Ann Winterton was elected in 1983 as the first MP for the Congleton Parliamentary Constituency following its creation earlier that year, and is married to Sir Nicholas Winterton, who has been the Member of Parliament for Macclesfield since 1971.  They have two sons, one daughter and seven grandchildren.

Lady Winterton was first appointed Opposition Front Bench Spokesman on Drugs Misuse Strategy in April 1998 and Shadow Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries from September 2001 to May 2002. 

In previous Parliaments, Ann Winterton was a member of the Speaker’s Panel of Chairmen, and served for many years on the influential Agriculture Select Committee.  Towards the end of the last Parliament she served on the Social Security Select Committee.  In 2002, the Prime Minister appointed Lady Winterton as a representative of the United Kingdom delegation to the OSCE.  Ann Winterton was re-appointed to the Speaker’s Panel in 2005.

Lady Winterton continues to take a keen interest in agriculture, fisheries, education, healthcare, law and order, and defence issues, and is Vice-Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Pro-Life Group having previously been Chairman for ten years.  Drawn first in the 1999/2000 Session’s Ballot for Private Members’ Bills, she campaigned for her Medical Treatment (Prevention of Euthanasia) Bill.

Ann Winterton has always sought to represent the views of the people of the Congleton Constituency to the best of her ability and she is well known for her independence of view at Westminster and commitment to hard work in the constituency.