| Rt Hon. Andrew MacKay MP | |
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament for Bracknell East Berkshire (1983-1997) |
|
| In office 9 June 1983 – 6 May 2010 |
|
| Preceded by | new constituency. |
| Succeeded by | Phillip Lee |
| Member of Parliament for Birmingham Stechford |
|
| In office 31 March 1977 – 3 May 1979 |
|
| Preceded by | Roy Jenkins |
| Succeeded by | Terry Davis |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 27 August 1949 Birmingham, West Midlands, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse(s) | Julie Kirkbride Diana Joy Kinchin (div. 1996) |
| Children | 1 son |
Andrew James MacKay (born 27 August 1949, Birmingham) is a British Conservative Party politician, and was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bracknell in Berkshire from 1997 to 2010.
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He attended Solihull School, 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.
Mackay first entered parliament in 1977, after winning 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 from 1997 to September 2001 during the leadership of William Hague. He has remained on the backbenches since but was appointed a Conservative Deputy Chairman in September 2004 with responsibility for candidates, and upon the election of David Cameron in November 2005 moved to become a Senior Parliamentary & Political Adviser to the new Conservative leader.
On 23 May 2009, after a telephone call from David Cameron, it was announced that MacKay would stand down at the 2010 general election. At a public meeting in his constituency on 22 May he had been heckled, and called a "thieving toad" according to The Independent.[1] It was later reported the same day that he would receive £105,000 as ' a golden goodbye'.[2][3]
On 14 May 2009 he resigned from his position as parliamentary aide to David Cameron in the wake of the furore over Parliamentary expenses after what was described as an "unacceptable" expenses claim.[4] A hastily called meeting had been arranged on 10 May 2009 with his constituents in Bracknell in an attempt to explain his claims. The meeting was described as a disaster and Mckay was shouted down, jeered and called a "thieving toad" by members of the public. Members of McKay's local association were also furious to discover he had never lived locally and yet he was claiming a second-home allowance on the London home he shared with his wife and fellow Tory MP Julie Kirkbride, 48.[5]
MacKay and his wife Julie Kirkbride, the Conservative MP for the constituency of Bromsgrove, own two homes: one in her constituency; and a flat close to Parliament in Westminster. In a case of so called "double-dipping," according to the Daily Telegraph, 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 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. In 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.[6]
In an interview with Matthew Amroliwala on BBC News 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. Later on The Daily Politics Mackay claimed that he had sought advice from the Parliamentary Claims office and they suggested he should claim as he did.
In 1974 MacKay married Diana Joy Kinchin and they had two children. In August 1997 MacKay married Julie Kirkbride, the Conservative MP for the constituency of Bromsgrove. The couple have a son who was born in Oct 2000.[7]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Roy Jenkins |
Member of Parliament for Birmingham Stechford 1977–1979 |
Succeeded by Terry Davis |
| New constituency | Member of Parliament for East Berkshire 1983–1997 |
Constituency abolished |
| Preceded by New constituency |
Member of Parliament for Bracknell 1997–2010 |
Succeeded by Phillip Lee |
| Preceded by Hélène Hayman |
Baby of the House 1977–1979 |
Succeeded by David Alton |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by Timothy Kirkhope |
Vice-Chamberlain of the Household (Government whip) 1996 |
Succeeded by Derek Conway |
| Preceded by Greg Knight |
Treasurer of the Household 1996-1997 |
Succeeded by George Mudie |
| Preceded by Mo Mowlam |
Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 1997–2001 |
Succeeded by Quentin Davies |