Sarah Louise McCarthy-Fry (' Macaree; born 4 February 1955) is a British Labour Co-operative politician. She was the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

for

Portsmouth North Portsmouth North is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Penny Mordaunt, the current Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council. She is a Conservative MP. Boundaries 1 ...

from the 2005 general election to

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

. She was Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury in the last phase of the Labour government of

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chance ...

Early life

McCarthy-Fry is the daughter of a defence worker of Scottish descent. Fry is the surname of her first husband, McCarthy of her second. She was educated at Portsmouth High School. She worked for the multinational defence engineering company GKN Westland at Portsmouth, and later as financial controller for GKN Aerospace at

Cowes Cowes () is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina, facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east bank. The two towns are linked by the Cowes ...

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

Political career

McCarthy-Fry attempted selection as the Labour candidate for the seat of

in 1997, and later became

Syd Rapson Sydney Norman John Rapson (born 17 April 1942, Isle of Wight) is a former Labour MP for Portsmouth North. Early life He moved with his family to the Paulsgrove area of Portsmouth as a young child, where he attended Paulsgrove Modern (now Kin ...

's campaign manager. Her main political interests are trade and industry, defence and the social economy. She campaigned in favour of identity cards after a constituency survey indicated a large majority were in favour of them, and stressed her support for their introduction in her maiden speech after her election in 2005. In 2006, McCarthy-Fry was made PPS to John Healey, the

Financial Secretary to the Treasury The financial secretary to the Treasury is a mid-level ministerial post in His Majesty's Treasury. It is nominally the fifth most significant ministerial role within the Treasury after the first lord of the Treasury, the chancellor of the Exchequ ...

. In Prime Minister

's cabinet reshuffle in 2007, she was made PPS to

Geoff Hoon Geoffrey William Hoon (born 6 December 1953) is a British Labour Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ashfield in Nottinghamshire from 1992 to 2010. He is a former Defence Secretary, Transport Secretary, Leader of ...

, the

Chief Whip The Chief Whip is a political leader whose task is to enforce the whipping system, which aims to ensure that legislators who are members of a political party attend and vote on legislation as the party leadership prescribes. United Kingdom ...

. On 5 October 2008, she was promoted to become a

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (or just Parliamentary Secretary, particularly in departments not led by a Secretary of State) is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the UK government, immediately junior to a Minister o ...

in the

Department for Children, Schools and Families Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) was a department of the UK government, between 2007 and 2010, responsible for issues affecting people in England up to the age of 19, including child protection and education. DCSF was repla ...

replacing Lord Adonis, who was moved from Education to Transport. This was a controversial move that brought about much speculation in the press afterward; Adonis was seen to be a key education reformer and it was assumed that the government no longer had education as a priority. McCarthy-Fry was moved to the

Department for Communities and Local Government The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), formerly the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for housing, communities, local government ...

in the June 2009 reshuffle. However, on 17 June 2009 she was appointed Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, replacing Kitty Ussher after the latter resigned. She was at the Department for Communities and Local Government for just one week. At the general election on 6 May 2010, McCarthy-Fry lost her seat to the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

candidate

Penny Mordaunt Penelope Mary Mordaunt (; born 4 March 1973) is a British politician who has been Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council since September 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, she has been Member of Parliament (MP) ...

. Along with Anne Snelgrove, she co-ordinated

Ed Balls Edward Michael Balls (born 25 February 1967) is a British broadcaster, writer, economist, professor and former politician who served as Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families from 2007 to 2010, and as Shadow Chancellor of the Exc ...

's campaign in the Labour party leadership election which followed.

Expenses controversy

In May 2009 ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' revealed that McCarthy-Fry had attempted to claim on her expenses for a £100 set of hair straighteners, though the claim was refused. Items the taxpayer did fund included £333 worth of bedding and a sewing box.MPs’ expenses: Sarah McCarthy-Fry claimed for £100 GHD hair straighteners
Telegraph, 21 May 2009

Later career

Soon after leaving parliament, McCarthy-Fry joined GKN Aerospace and was the company’s Financial Controller for Cowes, Isle of Wight, from 2010 to 2012, and then its Finance Director for Cowes, Isle of Wight, and Western Approach, Bristol, from 2012 to 2020, when she retired at the age of 65.

Personal life

McCarthy-Fry married her first husband, Roger Fry, in 1973, and her second, Tony McCarthy, in 1997; she has four grown-up children.”McCarthy-fry, Sarah, (born 4 Feb. 1955), Finance Director, Cowes, Isle of Wight and Western Approach, Bristol, GKN Aerospace Services, 2012–20 (Financial Controller, Cowes, Isle of Wight, 2010–12)” in Who's Who online edition

References

External links

They Work For You

Kaupthing Involvement

Voting record at the Public Whip

BBC Politics page

Meet the MP at the BBC

News items

Concern over Royal Navy ships
BBC News
Upset over Boris Johnson
BBC News {{DEFAULTSORT:McCarthy-Fry, Sarah 1955 births Living people Labour Co-operative MPs for English constituencies Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies UK MPs 2005–2010 Councillors in Hampshire English people of Scottish descent People educated at Portsmouth High School (Southsea) Politicians from Portsmouth Labour Party (UK) councillors 21st-century English women politicians 21st-century English politicians Women councillors in England