Fiona Bruce (politician)


Fiona Claire Bruce is a British Conservative Party politician who was elected the Member of Parliament for Congleton in the 2010 general election.

Early life

Fiona Claire Riley was born on 26 March 1957 in Wick, Caithness, Scotland to Allan Stewart and Greta Riley. She attended Burnley High School for Girls, and the independent Howell's School, