Kitty Ussher
Encyclopedia
Katharine Anne "Kitty" Ussher (born 18 March 1971) is a British
economist and former Labour Party
politician
.
After training as an economist, she was elected Member of Parliament
(MP) for Burnley
from 2005
until 2010, succeeding Peter Pike
. Ussher formerly held the position of Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury
in Gordon Brown
's Government until her resignation. She did not stand in the 2010 election instead taking a position as the chief economist of the think tank Demos
. She was appointed the Director of Demos in September 2010. On 12th August 2011 she resigned from her position at Demos.
lawyer father, and headmistress mother whose brother is Peter Bottomley
. Consequently, this makes her the niece of the former Conservative cabinet minister, Virginia Bottomley
She was educated on a free place at the independent St Paul's Girls' School
, and Balliol College, Oxford
, where she read PPE
, and Birkbeck College, London
, where she took a MSc
in Economics.
and as an economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit
and the Centre for European Reform
. In addition she has worked as secretary to Paul Boateng
and as researcher to MPs Martin O’Neill
, Kim Howells
and Adam Ingram
. From 2001 until her selection as a parliamentary candidate in 2004 she was special adviser to Patricia Hewitt
in the Department of Trade and Industry. She served as a councillor in the London Borough of Lambeth
for Vassall ward
from 1998 to 2002 where she chaired the finance and environment scrutiny committees.
After deciding not to seek re-election at the 2010 UK General Election, Ussher commenced work for the Demos
think tank.
for Burnley
at the 2005 General Election
, having been selected as the Labour candidate for the constituency through an All-Women Shortlist.
As a constituency MP her local campaigning has focused on bringing a university to the town, as well as greater funding for housing renewal projects and a direct train link to Manchester. She has also run a long-running campaign regarding changes to local hospital provision.
From 2005 - 2006 she was a member of the Public Accounts Committee. She was Parliamentary Private Secretary
to Margaret Hodge
MBE the Minister of State at the Department of Trade and Industry until 29 June 2007.
In Gordon Brown
's first reshuffle she was appointed as Economic Secretary to the Treasury
, succeeding Ed Balls
. One of her first speeches was to London First's "Building the Capital's Capital". She described this position as "her dream job" and told her audience, "we want our decisions to be informed by your expertise. And more than that, we need them to be.”.
The timing of her appointment gave her a ringside seat at the credit crunch, party to crucial meetings of the Tripartate Committee of Treasury, FSA
and the Bank of England
as the authorities dealt with the collapse of Northern Rock
, the subsequent financial crisis and its legislative response.
Her time also saw a review of the policy towards co-operatives and credit unions, to give them greater commercial freedom and ability to expand. She also developed the policy leading to the Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Act 2009 that redistributes unclaimed banking assets to community use, and the Savings Gateway Act 2009 that provides financial incentives to poorer people to save.
On 5 October 2008 she moved to become Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
at the Department for Work and Pensions
taking on broad welfare reform responsibilities previously undertaken by Stephen Timms
and James Plaskitt
. At the time of the reshuffle, she was described by The Times' city diarist Martin Waller as "one of the brighter denizens of the lower depths of the Brown administration" who had "made herself popular enough in the City".
She became responsible for the government's review of housing benefit policy and a review of the social fund, as well as the Child Support Agency
and welfare policy on lone parents.
In December 2008 she was the minister responsible for explaining the Government's position on charging interest on Social Fund loans. She said that the Government was “absolutely not” proposing charging interest on loans from the Social Fund
, although a consultation paper was clearly proposing such an idea and included a worked example of interest charges. The idea was comprehensively rejected in the Government's formal response.
Ussher was moved back to HM Treasury
in the June 2009 reshuffle, this time becoming Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury
however she resigned to prevent embarrassment to the government regarding her tax position ten days later and was replaced by Sarah McCarthy-Fry
, the MP for Portsmouth North
.
reported that within a year of being elected, Ussher inquired about claiming for around £20,000 worth of repairs to her London house, which she owned before becoming an MP. As she explained to her constituents in her weekly Burnley Express column of that week, she had moved to Burnley in 2004 purchasing and renovating her own home in the constituency at her own expense; her children were then born in Burnley. The London house had been kept to be used when she was voting in Westminster.
