CWO invite you and your friends to an Autumn Lunch
Friday 12th October 2012
12 for 12.30pm
at
Culmington Village Hall
Guest Speaker – Karen Bradley MP
Tickets £15 pp Raffle
to book please contact
Sarah Ingleby seai@btinternet.com
Rosedale Court, Puddleston, Herefordshire HR6 0RF 01568 750243
Karen was born in the Moorlands and spent her early years in Cheddleton. She moved to Buxton, in neighbouring Derbyshire, when her parents took over the family pub, the Queens Head. Growing up over the pub has given her a unique introduction to people from all walks of life. Karen lives in Leek and is married with two young sons.
Karen attended the local comprehensive, Buxton Girls School, before going on to gain a BSc Hons in Mathematics from Imperial College London.
After university she qualified as a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Tax Adviser and has nearly 20 years' experience working for major accounting firms or as a self-employed tax and economics consultant. In that time, Karen has advised many different businesses, from multi-nationals to local farms.
Karen was a relative latecomer to active politics, describing herself as a "couch Conservative" until 2002. Then she was seconded by her employer at the time to work as a technical adviser to the Shadow Treasury Team led by Michael Howard.
She well and truly caught the politics bug when she saw the positive difference she could make through Parliament and threw herself into active campaigning.
Prior to the 2005 General Election, Karen worked in the Conservative Policy Unit, helping to develop economic and fiscal policies, particularly those aimed at removing unnecessary regulation and red tape.
Karen cut her general election teeth fighting the Parliamentary seat of Manchester Withington in 2005. She was selected as the candidate for Staffordshire Moorlands in July 2006 and was returned as MP four years later at the General Election on 6th May 2010, with a majority of 6,689: a swing of 5.7% from Labour.
On entering Parliament Karen was elected to the House of Commons Select Committee on Work and Pensions where she helped the committee scrutinise the work of the DWP And the Government's policy on welfare. She was later elected to the Procedure Committee where she made a major contribution to the work that led to the changes in sitting hours in 2012, helping to make Parliament more effective.
In September 2012 Karen was promoted to become a Minister in the Government Whips' Office.
When she is not working in Parliament or her constituency, campaigning for the interests of people in Staffordshire Moorlands or looking after her children, Karen enjoys experimenting with new recipes and reading detective fiction. She is also keen on travel, although her long haul days have been seriously curtailed recently.