Sarah Wollaston (born 17 February 1962) is a British former Liberal Democrat politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Totnes from 2010 to 2019.

[citation needed] Wollaston joined the Conservative Party in 2006,[7] having been spurred into politics by her opposition to the threatened closure of Moretonhampstead Community Hospital.

[11] However, Wollaston accepted that she had "no background in politics" when in 2009 she put her name forward for the selection of a candidate for the Totnes constituency, citing as qualifications "only real life experience, approachability and enthusiasm".

[12] The Conservative Association placed her on the shortlist of three to succeed Anthony Steen, who had announced his retirement after criticism as part of the United Kingdom Parliamentary expenses scandal.

In the selection result, Wollaston was proclaimed the winner with 7,914 votes (48%), ahead of Sara Randall Johnson (leader of East Devon District Council) who had 5,495 (33%), and Nick Bye (Mayor of Torbay) who had 3,088 (19%).

The local branch of Liberal Democrats denied that they were behind rumours that Wollaston intended to continue to practise medicine on a part-time basis.

[26] She supported the formation of a Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition government as being the most appropriate for her constituency in the circumstances after the election,[27] explaining that voters wanted to see politicians working together.

[29] Soon after her election, Wollaston was offered the position of Parliamentary Private Secretary – a junior aide – to one of the Health Ministers, influenced by her professional background.

Despite this position being the first rung on the ministerial ladder, Wollaston turned the offer down because it would have required her to avoid speaking out against any Government policy she disagreed with.

[20] In her first year in the Commons, Wollaston referred to her experience working with sexual assault victims in warning the Government against its plans to introduce anonymity for people suspected of, or charged with, rape.

[31] She successfully pressed the Government to take up the way the European Union's Working Time Directive applied to junior doctors' training, saying that it was causing patient care to suffer.

[45] In March 2019, it emerged she had sponsored a Ten Minute Rule bill in November 2011 which would have required MPs who switch parties to face an automatic by-election.

[47] Wollaston acknowledged the likely calls for her to face a by-election but refused such a proposal, stating "neither this nor a general election would answer the fundamental question that is dividing us".

[53] However, her opposition to the NHS reforms calmed after the party leadership changed certain clauses at her suggestions and she eventually voted in favour of passage of the Health and Social Care Bill.

During her campaign for selection as Conservative candidate in Totnes, Wollaston pledged to tackle the issue of alcohol misuse, having seen the impact of it during her medical career.

[58][59] In 2015, an undercover Daily Telegraph investigation showed that in some cases, locum agencies Medicare and Team24, owned by Capita, were charging some hospitals higher fees than others and giving false company details.

[61] Before entering the House of Commons, Wollaston stated that she was "strongly pro-choice", and would not support lowering the abortion limit, as such a measure would affect those who are in the greatest need.

In September 2013, she entered the debate about niqābs, saying that some women found them offensive and urging the Government to ban them in schools on the grounds of gender equality.

[66] Coming from a non-political background, Wollaston has consistently spoken out in favour of reforming the political system to make it more open and accessible.

[71] On the European Union, Wollaston originally supported loosening the relationship between Britain and Brussels and said that she would reluctantly vote to leave the EU if reform could not be achieved.

Writing for ConservativeHome in 2013, she expressed support for EU membership because of access to the single market, but questioned whether it was worth the extra bureaucracy for business, loss of sovereignty, and the deficit in democracy.

Wollaston initially supported the Vote Leave campaign during the 2016 referendum on European Union membership, stating in an article in The Guardian following David Cameron's renegotiation of membership terms in February 2016 that "the prime minister has returned with a threadbare deal that has highlighted our powerlessness to effect institutional change" and that "the balance of our national interest now lies outside the EU".

[74] However, she announced on 8 June 2016 that she would change sides to campaign for Britain to remain in the EU, claiming that Vote Leave's assertion that exiting the union would make available £350m a week for health spending "simply isn't true" and represented "post-truth politics".

[76] Michael Deacon of The Daily Telegraph wrote her decision to switch sides had sparked a conspiracy theory among many Leave campaigners that she was a "government plant", while fellow Conservative MP and Eurosceptic Nadine Dorries said that Wollaston's change of opinion was "deliberately staged and political".

[80] Strongly opposing a no-deal Brexit, she said in December 2018: "If it becomes the main objective of government policy to deliver no deal and no transition, then the consequences of that would be so horrific for the people I represent then I couldn't stay a member of the Conservative party.