Last modified on Tue 6 Apr 2021 13.22 EDT
Although the Conservative politician Cheryl Gillan, who has died aged 68 after suffering from cancer, served as Welsh secretary from 2010 to 2012, her further prospects of cabinet office may have been reduced by her opposition to the government’s plans to build the HS2 high speed rail link through the Chiltern hills of her Buckinghamshire constituency.
She told her constituents in the safely Conservative suburban seat of Chesham and Amersham that she would defy the party whip – “be very, very sure of that” – during the 2010 general election that brought the Conservatives to power in coalition with the Liberal Democrats. Although in cabinet she abided by the principle of collective responsibility, she remained an opponent of the line.