Profile: David Curry
By Doireann Ronayne
Conservative MP David Curry has led a considerable political career since first being elected for Skipton and Ripon in 1987, following the retirement of Tory MP John Watson.
Re-elected in 1992, 1997, 2001 and 2005, he currently holds the constituency seat with a majority of 12,930.
Educated at Ripon Grammar School, he went on to study Modern History at Oxford.
After graduating he began working as a reporter on the Newcastle Journal.
Four years later he became the world trade editor at the Financial Times and he remained at the newspaper until he was elected to the European parliament in 1979 for Essex north-east and served in Paris and Brussels until 1989.
Throughout his time at Westminster he worked in a wide range of policy areas.
Under Thatcher, he served as parliamentary under secretary of state at the ministry of agriculture, fisheries and food (MAFF) in 1993.
Minister for local government, housing and urban regeneration from 1994-1997, he then became chairman of the department for environment, food and rural affairs (Defra) select committee from 2000-2003, later serving as shadow secretary of state for the department.
A member of the public accounts select committee since 2004, he has just stood down as chairman of the parliamentary committee on standards and privileges following the expense scandal.
The MP claimed almost £30,000 for a second home in Yorkshire that his wife banned him from staying in, the Telegraph reported today.
Mr Curry’s wife, Anne, banned him from staying in the house after she found out that he had been having an affair and staying there with his lover, Cherry Edwards.
But he later designated the Yorkshire property his second home to the parliamentary authorities.
When the affair ended, he stayed there on a ‘handful’ of occasions only, costing the taxpayer almost £30,000 in claims, the newspaper stated.
The claims were largely for renovations to the house, including roof repairs and redecoration, according to the report.
Curry had already announced in February of this year that he would not be standing again at the next election.
This is not the first time he has stepped down. In 1997 he resigned from the shadow cabinet in protest at the policy to keep Britain out of the euro for the next ten years.
In 2004 he resigned as shadow local and devolved government secretary under Michael Howard’s shadow cabinet, citing ‘family reasons’ for stepping down.
He has developed the status of a europhile due to his support for Kenneth Clarke’s attempt to become leader of the Tories.
During his time at Westminster he voted against post office closures, university top-up fees and the setting up of foundation hospitals. A supporter of electoral reform, he was in favour of an elected House of Lords.
