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Fiona Bruce (politician)

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Not to be confused with Fiona Bruce, television presenter

Fiona Bruce
Official portrait, 2020
Prime Minister's Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief
In office
20 December 2020 – 5 July 2024
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Liz Truss
Rishi Sunak
Preceded byRehman Chishti
Succeeded byTBA
Member of Parliament
for Congleton
In office
6 May 2010 – 30 May 2024
Preceded byAnn, Lady Winterton
Succeeded bySarah Russell
Warrington Borough Council Executive Member for Finance
In office
2006–2009
Member of Warrington Borough Council for Penketh & Cuerdley
In office
2004–2010
Personal details
Born
Fiona Claire Riley

(1957-03-26) 26 March 1957 (age 67)
Wick, Caithness, Scotland
Political partyConservative
Children2
Alma materVictoria University of Manchester
WebsiteOfficial website
parliament.fiona-bruce

Fiona Claire Bruce[1] (née Riley; born 26 March 1957) is a former British Conservative Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Congleton from 2010 to 2024.[2][3]

Early life

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Fiona Riley was born on 26 March 1957 in Wick, Caithness, Scotland to Allan Stewart and Greta Riley (née Scott).[4] She attended Burnley High School for Girls, and the private Howell's School, Llandaff in Cardiff.[5] Riley then studied law at the Victoria University of Manchester and further studies at Chester Law College.

She was admitted as a solicitor in 1981, and has been senior partner of the firm, Fiona Bruce & Co in Warrington, since its formation in 1988.[6]

Political career

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Bruce was elected in 2004 to Warrington Borough Council as a Conservative representing the Ward Penketh & Cuerdley. As a Councillor, she served as Executive Member for Finance from 2006 to 2009. She stepped down from the Council upon her election to Parliament in 2010.

Bruce contested Warrington South in the 2005 general election, finishing second with 33% of the vote behind the incumbent Labour MP Helen Southworth.

In 2006 Bruce was placed on the Conservative A-List of priority parliamentary candidates following efforts by the Conservative Women2Win mentoring and pressure group.[7]

Following her selection as the Conservative Party candidate for Congleton, Bruce denied allegations that she had been chosen following an orchestrated campaign by religious groups sympathetic to her evangelical Christian beliefs.[8]

At the 2010 general election, Bruce was elected as MP for Congleton with 45.8% of the vote and a majority of 7,063.[9][10]

Bruce was a member of the Scottish Affairs Select Committee from 2010 to 2024.[11]

In February 2015, Bruce introduced an amendment to the Serious Crime Bill 2014 to make abortion on the grounds of the sex of the baby illegal.[12][13] The amendment was rejected by 292 votes to 201.[14]

In February 2015 Bruce described "defending and fighting for the sanctity of human life" as her priority in Parliament.[15]

At the 2015 general election, Bruce was re-elected as MP for Congleton with an increased vote share of 53.3% and an increased majority of 16,773.[16][17]

Bruce supported Brexit in the 2016 referendum.[18]

At the snap 2017 general election, Bruce was again re-elected, with an increased vote share of 56.6% and a decreased majority of 12,619.[19]

In 2019, Bruce chaired an inquiry by the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission into prostitution, which made the recommendation to replace existing laws on soliciting prostitution with laws that would make paying for sexual services a criminal offence.[20][21]

Bruce was again re-elected at the 2019 general election, with an increased vote share of 59% and an increased majority of 18,561.[22]

In 2020, she was appointed by Boris Johnson as the Prime Minister's Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief,[23] and in this capacity was supportive of a petition to grant asylum to Maira Shahbaz and her family, a Pakistani Christian girl who has received death threats.[24]

In May 2021 Bruce co-authored an essay entitled "Family Matters – the Case for Strengthening Families" with former MP, David Burrowes, for inclusion in Common Sense: Conservative Thinking for a Post-Liberal Age published by the Common Sense Group, an informal group of Conservative MPs.[25]

In 2022 Bruce was elected as Chair of the 42 country International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance, and was re-elected for a second term in 2023.[26]

In January 2023, Sky News revealed that Bruce had, since the 2019 general election, earned more than £700,000 in addition to her salary as an MP; the fourth-highest amount of any MP.[27]

In July 2023, she spoke out against the persecution of Christians during the ongoing violence in Manipur, India.[28]

Bruce lost her seat in the 2024 General Election.

