Julie Kirkbride to stand down as MP

May 28 2009 by Jonathan Walker

focus of the public spotlight can be unbearably intense, as you described graphically to me on the phone this morning. I understand that the pressure has now become more than you can bear.

"You have struggled hard to balance your roles of mother and Member of Parliament, and spoken eloquently of how difficult it is to combine the two. As you said to me this morning, your first instinct must now be to protect the wellbeing of your family - especially of your son."

Ms Kirkbride became involved in the expenses controversy when it emerged she had claimed second home allowance for her Bromsgrove home, and registered a London property as her main residence, at the same time as her husband claimed second home allowance on the same London property.

Mr MacKay quit as an aide to Mr Cameron, and then announced he was standing down as an MP following a stormy meeting with his constituency party where he came in for vocal criticism.

But the party attempted to protect Ms Kirkbride, insisting her circumstances were different to her husband. While Mr MacKay appeared to have no main residence - only the “second home” he claimed expenses for - Ms Kirkbride did have two homes, which meant that under House of Commons rules she was allowed to claim expenses for one of them.

But she was then hit by a series of further revelations, including a report that she used taxpayers’ money to part-fund an extension to her constituency home so  that her brother could live there.

Ms Kirkbride explained that the extension was necessary so that her brother Ian could continue staying with her family to provide childcare for her eight-year-old son Angus.

And she said any working mother would understand that having a family member on hand was the best way of ensuring flexible and reliable childcare, adding that without Ian’s help she would have been unable to serve as MP.

A group calling itself Julie Must Go has been collecting signatures in her Bromsgrove constituency demanding her removal as Tory candidate in the general election. 

Last night, Mr Cameron had said that she was giving a "good account" of herself, adding: "I'm trying to be fair and consistent and I think that Julie is out there explaining why she did what she did, she'll also be doing that in her constituency as well and that's the right thing to do."

Also today, Luton South Labour MP Margaret Moran announced she would be standing down at the next election.

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Julie Kirkbride profile:
Julie Kirkbride was one of only five new female Conservative MPs when she was elected to represent Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, in 1997.

The woman chosen for the safe Tory seat was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and went to a local grammar school before heading to Cambridge University.

Ms Kirkbride, 48, gained an MA in economics and history at Girton College and went to the Graduate School of Journalism of the University of California Berkeley from 1982-3 after a spell working for the Parliamentary Weekly House Magazine.

In 1983 Ms Kirkbride became a researcher for Yorkshire Television and she went on to work as a producer for BBC News and Current Affairs and then the ITN Parliamentary Unit.

She was a political correspondent for the Daily Telegraph from 1992-6 during which time her then partner Stephen Milligan, the Conservative MP for Eastleigh, was found dead at his home.

Mr Milligan, who was wearing stocking at the time of his death, was thought to have died when an auto-erotic experience went tragically wrong.

Ms Kirkbride remained dignified during the tragedy and went on to become social affairs editor of the Sunday Telegraph from 1996 until 1997 when she became an MP.

Soon afterwards, she married Andrew MacKay, the Conservative MP for Bracknell, in Berkshire. The couple now have an eight-year-old son, Angus.

In an interview with the Independent on Sunday at the end of 1997, she described herself as “really normal” and said her selection showed there was “a different kind of person coming into the party”.

She spoke of her desire to “create mechanisms so that everyone has equal opportunities”.

Ms Kirkbride was opposition spokeswoman for culture, media and sport between November 2003 and September 2004 but lost the job during a reshuffle by then leader Michael Howard.

She has been a member of the trade and industry select committee since 2005.

In November 2006 she admitted previously undisclosed links with the Midlands Industrial Council (MIC) - which had donated millions of pounds to the Conservative party - after an investigation by the BBC’s Politics Show.

Ms Kirkbride confirmed she was the “link person” between the MIC and the Conservative Party in Parliament but said that she had neither given nor received any money from the MIC, which was why her involvement was not listed.

Now it is her expenses claims which have forced Ms Kirkbride to announce she will stand down at the next election.