Mary Robinson (British politician)
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Mary Robinson | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2018 | |
| Member of Parliament for Cheadle | |
| In office 7 May 2015 – 30 May 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Mark Hunter |
| Succeeded by | Tom Morrison |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 23 August 1955 |
| Party | Conservative |
| Website | Official website |
Mary Josephine Robinson[1] (born 23 August 1955) is a British Conservative politician. She was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Cheadle at the 2015 general election.[2] At the 2024 general election, Robinson lost her seat to Tom Morrison of the Liberal Democrats.[3]
Robinson was born on 23 August 1955. She studied law and worked as a chartered accountant.[4] She ran an accountancy practice in Preston called Robinson Rose Ltd with her husband, Stephen, but this went into administration and was acquired by the Champion Group in 2008.[5][6] In 2012, she founded a fashion design business, Mary Felicity Design Ltd, with her daughter Felicity.[7][8][9]
She unsuccessfully stood as the Conservative candidate in the Howick & Priory ward of South Ribble Borough Council in Preston in 2003,[10] but was subsequently elected in the same ward in 2007, when her husband Stephen was also elected as a councillor on the same Council.[11]
Parliamentary career
Robinson was selected as the Conservative candidate for Cheadle in 2013 and stood down as a councillor on South Ribble Borough Council. Her husband also stood down as a councillor and, in the local election that followed, the Liberal Democrats won one of the vacant seats left by the couple.[12] She was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Cheadle at the 2015 general election, achieving a swing of 12.2% against the incumbent Liberal Democrat MP Mark Hunter.[13]
In 2016, Robinson was one of a number of Conservative MPs investigated by police, for allegedly spending more than the legal limit on constituency election campaign expenses; the police passed her file to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS),[14] who decided that no criminal charges would be brought.[15]
She was opposed to Brexit before the 2016 referendum.[16]
Robinson held her seat at the 2017 general election and 2019 election with a slightly reduced majority.
In Parliament, Robinson served on the European Statutory Instruments Committee and Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee.[17] She previously served on the Administration Committee in 2017.
In 2020, Robinson became Chair and Registered Contact for the All Party Parliamentary Group on Whistleblowing.[18] The group has been working to promote an Office of the Whistleblower which was introduced in a private members bill from her APPG colleague, Baroness Kramer.[19]
At the 2024 general election, Tom Morrison defeated Mary Robinson with a majority of 12,235, in the first election using the constituency's new boundaries.[20]
