1. Julie Kirkbride was the Member of Parliament for the Conservative stronghold of Bromsgrove from the 1997 to the 2010 general elections.
17 Facts About Julie Kirkbride
1. 2.
Julie Kirkbride's father was a lorry driver, who died when she was seven.
3.
Julie Kirkbride's mother was a secretary at Rowntree Mackintosh.
4.
Julie Kirkbride went to the Highlands School in Illingworth, Halifax.
5.
In 1997 general election Kirkbride was elected MP of Bromsgrove, a seat which had consistently been Conservative since the 1970s.
6.
Julie Kirkbride was re-elected in 2001 election and 2005 election with over 50 per cent of votes.
7.
Julie Kirkbride was the Conservative spokesman on Culture, Media and Sport from 2003 to 2004, but was replaced in a reshuffle by the party leader at that time, Michael Howard.
8.
Julie Kirkbride stood down as a Member of Parliament before the 2010 general election, as a result of public anger over her expenses claims.
9.
MacKay and Julie Kirkbride owned two homes: one in her constituency of Bromsgrove; and a house close to Parliament in Westminster.
10.
Julie Kirkbride employed her sister at taxpayers' expense as her secretary despite her sister living 140 miles from the constituency.
11.
Julie Kirkbride said she allowed her brother to stay rent free in her house some of the time so that he could care for her son, Angus, while she undertook constituency work in the evening.
12.
Julie Kirkbride suggested that criticism of her expense claims could deter women from entering Parliament.
13.
On 28 May 2009, Julie Kirkbride cancelled a meeting in her Bromsgrove constituency to discuss the expense claims, and it was announced that owing to press criticism of her expense claims, she intended to stand down at the next election.
14.
Julie Kirkbride was one of 98 MPs who voted in favour of legislation which would have kept MPs' expense details secret.
15.
Ms Julie Kirkbride's son was at an age when it was essential that someone should be with him in the evening and overnight.
16.
Julie Kirkbride has been a trustee of the charity Volunteering Matters since 2016.
17.
Julie Kirkbride had previously been the girlfriend of Conservative MP Stephen Milligan before his death by auto-erotic asphyxiation in 1994.