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Arriving for meeting: Bracknell MP Andrew MacKay

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MP Andrew MacKay to stand for re-selection by party members

By Lorna Catling
May 22, 2009

Disgraced Bracknell MP Andrew MacKay will be subject to the re-selection process by his party, he announced tonight.

Mr MacKay said he would not stand down amid the furore of the expenses saga but would sub-mit himself for cross-examination by members of the Bracknell Conservative Association.

Mr MacKay said: “Then they will make the decision of whether I will be the next Conservative candidate [for Bracknell] for the next election.”

This means the Tory, who has represented constituents for 26 years, may lose out to another Conservative candidate to fight for the seat in the next election.

The MP, who resigned as parliamentary aide to David Cameron because of the expenses scandal last week, made the announcement at a public meeting to more than 350 constituents at the Kerith Centre, Church Road.

But many people still called for him to step down immediately at the heated meeting, during which he was heckled with shouts of “shame” and “stand down” and branded a “thief”.

Terry Pearce, who has lived in Bracknell for 40 years, said: “I am so angry about this.

“I work with community groups with people on fixed incomes and pensioners who don’t have the same opportunities to fiddle the books and these people have been shocked by what has happened.

“It is the hypocrisy and double standards that I find disgusting.

“The thing that worries me is because of the actions of people like yourself, people will turn to extremist candidates.

“You are personally responsible for that and you should stand down.”

People are angry because both he and his MP wife Julie Kirkbride claimed a second-home al-lowance when they only have two homes – neither of which is in his Bracknell constituency.

His claims were approved by the fees office, but last week he resigned as parliamentary aide because the Tory leader said they were "unacceptable".

Mr MacKay said: “I made a serious error of judgement.

“I should have looked at it more carefully and said, 'does this stand the test of reasonableness?'.

“If I had, none of us would be here tonight.”

Supporters of Mr MacKay also attended the meeting, praising him for the work he has done for constituents he has represented them.

Tony Pudner, who runs the Oakwood Youth Centre in Waterloo Road, said: “Lots of people have exercised their democratic right to say something negative and I want to exercise my democ-ratic right to say something positive.

“My MacKay has been unswervingly supportive of the Oakwood Centre.

“I think you [Mr MacKay] are an excellent constituency MP.”

The meeting was only open to Bracknell constituents on the electoral roll who had applied for a ticket.

The number of tickets was limited for health and safety reasons.

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i agree that it was right for him to stand down, but what we don't want is some big name former MP being put in his place. we need someone from the area who knows the schools and the hospitals and the problems we are facing, who actually lives here so that we know who we are voting for

ben77
26/05/2009 at 14:38

I was there too. He is now going, and good job too after he misrepresented the meeting to the waiting press and in doing so compounded his status as a deceitful man. That historical meeting took shots at the dying duck and this morning Cameron fuinally put him out of his misery. I am proud of what the politically aware people of Bracknell did last night.

VoteUKIP4sure
23/05/2009 at 21:33

I see Mackay has now changed his mind and is not going to seek re-election.

Thank goodness for common sense!

5hc
23/05/2009 at 17:37

Mackay saying that 75% of those at the meeting supported him is probably the most upsetting part of this whole charade.

For him to deliberately misrepresent his constituents as he did is inexcusable.

His position is now untenable.

S G, Bracknell
23/05/2009 at 17:01

I have voted Tory all my adult life but will abstain at the next general election if my Conservative candidate is still Andrew McKay. I intend to vote Conservative in the local elections however. I think our local councillors still have their honesty and integrity intact. My MEP vote is still wavering. I cannot understand how these supposedly honourable men and women believe that they are still able to command the respect of their voters.

Marg, Crowthorne
23/05/2009 at 14:41

I met MacKay when his constituency included Sunningdale - where I was living at the time. Later I moved to Windsor where the Tory MP The Honourable Michael Trend was forced to repay £90,227 which he had used to purchase a large family home in Windsor. Interestingly MacKay was a member of the House of Commons Standards & Privileges Committee which recommended that Trend should repay the money and be suspended from the Commons for (just) two weeks. I would have thought that MacKay would have known better. After being exposed trend refused to resign and Windsor was then left with a lame duck MP who people had trouble taking seriously. One serious question that does need asking is when neither Trend or MacKay needed second homes to carry out their constituency work, why are they entitled to a second homes allowance?

Peter Hooper
23/05/2009 at 11:39

I was at the meeting tonight and afterwards I was astonished to hear Mr Mackay represent it as supportive of him by 75%. The man is delusional and in denial. The meeting was overwhelmingly hostile to him.

He has been caught with his fingers in the till to the tune of £140,000 and all he can use as his defence is "they" told him to do it that way.

He then says that once he got this advice he never paid any attention to his claims for the next 8 years - but he certainly paid sufficient attention to make sure that he claimed the absolute maximum allowed. As did his wife. Goblets, glazing his conservatory, waste bins, food, etc - it all added up every year to exactly the maximum "additional claims allowance" that he could trouser, tax free. Not the sign of a man to whom it didn't matter.

I voted for him in the past but I never will again.

If David Cameron doesn't sack him, and if the local party reselects him, they are showing utter contempt for the voters of Bracknell.

Please give us the opportunity to vote for a decent, honest, moral Conservative candidate for Bracknell. Mr Mackay is not that person.