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Rt Hon. Andrew MacKay MP
Member of Parliament for Bracknell East Berkshire (1983-1997)
Incumbent
Assumed office  9 June 1983
Preceded by	new constituency.
Majority	12,036 (23.5%)
Member of Parliament for Birmingham Stechford
In office 31 March 1977 – 3 May 1979
Preceded by	Roy Jenkins
Succeeded by	Terry Davis
Born	27 August 1949 (1949-08-27) (age 60) Birmingham
Nationality	British
Political party	Conservative
Spouse(s)	Julie Kirkbride Diana Joy Kinchin (div. 1996)

Andrew James MacKay (born 27 August 1949, Birmingham) is a British Conservative Party politician, and currently the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bracknell in Berkshire.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Parliamentary career 2.1 Expenses claims 3 Personal life 4 References 5 External links 5.1 Audio clips

[edit] Early life

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.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Parliamentary career

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]

[edit] Expenses claims

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^{[citation needed]} 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 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.

[edit] Personal life

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]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Andrew MacKay MP official site
• ePolitix.com - Andrew MacKay MP
• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Andrew MacKay MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Andrew MacKay MP
• The Public Whip - Andrew MacKay MP voting record
• BBC News - Andrew MacKay MP BBC profile

[edit] Audio clips

• Shadow Northern Ireland minister in 1999
• Decommissioning of weapons in 2001

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
New constituency	Member of Parliament for Bracknell 1997–present	Incumbent
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