On 17 June 2009, after controversial details of MP's expenses had been released in the press
, Ussher resigned, citing a desire to "prevent embarrassment to the government" after allegations that she changed the designation of her "main" home for capital gains tax
purposes to reduce her tax bill. In her resignation letter Ussher said that she had done nothing wrong and that her actions were "in line with HM Revenue and Customs guidance and based on the advice of a reputable firm of accountants who in turn were recommended to me by the House of Commons fees office". She also denied any abuse of the allowances system of the House of Commons.
At the same time Ussher announced that she would not contest the next election, citing the difficulties in reconciling her parental responsibilities with the working hours of Parliament, stating that this decision had preceded the expenses controversy. Commenting on her resignation, the BBC described her as a "rising star" who had risen quickly through the ranks, despite only being elected in 2005.
On 5 June 2009 the police at Scotland Yard
and the Crown Prosecution Service
issued a statement stating that the incidents of flipping second homes to avoid paying capital gains tax was not a matter for police investigation. An investigation by Sir Thomas Legg into MPs' claims found that Ussher had breached the £11,000 limit for her new kitchen and ordered her to repay £1,271.65. Her appeal against the ruling was rejected.
Peter Colley in September 1999 in Hammersmith
; they have one daughter (born 7 June 2005) and a son (born 3 January 2008). They have homes in Brixton
and Burnley
.
Ussher is niece of Peter Bottomley
, MP, and (many generations back) of Archbishop James Ussher
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
economist and former Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
.
After training as an economist, she was elected Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for Burnley
Burnley (UK Parliament constituency)
Burnley is a borough constituency centred on the town of Burnley in Lancashire, which is represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
from 2005
United Kingdom general election, 2005
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
until 2010, succeeding Peter Pike
Peter Pike
Peter Leslie Pike is a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was a member of Parliament for Burnley from 1983 until 2005.- External links :...
. Ussher formerly held the position of Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury
Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury
The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury is a junior ministerial post in the British Treasury, ranked below the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the Paymaster General and the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, and alongside the Economic Secretary to the Treasury....
in Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
's Government until her resignation. She did not stand in the 2010 election instead taking a position as the chief economist of the think tank Demos
Demos (UK think tank)
- History :Demos was founded in 1993 by former Marxism Today editor Martin Jacques, and Geoff Mulgan, who became its first director. It was formed in response to what Mulgan, Jacques and others saw as a crisis in politics in Britain, with voter engagement in decline and political institutions...
. She was appointed the Director of Demos in September 2010. On 12th August 2011 she resigned from her position at Demos.
Biography
Ussher is the daughter of an Anglo-IrishAnglo-Irish
Anglo-Irish was a term used primarily in the 19th and early 20th centuries to identify a privileged social class in Ireland, whose members were the descendants and successors of the Protestant Ascendancy, mostly belonging to the Church of Ireland, which was the established church of Ireland until...
lawyer father, and headmistress mother whose brother is Peter Bottomley
Peter Bottomley
Sir Peter James Bottomley is a British Conservative Party politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Worthing West...
. Consequently, this makes her the niece of the former Conservative cabinet minister, Virginia Bottomley
Virginia Bottomley
Virginia Bottomley, Baroness Bottomley of Nettlestone, PC, DL is a British Conservative Party politician. She was a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons from 1984 to 2005. She was raised to the peerage in 2005...
She was educated on a free place at the independent St Paul's Girls' School
St Paul's Girls' School
St Paul's Girls' School is a senior independent school, located in Brook Green, Hammersmith, in West London, England.-History:In 1904 a new day school for girls was established by the trustees of the Dean Colet Foundation , which had run St Paul's School for boys since the sixteenth century...
, and Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....
, where she read PPE
Philosophy, Politics, and Economics
Philosophy, politics, and economics is a popular interdisciplinary undergraduate/graduate degree which combines study from the three disciplines...
