporate career with ExxonMobil and Royal Mail – has served on the Commons work and pensions committee.

SARAH WOLLASTON

A GP by profession, Dr Wollaston was the first Conservative candidate to be selected by open primary, with postal ballot papers sent to every voter in the Totnes constituency. She was elected as MP for the seat, in Devon, in 2010 and quickly established herself as an independent-minded voice on the backbenches, turning down a job as a ministerial aide in order to be able to speak out.

In 2011 she warned Mr Cameron his health reforms could ‘destroy’ the NHS.

Dr Wollaston, 57, was initially a supporter of EU withdrawal, but dramatically switched sides near the end of the referendum campaign, complaining that Vote Leave’s claim of extra money for the NHS after Brexit ‘simply isn’t true’.

After rebelling against the government over Brexit, she dropped plans to table an amendment to deliver a second referendum at the last minute in January, saying Jeremy Corbyn’s failure to back a public vote doomed it to failure.