Bromsgrove MP Julie Kirkbride employs sister 100 miles away
Under-fire Tory MP Julie Kirkbride is facing fresh allegations over her use of taxpayers’ money after it emerged she employs her sister even though she lives more than 100 miles from her constituency.
The Bromsgrove MP employs Karen Leadley on a part-time salary of £12,000 to do clerical work for her, despite living in Dorset.
Ms Kirkbride is already under intense scrutiny over her use of allowances after her MP husband, Andrew MacKay, was forced to stand down as David Cameron’s aide when it emerged he had claimed second home expenses of £23,000 a year on his London address despite not having a property in his Bracknell constituency.
Mr Mackay has announced he will stand down at the next general election, although Ms Kirkbride has not followed his move and insists she has done nothing wrong.
She said the employment of her sister, who works from her home in Wimborne, Dorset, had been registered for some time and she was a popular member of staff.
Ms Kirkbride said: “My sister does work for me on a part-time salary of around £12,000.
“She lives in Wimborne, Dorset, but she has a computer which is networked to my constituency office and London office.
“She carries out tasks on a regular basis but her principal job is to do constituency correspondence during the parliamentary recess and many people have written to say how helpful she has been.”
It has also emerged that Ms Kirkbride’s brother Ian bought about £1,000 of electrical equipment using her parliamentary office expense account.
Ms Kirkbride said he sourced items on the internet at the cheapest price and they were “entirely in relation to my parliamentary duties”.
