| Esther McVey MP | |
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament for Wirral West |
|
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 6 May 2010 |
|
| Preceded by | Stephen Hesford |
| Majority | 2,436 (6.2%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Esther Louise McVey 24 October 1967 Liverpool, Lancashire, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Residence | West Kirby |
| Alma mater | Queen Mary & Westfield College City University, London |
| Occupation | Company Director MP Wirral West |
| Profession | Television presenter, Businesswoman |
Esther Louise McVey[1] (born 24 October 1967) is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wirral West since May 2010. She has also been a television presenter and business woman.
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McVey was born in Liverpool and educated at the city's Belvedere School, before undertaking a law degree at Queen Mary & Westfield College, London. In July 2009 McVey graduated from Liverpool John Moores University with a distinction for her MSc in Corporate Governance, and won the North of England Excellence Award for her studies.
McVey has worked in the family business which specialises in demolition and site clearance,[2] land reclamation and regeneration.
She returned to the family business after University, while undertaking a post graduate course in radio journalism at City University, London before embarking on a career in the media, both as a presenter and producer. McVey has presented and produced a wide range of programmes, co-hosting GMTV, BBC1's science entertainment series How Do They Do That?, 5's Company, The Heaven and Earth Show, Shopping City, BBC2's youth current affairs programme Reportage, and Channel 4's legal series Nothing But The Truth with Ann Widdecombe. McVey has debated at the Oxford Union and took part in Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues at the Liverpool Empire Theatre.
McVey returned to Liverpool and set up her own business, Making It (UK) Ltd, which provides training for SME's and through which she founded Winning Women.[3] McVey was nominated for Merseyside Woman of the Year and Cheshire Woman of the Year 2004/05.
A supporter of Conservative Way Forward McVey stood as a Conservative Party candidate in the 2005 general election, in the Wirral West constituency, losing to the sitting Labour MP Stephen Hesford by 1097 votes. In January 2008, McVey agreed an out of court settlement to pay Hesford £6,500 in damages and legal costs after a member of her team copied on her blog an article from The Mail on Sunday that the MP was planning to take part in what was described as a cricket “junket” to Australia and New Zealand.[4] Hesford had intended to go on the tour and had paid a substantial deposit but later cancelled.
In the general election in May 2010, McVey won the seat of Wirral West, with 42.5% of the votes cast, beating Labour's Phil Davies by 2436 votes.[5]. Since 2010, McVey has served as PPS to Employment Minister Chris Grayling [6]
Presently single, McVey lives in West Kirby. As a longstanding friend of Kate McCann, McVey helped her family set up the Madeleine McCann Fund and remained part of the board for eight months. [7]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Stephen Hesford |
Member of Parliament for Wirral West 2010 – present |
Incumbent |