Fiona Bruce (politician)

Fiona Claire Bruce[1] (née Riley; born 26 March 1957) is a British Conservative Party politician who was elected the Member of Parliament (MP) for Congleton in the 2010 general election.[2][3]

Fiona Bruce

MP
Bruce in 2020
Prime Minister's Special Envoy for
Freedom of Religion or Belief
Assumed office
December 2020
Prime MinisterBoris Johnson
Preceded byRehman Chishti
Member of Parliament
for Congleton
Assumed office
6 May 2010
Preceded byAnn, Lady Winterton
Majority18,591 (32.5%)
Personal details
Born
Fiona Claire Riley

(1957-03-26) 26 March 1957
Wick, Caithness, Scotland
NationalityBritish
Political partyConservative
Spouse(s)Richard John Bruce
Children2
Alma materVictoria University of Manchester
WebsiteOfficial website
parliament..fiona-bruce

Early life

Fiona Claire 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 independent 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

Bruce was elected in 2004 to Warrington Borough Council, on which 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 has previously unsuccessfully contested Warrington South in the 2005 general election, finishing second to sitting 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 the Congleton constituency, Bruce denied allegations that she had been chosen following an orchestrated campaign by religious groups sympathetic to her evangelical Christian beliefs.[8] Bruce is an Evangelical Alliance council member and describes "defending and fighting for the sanctity of human life" as her priority in Parliament.[9] She has been a member of the Scottish Affairs Select Committee since 2010.[10]

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.[11][12] The amendment was rejected by 292 votes to 201.[13]

Bruce supported Brexit in the 2016 referendum.[14]

In 2018, Bruce said that the decision made by the Government not to ban anti-abortion protests outside of abortion clinics was a "win for mothers".[15]

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.[16][17]

Personal life

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.[18]

References
  1. "No. 59418". The London Gazette. 13 May 2010. p. 8740.
  2. "Fiona Bruce". theyworkforyou.com.
  3. "BBC News - Election 2010 - Constituency - Congleton". bbc.co.uk.
  4. "Bruce, Fiona Claire". A & C Black. 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". ft.com. The Financial Times. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  9. Cole, Amaris (25 February 2015). "Question Time". eauk.org. Evangelical Alliance. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  10. "Fiona Bruce". parliament.uk. 6 May 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  11. Bruce, Fiona. "Sex-selective abortion is unacceptable – we must make the law clear". Conservative Home. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  12. 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.
  13. "MPs reject backbench bid to amend abortion laws". BBC. 24 February 2015. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  14. Goodenough, Tom (16 February 2016). "Which Tory MPs back Brexit, who doesn't and who is still on the fence?". The Spectator. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  15. Chaplain, Chloe (14 September 2018). "Tory MP Fiona Bruce says not banning anti-abortion protests is a 'win for mothers'". i News. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
  16. Mullin, Frankie (29 July 2019). "How can the Tories' moralising report on prostitution completely ignore austerity?". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
  17. Hymas, Charles (25 July 2019). "Decriminalise prostitutes selling sex but prosecute buyers, says Tory commission". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 1 August 2019.
  18. Who is on the A-list? at conservativehome web site
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Ann Winterton		 Member of Parliament for Congleton
2010–present		 Incumbent
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