, and Birkbeck College, London
Birkbeck, University of London
Birkbeck, University of London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. It offers many Master's and Bachelor's degree programmes that can be studied either part-time or full-time, though nearly all teaching is...
, where she took a MSc
Master of Science
A Master of Science is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in the sciences including the social sciences.-Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay:...
in Economics.
Career
Prior to her election she worked as chief economist for Britain in EuropeBritain in Europe
Prior to August 2005, Britain in Europe was the main British pro-European pressure group. Despite connections to Labour and the Liberal Democrats, it was a cross-party organisation with supporters from many different political backgrounds...
and as an economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit
Economist Intelligence Unit
The Economist Intelligence Unit is part of the Economist Group.It is a research and advisory company providing country, industry and management analysis worldwide and incorporates the former Business International Corporation, a U.S. company acquired by the parent organization in 1986...
and the Centre for European Reform
Centre for European Reform
The Centre for European Reform is a London-based think tank which supports European integration while arguing for institutional reform of the European Union...
. In addition she has worked as secretary to Paul Boateng
Paul Boateng
Paul Yaw Boateng, Baron Boateng is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Brent South from 1987 to 2005, becoming the UK's first black Cabinet Minister in May 2002, when he was appointed as Chief Secretary to the Treasury...
and as researcher to MPs Martin O’Neill
Martin O'Neill, Baron O'Neill of Clackmannan
Martin John O'Neill, Baron O'Neill of Clackmannan is a Scottish politician.He was a Labour Member of Parliament between 1979 and 2005, representing the Clackmannan and Eastern Stirlingshire, Clackmannan and Ochil seats successively...
, Kim Howells
Kim Howells
Kim Scott Howells is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Pontypridd from 1989 to 2010, and held a number of ministerial positions within the Government.-Biography:...
and Adam Ingram
Adam Ingram (Labour politician)
Adam Paterson Ingram is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow from 1987 to 2010.-Early life:...
. From 2001 until her selection as a parliamentary candidate in 2004 she was special adviser to Patricia Hewitt
Patricia Hewitt
Patricia Hope Hewitt is an Australian-born British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Leicester West from 1997 until 2010. She served in the Cabinet until 2007, most recently as Health Secretary....
in the Department of Trade and Industry. She served as a councillor in the London Borough of Lambeth
London Borough of Lambeth
The London Borough of Lambeth is a London borough in south London, England and forms part of Inner London. The local authority is Lambeth London Borough Council.-Origins:...
for Vassall ward
Vassall ward
Vassall ward is an administrative division of the London Borough of Lambeth, United Kingdom. It is located in the North of borough bordering Southwark, in the SW9 and SE5 postcode area...
from 1998 to 2002 where she chaired the finance and environment scrutiny committees.
After deciding not to seek re-election at the 2010 UK General Election, Ussher commenced work for the Demos
Demos (UK think tank)
- History :Demos was founded in 1993 by former Marxism Today editor Martin Jacques, and Geoff Mulgan, who became its first director. It was formed in response to what Mulgan, Jacques and others saw as a crisis in politics in Britain, with voter engagement in decline and political institutions...
think tank.
Parliamentary career
Ussher was elected as the member of ParliamentMember of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Burnley
Burnley (UK Parliament constituency)
Burnley is a borough constituency centred on the town of Burnley in Lancashire, which is represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
at the 2005 General Election
United Kingdom general election, 2005
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
, having been selected as the Labour candidate for the constituency through an All-Women Shortlist.
As a constituency MP her local campaigning has focused on bringing a university to the town, as well as greater funding for housing renewal projects and a direct train link to Manchester. She has also run a long-running campaign regarding changes to local hospital provision.
