Dame Caroline Alice Spelman is a British Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament for Meriden in the West Midlands from 1997 to 2019.
17 Facts About Caroline Spelman
2.
Caroline Spelman was Sugar Beet commodity secretary for the National Farmers' Union from 1981 to 1984.
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In 2009, Caroline Spelman was moved in another reshuffle to the role of Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, replacing Eric Pickles.
4.
Caroline Spelman served as Second Church Estates Commissioner from 2015 to 2019.
5.
Caroline Spelman was opposed to Brexit prior to the 2016 referendum.
6.
In January 2019 MPs approved a symbolic, non-binding amendment, tabled by Caroline Spelman, to prevent a no-deal Brexit, by 318 votes to 310.
7.
On 6 June 2008, Caroline Spelman was the subject of controversy when it was suggested that for around twelve months from May 1997 she paid her child's nanny, Tina Haynes, from her parliamentary staffing allowance, contrary to the rule governing such allowances and fears of the misuse of them.
8.
The accusations came at a time when Conservative Party leader David Cameron had tasked Caroline Spelman with reviewing the use of parliamentary allowances by Conservative MPs and MEPs in the wake of the Derek Conway affair.
9.
The allegation against Caroline Spelman came shortly after two Conservative MEPs, Giles Chichester and Den Dover, were forced to resign amid claims they misused their parliamentary allowances.
10.
However, Caroline Spelman was not urged to resign by party leader, David Cameron.
11.
Caroline Spelman referred the matter pertaining to herself, her nanny and parliamentary funds to John Lyon, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards.
12.
In March 2009, the Commons Standards and Privileges Committee ruled that Caroline Spelman had misused her allowances to pay for nannying work in 1997 and 1998.
13.
Caroline Spelman married Mark Spelman, a senior partner at Accenture, on 25 April 1987 in south-east Kent.
14.
Caroline Spelman's husband stood as a Conservative candidate in the 2009 European elections for the West Midlands region.
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In 1997, Caroline Spelman was the only Conservative MP who was a mother of school-age children; the Conservative party instructed that her children should be educated in her constituency as a condition of her selection as MP.
16.
Caroline Spelman is a Patron of the Conservative Christian Fellowship.
17.
Caroline Spelman was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for political and public service as part of the Resignation Honours of the outgoing Prime Minister David Cameron.