Expenses MP reconsiders

Published on Friday 6 November 2009 21:46

A CONSERVATIVE MP who said she would stand down from parliament after being caught up in the expenses row has changed her mind.

According to the Conservative Home website, Julie Kirkbride told a special meeting of the executive of Bromsgrove Conservative Association on Thursday night she wanted to rescind her resignation.

Ms Kirkbride wrote to Tory leader David Cameron in May saying she would not seek re-election after controversy over the parliamentary expenses claims by her and her husband, Andrew Mackay MP.

She claimed thousands of pounds on their family home in her Worcestershire constituency, while Mr Mackay – who represents Bracknell in Berkshire but has no base there – received subsidy on the property they shared in London.

The scheme meant all the couple's accommodation was effectively paid for by the taxpayer, sparking an anti-Kirkbride petition in Bromsgrove.

The development follows earlier reports that Ms Kirkbride – MP for Bromsgrove since 1997 – was reconsidering her decision to stand down.

When rumours first surfaced in July, Mr Cameron appeared to indicate that a return was not out of the question.

ConservativeHome reported that party HQ was seeking an all-postal open primary to select a candidate in Bromsgrove and that Ms Kirkbride told the constituency's executive that if she was cleared by Sir Thomas Legg's audit of the past four years' expenses claims she would like to be considered for the contest.

Ms Kirkbride could not be reached for comment yesterday.

A Conservative spokesman said: "We can't comment while Sir Thomas Legg is conducting his review."