From 2005 - 2006 she was a member of the Public Accounts Committee. She was Parliamentary Private Secretary
Parliamentary Private Secretary
A Parliamentary Private Secretary is a role given to a United Kingdom Member of Parliament by a senior minister in government or shadow minister to act as their contact for the House of Commons; this role is junior to that of Parliamentary Under-Secretary, which is a ministerial post, salaried by...
to Margaret Hodge
Margaret Hodge
Margaret Hodge MBE MP, also known as Lady Hodge by virtue of her husband's knighthood, is a British Labour politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Barking since 1994. She was the first Minister for Children in 2003 and was Minister of State for Culture and Tourism at the Department...
MBE the Minister of State at the Department of Trade and Industry until 29 June 2007.
In Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown
James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...
's first reshuffle she was appointed as Economic Secretary to the Treasury
Economic Secretary to the Treasury
The Economic Secretary to the Treasury is the fifth most senior ministerial post in the UK Treasury, after the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the Paymaster-General and the Financial Secretary...
, succeeding Ed Balls
Ed Balls
Edward Michael Balls, known as Ed Balls, is a British Labour politician, who has been a Member of Parliament since 2005, currently for Morley and Outwood, and is the current Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer....
. One of her first speeches was to London First's "Building the Capital's Capital". She described this position as "her dream job" and told her audience, "we want our decisions to be informed by your expertise. And more than that, we need them to be.”.
The timing of her appointment gave her a ringside seat at the credit crunch, party to crucial meetings of the Tripartate Committee of Treasury, FSA
Financial Services Authority
The Financial Services Authority is a quasi-judicial body responsible for the regulation of the financial services industry in the United Kingdom. Its board is appointed by the Treasury and the organisation is structured as a company limited by guarantee and owned by the UK government. Its main...
and the Bank of England
Bank of England
The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694, it is the second oldest central bank in the world...
as the authorities dealt with the collapse of Northern Rock
Northern Rock
Northern Rock plc is a British bank, best known for becoming the first bank in 150 years to suffer a bank run after having had to approach the Bank of England for a loan facility, to replace money market funding, during the credit crisis in 2007. Having failed to find a commercial buyer for...
, the subsequent financial crisis and its legislative response.
Her time also saw a review of the policy towards co-operatives and credit unions, to give them greater commercial freedom and ability to expand. She also developed the policy leading to the Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Act 2009 that redistributes unclaimed banking assets to community use, and the Savings Gateway Act 2009 that provides financial incentives to poorer people to save.
On 5 October 2008 she moved to become Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
A Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the government of the United Kingdom, junior to both a Minister of State and a Secretary of State....
at the Department for Work and Pensions
Department for Work and Pensions
The Department for Work and Pensions is the largest government department in the United Kingdom, created on June 8, 2001 from the merger of the employment part of the Department for Education and Employment and the Department of Social Security and headed by the Secretary of State for Work and...
taking on broad welfare reform responsibilities previously undertaken by Stephen Timms
Stephen Timms
Stephen Creswell Timms is a British Labour politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for East Ham since 1994. He is a former Cabinet Minister having served as Chief Secretary to the Treasury from 2006 to 2007...
and James Plaskitt
James Plaskitt
James Andrew Plaskitt is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Warwick and Leamington from 1997 until his defeat at the 2010 general election.-Early life:...
. At the time of the reshuffle, she was described by The Times' city diarist Martin Waller as "one of the brighter denizens of the lower depths of the Brown administration" who had "made herself popular enough in the City".
She became responsible for the government's review of housing benefit policy and a review of the social fund, as well as the Child Support Agency
Child Support Agency
The Child Support Agency is a delivery arm of the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission in Great Britain and the Department for Social Development in Northern Ireland...
and welfare policy on lone parents.
In December 2008 she was the minister responsible for explaining the Government's position on charging interest on Social Fund loans. She said that the Government was “absolutely not” proposing charging interest on loans from the Social Fund
Social fund
A social fund is an institution, typically in a developing country, that provides financing for small-scale public investments targeted at meeting the needs of poor and vulnerable communities...
, although a consultation paper was clearly proposing such an idea and included a worked example of interest charges. The idea was comprehensively rejected in the Government's formal response.
