Julie Kirkbride fights for her political future in Bromsgrove
May 28 2009 By Jonathan Walker
Tory MP Julie Kirkbride was fighting for her political future as it emerged local Conservative activists would decide whether she should step down when she faces them at a meeting in Bromsgrove.
The embattled Worcestershire MP said she wanted to stay in her post and defended her expenses claims after Conservative leader David Cameron warned that she must explain herself to the public.
Mr Cameron, who described Ms Kirkbride as a “very effective MP”, said: “She does have some questions to answer, as many, many MPs have questions to answer.
“She is answering those questions and she will do so both in front of my scrutiny panel in Westminster and also to her own constituency party.
“She will be having meetings with them later on and that is the right thing to do.”
A hostile reaction from local party activists is likely to spell the end of Ms Kirkbride’s career.
Her husband Andrew MacKay was forced to announce he was quitting as MP for Bracknell, in Berkshire, after he was barracked by party members at a similar meeting.
Ms Kirkbride (Con Bromsgrove) said she wanted to stay in her job, as she attempted to justify her allowances.
But she admitted that she knew Mr MacKay had been claiming second home expenses of £23,000 a year on the couple’s London address, despite not having a property in his Bracknell constituency.
Ms Kirkbride also insisted it was “appropriate” for her to employ her sister as a secretary, even though she lives more than 100 miles from her Bromsgrove constituency.
