Gina Miller

Gina Miller
Born 19 April 1965
British Guiana
Alma mater Roedean School, Moira House Girls School, University of London
Occupation investment management
Known for challenging the UK Government's right to invoke Article 50 without reference to the House of Commons
Spouse(s) Alan Miller[*]

Gina Miller (born 19 April 1965[1]) is a British investment manager who co-founded SCM Private in 2014[2] and a philanthropist for the True and Fair Campaign. She is known for initiating the 2016 R (Miller and Dos Santos) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union court case against the British government over its authority to implement Brexit without approval from the House of Commons.

Biography

Miller was born in British Guiana (now Guyana) before moving to England when she was aged 10.[3][4] She is the daughter of Doodnauth Singh, a former attorney general of Guyana.[5][6] She attended the girls' boarding school Roedean, from which she ran away to escape bullying.[7] She gained a degree in marketing, and an MSc in human resource management at the University of London.[1]

She owned a property photographic laboratory in 1987, before becoming marketing and event manager at BMW Fleet Division in 1990. She started a marketing company in 1992, and launched the Senate investment conference programme in 1996. In 2006 she became a marketing consultant.[1] In February 2009,[8] Miller co-founded the investment firm SCM Private with her husband Alan Miller.[3][7] She has been a leading campaigner against hidden hedge fund charges and what she describes as "flagrant mis-selling within the asset management market". She set up Miller Philanthropy in 2009, and established MoneyShe.com in 2014.[1]

She has been married three times, and has three children.[1][9]

True and Fair Campaign

In October 2009,[8] Miller established Miller Philanthropy, later renamed the True and Fair Foundation. The organisation lobbies against high fund management costs.[1]

In January 2012,[8][10] she set up the True and Fair Campaign, with the stated aim to "limit the possibility of future mis-selling or financial scandals through greater transparency."[4] This initiative attracted the animosity of part of the City, earning her the nickname of "black widow spider".[7] She reported being stared at and called "a disgrace [whose] lobbying efforts would bring down the entire City" to her face.[3]

Brexit legal challenge

In June 2016, in the aftermath of the United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, Miller privately hired the City law firm Mishcon de Reya.[7] Along with London-based Spanish hairdresser Deir Dos Santos and the People's Challenge group, founded by Grahame Pigney,[3] she challenged the authority of the British government over the implementation of Brexit and its power to invoke Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union, arguing that the Parliament had a say in the matter. The case, R (Miller and Dos Santos) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, was defended by the law firms Mishcon de Reya, Edwin Coe and Bindmans,[3] and by David Pannick.[11]

On 3 November 2016, the High Court of Justice ruled that Parliament had to legislate before the Government could invoke Article 50.[12][13] Miller said outside the High Court: "The judgment, I hope – when it's read by the Government and they contemplate the full judgment – that they will make the wise decision of not appealing but pressing forward and having a proper debate in our sovereign parliament, our mother of parliaments that we are so admired for all over the world".[14]

The legal challenge met with hostility from some of those supporting Brexit, culminating in death threats after the Court ruled in her favour.[7] Mishcon de Reya was subjected to abuse as a result of its involvement in the case, and Brexit supporters mounted a protest outside the firm's offices.[15]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Newlands, Chris (24 April 2016). "Racism and fees fire up Gina Miller"Paid subscription required. Financial Times.
  2. ↑ "Who is Gina Miller?". Daily Telegraph. 3 November 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Brexit court case: Who is Gina Miller?". BBC News. 3 November 2016.
  4. 1 2 Masters, James (4 November 2016). "Guyana-born Gina Miller: The woman behind the Brexit bombshell". CNN.
  5. ↑ Kutchinsky, Serena (10 November 2016). "'This is bigger than just Brexit': how Gina Miller held the government to account over the EU". New Statesman. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  6. ↑ Butter, Susannah (4 November 2016). "Brexit legal challenge: Gina Miller argues 'defending democracy is the best way to spend my money'". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "Gina Miller on her Brexit legal challenge: 'This had to be done'". The Guardian. 3 November 2016.
  8. 1 2 3 "Gina Miller". LinkedIn.
  9. ↑ "Who is Gina Miller? Meet woman who won Article 50 High Court case and put brakes on Brexit". The Express. 4 November 2016.
  10. ↑ "Gina Miller: the woman taking on Theresa May over article 50". The Guardian. 13 October 2016.
  11. ↑ "Gina Miller, the woman who derailed Theresa May's Brexit". The Independent. 3 November 2016.
  12. ↑ "High court says parliament must vote on triggering article 50 - as it happened". The Guardian. 3 November 2016.
  13. ↑ "UK court says Brexit needs parliament's approval, complicates government plans". Reuters. 3 November 2016.
  14. ↑ Payton, Matt (3 November 2016). "Gina Miller subjected to online abuse after Brexit legal challenge victory". The Indepebndent. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  15. ↑ Bowcott, Owen (19 July 2016). "Theresa May does not intend to trigger article 50 this year, court told". The Guardian.
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