Ussher was moved back to HM Treasury
HM Treasury
HM Treasury, in full Her Majesty's Treasury, informally The Treasury, is the United Kingdom government department responsible for developing and executing the British government's public finance policy and economic policy...
in the June 2009 reshuffle, this time becoming Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury
Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury
The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury is a junior ministerial post in the British Treasury, ranked below the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the Paymaster General and the Financial Secretary to the Treasury, and alongside the Economic Secretary to the Treasury....
however she resigned to prevent embarrassment to the government regarding her tax position ten days later and was replaced by Sarah McCarthy-Fry
Sarah McCarthy-Fry
Sarah McCarthy-Fry 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:...
, the MP for Portsmouth North
Portsmouth North
Portsmouth North is a borough constituency which elects one Member of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, by the first past the post voting system...
.
Expenses controversy
On 10 May 2009 the Sunday TelegraphSunday Telegraph
The Sunday Telegraph is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961. It is the sister paper of The Daily Telegraph, but is run separately with a different editorial staff, although there is some cross-usage of stories...
reported that within a year of being elected, Ussher inquired about claiming for around £20,000 worth of repairs to her London house, which she owned before becoming an MP. As she explained to her constituents in her weekly Burnley Express column of that week, she had moved to Burnley in 2004 purchasing and renovating her own home in the constituency at her own expense; her children were then born in Burnley. The London house had been kept to be used when she was voting in Westminster.
On 17 June 2009, after controversial details of MP's expenses had been released in the press
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
, Ussher resigned, citing a desire to "prevent embarrassment to the government" after allegations that she changed the designation of her "main" home for capital gains tax
Capital gains tax
A capital gains tax is a tax charged on capital gains, the profit realized on the sale of a non-inventory asset that was purchased at a lower price. The most common capital gains are realized from the sale of stocks, bonds, precious metals and property...
purposes to reduce her tax bill. In her resignation letter Ussher said that she had done nothing wrong and that her actions were "in line with HM Revenue and Customs guidance and based on the advice of a reputable firm of accountants who in turn were recommended to me by the House of Commons fees office". She also denied any abuse of the allowances system of the House of Commons.
At the same time Ussher announced that she would not contest the next election, citing the difficulties in reconciling her parental responsibilities with the working hours of Parliament, stating that this decision had preceded the expenses controversy. Commenting on her resignation, the BBC described her as a "rising star" who had risen quickly through the ranks, despite only being elected in 2005.
On 5 June 2009 the police at Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
and the Crown Prosecution Service
Crown Prosecution Service
The Crown Prosecution Service, or CPS, is a non-ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for public prosecutions of people charged with criminal offences in England and Wales. Its role is similar to that of the longer-established Crown Office in Scotland, and the...
issued a statement stating that the incidents of flipping second homes to avoid paying capital gains tax was not a matter for police investigation. An investigation by Sir Thomas Legg into MPs' claims found that Ussher had breached the £11,000 limit for her new kitchen and ordered her to repay £1,271.65. Her appeal against the ruling was rejected.
Personal life
She married accountantAccountant
An accountant is a practitioner of accountancy or accounting , which is the measurement, disclosure or provision of assurance about financial information that helps managers, investors, tax authorities and others make decisions about allocating resources.The Big Four auditors are the largest...
Peter Colley in September 1999 in Hammersmith
Hammersmith
Hammersmith is an urban centre in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in west London, England, in the United Kingdom, approximately five miles west of Charing Cross on the north bank of the River Thames...
; they have one daughter (born 7 June 2005) and a son (born 3 January 2008). They have homes in Brixton
Brixton
Brixton is a district in the London Borough of Lambeth in south London, England. It is south south-east of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....
and Burnley
Burnley
Burnley is a market town in the Burnley borough of Lancashire, England, with a population of around 73,500. It lies north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Brun....
.
Ussher is niece of Peter Bottomley
Peter Bottomley
Sir Peter James Bottomley is a British Conservative Party politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Worthing West...
, MP, and (many generations back) of Archbishop James Ussher
James Ussher
James Ussher was Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland between 1625–56...
.