Andrew James MacKay (born 27 August 1949) is a British

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician who served as the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for Birmingham Stechford from 1977 to 1979, East Berkshire from 1983 to 1997 and for Bracknell in Berkshire from 1997 to 2010.

Early life

MacKay attended

Solihull School Solihull School is a coeducational Independent school (UK), independent day school in Solihull, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Founded in 1560, it is the oldest school in the town and is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmi ...

, an independent school in Solihull, West Midlands. After leaving school he chaired the Solihull Young Conservatives. He has worked as an estate agent and company director.

Parliamentary career

MacKay first entered parliament in 1977, after taking Birmingham Stechford from

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at the Birmingham Stechford by-election. He lost the seat at the 1979 general election, but re-entered parliament in 1983 as MP for East Berkshire. He was deputy Chief Whip under John Major, and was

Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland The Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is a member of the British Shadow Cabinet responsible for the scrutiny of the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and their department, the Northern Ireland Office. The post is currently he ...

from 1997 to September 2001 during the leadership of

William Hague William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

. He was on the backbenches subsequently, but was appointed a Conservative Deputy Chairman in September 2004 with responsibility for candidates, and, after David Cameron's election in November 2005 as Leader of the Conservative Party, MacKay became a Senior Parliamentary/Political Adviser to the new Conservative leader.

Expenses claims

MacKay and Kirkbride own two homes: one in her constituency; and a flat close to Parliament in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

. In a case of so-called "double-dipping," according to ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'', MacKay had used his Additional Costs Allowance to claim more than £1,000 a month in mortgage interest payments on their joint Westminster flat. His wife used her Additional Costs Allowance to claim over £900 a month on paying off the

mortgage A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdicions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any ...

for their family home near her constituency. This means they effectively had no main home but two second homes – and were using public funds to pay for both of them. During 2008–9, MacKay claimed a total of £23,083 under Additional Costs Allowance, while Kirkbride claimed £22,575. They also claimed for each other's travel costs, with Kirkbride claiming £1,392 to meet spouse travel, while MacKay claimed £408. On 14 May 2009, he resigned from his position as parliamentary aide to Cameron in the wake of the furore over Parliamentary expenses after what was described as an "unacceptable" expenses claim. At a public meeting in his constituency on 22 May he had been heckled, and called a "thieving toad" according to ''

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''. In an interview with

Matthew Amroliwala Matthew Amroliwala (born 1962) is a British television newsreader, who presents '' Global with Matthew Amroliwala'' on BBC World News each weekday at 1500 hrs GMT. He has also been an occasional relief presenter of the ''BBC News at One'' on BB ...

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the following morning, MacKay apologised for his error of judgement. In what he claimed was an agreed procedure with the Parliamentary Claims office, he had designated their Westminster home as his secondary home, while Kirkbride has designated the Bromsgrove house as her second home. MacKay announced that the procedure had been ongoing for eight or nine years, and that he would be repaying the monies after taking advice from the Conservatives scrutiny committee. On 23 May 2009, after a telephone call from Cameron, it was announced that MacKay would stand down at the 2010 general election.

Personal life

In 1974 MacKay married Diana Joy Kinchin; they had two children, but divorced in 1996. The following year, MacKay married

Julie Kirkbride Julie Kirkbride (born 5 June 1960) is a British Conservative politician. She was the Member of Parliament for the Conservative stronghold of Bromsgrove from the 1997 to the 2010 general elections. Early life Kirkbride was born in Halifax, Wes ...

, a fellow Conservative MP; the couple have a son who attended Westminster School.

References

Audio clips