Gina Miller has been awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Science (Social Sciences) by Royal Holloway for her outstanding achievements as an entrepreneur, business owner, transparency campaigner and activist.
Gina had already achieved notable success as a business owner and campaigner, when in 2016, she took the UK Government to court over Brexit and won.
In an historic constitutional legal case where she was the sole claimant, Gina argued that the government could not trigger Article 50 to leave the European Union without parliamentary approval. The judges agreed with her, and later so did the Supreme Court.
Gina’s passion for the law was honed in childhood. Born in what was British Guiana, she grew up in the newly independent Guyana listening to her father, who was the attorney general, speak about his work, the cases he had come across and the miscarriages of justice people were suffering from.
Gina became a marketing and event manager at BMW Fleet Division in 1990 before starting a specialist financial services marketing agency in 1992. She became a marketing consultant in 2006 and in 2009, Gina co-founded the investment firm SCM Private (now SCM Direct) with her husband Alan Miller.
Gina has been a leading campaigner against hidden charges in pensions and investment and in 2012, she established the True and Fair Campaign with the goal of improving consumer protection to prevent the British public losing their savings. In 2014, she established MoneyShe.com as a female-focused investment brand.
In 2017, Gina was named by Powerlist as the ‘UK's most influential black person’, and in 2018, she published her memoir Rise: Life Lessons in Speaking Out, Standing Tall and Leading the Way.
At the beginning of 2022, Gina launched a new political party – the True & Fair Party with the strapline ‘we all deserve better, which is aiming to clean up politics, modernise democracy and fight corruption.
Gina said of her Honorary Doctorate: “I am very humbled to be receiving this prestigious Honorary Doctorate of Science.
“Awards are never a reason to act with integrity, principle and compassion, but they are nevertheless heart-warming to receive. I have very much looked forward to accepting and joining the students of Royal Holloway on their very special day.”