Personal life

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She married Richard John Bruce in 1990, and they have two sons.[4] Fiona Bruce was awarded the title of "Small Businesswoman of the Year" in 2003.[29]

Bruce is an Evangelical Alliance council member.[15]

References

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  1. ^ "No. 59418". The London Gazette. 13 May 2010. p. 8740.
  2. ^ "BBC News - Election 2010 - Constituency - Congleton". BBC News.
  3. ^ "Congleton General Election 2024". Sky News. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  4. ^ a b Bruce, Fiona Claire. A & C Black. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U251099. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  5. ^ "The GDST Difference - Annual Review 2015". GDST. 7 April 2016. p. 15. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
  6. ^ "Fiona Bruce, Senior Partner". Fiona Bruce Solicitors. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  7. ^ Woolf, Marie (28 May 2006). "Cameron woos 'political virgins'". The Independent. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  8. ^ Cook, Chris (12 February 2010). "Christian Tories rewrite party doctrine". The Financial Times. Archived from the original on 27 May 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  9. ^ "Election Data 2010". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  10. ^ "BBC NEWS – Election 2010 – Congleton". BBC News.
  11. ^ "Fiona Bruce". parliament.uk. 6 May 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  12. ^ Bruce, Fiona (29 October 2014). "Sex-selective abortion is unacceptable – we must make the law clear". Conservative Home. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  13. ^ Ditum, Sarah (20 February 2015). "Against the Fiona Bruce amendment: why feminists should oppose the ban on sex-selective abortion". New Statesman. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  14. ^ "MPs reject backbench bid to amend abortion laws". BBC News. 24 February 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  15. ^ a b Cole, Amaris (25 February 2015). "Question Time". Evangelical Alliance. Archived from the original on 20 March 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  16. ^ "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
  17. ^ "Congleton". BBC News. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  18. ^ Goodenough, Tom (16 February 2016). "Which Tory MPs back Brexit, who doesn't and who is still on the fence?". The Spectator. Archived from the original on 22 October 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  19. ^ "Congleton Parliamentary constituency", Election 2017, BBC News, retrieved 9 June 2017
  20. ^ Mullin, Frankie (29 July 2019). "How can the Tories' moralising report on prostitution completely ignore austerity?". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
  21. ^ Hymas, Charles (25 July 2019). "Decriminalise prostitutes selling sex but prosecute buyers, says Tory commission". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  22. ^ "Congleton Parliamentary constituency", Election 2019, BBC News, retrieved 13 December 2019
  23. ^ Rand, S., Fiona Bruce MP appointed Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for FoRB, All-Party Parliamentary Group for International Freedom of Religion or Belief, published 20 December 2020, accessed 8 October 2022
  24. ^ Aid to the Church in Need United Kingdom, PM's Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief receives Pakistan girl's asylum petition, published February 2021, accessed 8 October 2022
  25. ^ Bruce, Fiona and Burrowes, David (May 2021). Family Matters – the Case for Strengthening Families in Hayes, John (ed.). Common Sense: Conservative Thinking for a Post-Liberal Age (PDF). Common Sense Group.
  26. ^ "Prime Minister's Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief - Fiona Bruce". gov.uk. Retrieved 21 July 2024.
  27. ^ "EXCLUSIVE: The Westminster Accounts". Sky News. 8 January 2023. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  28. ^ "Manipur Crisis Resonates In UK Parliament; Sunak's Envoy Says Christians Targeted 'Systematically'". Hindustan Times. 23 July 2023.
  29. ^ "Who is on the A-list?". ConservativeHome's Seats & Candidates blog.
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Preceded by Member of Parliament for Congleton
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