Sarah McCarthy-Fry

Sarah McCarthy-Fry
Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury
In office 18 June 2009 – 11 May 2010
Prime Minister	Gordon Brown
Preceded by	Kitty Ussher
Succeeded by	David Gauke
Member of Parliament for Portsmouth North
In office 5 May 2005 – 6 May 2010
Preceded by	Syd Rapson
Succeeded by	Penny Mordaunt
Majority	1,139 (3.0%)
Personal details
Born	4 February 1955 (1955-02-04) (age 56) Portsmouth
Nationality	British
Political party	Labour Co-operative
Spouse(s)	Tony McCarthy

Sarah McCarthy-Fry (born 4 February 1955) is a British Labour Co-operative politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Portsmouth North from 2005 to 2010. McCarthy-Fry was the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury in the last Labour government.

Early life

She was born Sarah Louise Macaree, the daughter of a defence worker of Scottish descent. Fry is the name of her first husband, McCarthy of her second. She was educated at Portsmouth High School. She worked for the multi-national defence engineering company GKN Westland at Portsmouth, and most recently as financial controller for GKN Aerospace^[1] at Cowes, Isle of Wight. Her job has included spells working abroad in Germany and the United States. She qualified as a chartered accountant in 2004. She came to prominence in local politics leading a neighbourhood group, Ban the Burner successfully opposing a proposed incinerator. She was elected to Portsmouth City Council in 1994, chaired the environment committee, and was deputy leader for five years from 1995-2000, remaining with the council until 2002. She is a member of Amicus and of the Co-operative Party.

Political career

She tried to be selected for the seat in 1997, and later became Syd Rapson's campaign manager. Her main political interests are trade and industry, defence and the social economy. She campaigned in favour of identity cards after a constituency survey indicated a large majority in favour of them, and stressed her support in her maiden speech.

In 2006 Sarah was made PPS to John Healey, Financial Secretary to the Treasury. In Prime Minister Gordon Brown's cabinet reshuffle in 2007, Sarah was made PPS to Geoff Hoon, Chief Whip. She was then promoted on 5 October 2008, when she became a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department for Children, Schools and Families replacing Lord Adonis; who was moved from Education to Transport a controversial move that brought about much speculation in the press afterward; as Adonis was seen to be a key education reformer and in removing him from a post he flourished in it signified that the government no longer had education at the top of their agenda. McCarthy-Fry was moved to the Department for Communities and Local Government in the June 2009 reshuffle.

On 17 June 2009, she was appointed Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, replacing Kitty Ussher after her resignation.^[2] She was at the Department for Communities and Local Government for just one week.

At the general election on 6 May 2010 she lost her seat to the Conservative candidate Penny Mordaunt.

Along with Anne Snelgrove she co-ordinated Ed Balls campaign for leadership of the Labour party.

Expenses controversy

In May 2009 the Daily Telegraph revealed that McCarthy-Fry had attempted to claim for a £100 set of hair straighteners on her expenses, though the claim was refused. Items the taxpayer did fund include £333 worth of bedding and a sewing box. She also received a salary of £95,617.^[3]

Personal life

Sarah married her second husband Tony McCarthy in 1997 and they have four grown-up children. She is a fan of The Who, and her hobbies include tap-dancing, dog walking and amateur dramatics.

References

1. ^ GKN^{[dead link]}
2. ^ Prime Minister accepts resignation of Kitty Ussher PoliticsHome, 17 June 2009
3. ^ MPs’ expenses: Sarah McCarthy-Fry claimed for £100 GHD hair straighteners Telegraph, 21 May 2009

External links

• They Work For You
• Guardian biography
• Kaupthing Involvement
• Voting record at the Public Whip
• BBC Politics page
• Meet the MP at the BBC

News items

• Concern over Royal Navy ships BBC News
• Upset over Boris Johnson BBC News

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Syd Rapson	Member of Parliament for Portsmouth North 2005 - 2010	Succeeded by Penny Mordaunt
Preceded by The Lord Adonis	Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Schools and Learners 2008 - 2009	Succeeded by Diana Johnson (Schools) Iain Wright (Learners)
Preceded by Unknown	Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 2009	Succeeded by

Persondata
Name	Maccarthy-Fry, Sarah
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	4 February 1955
Place of birth	Portsmouth
Date of death
Place of death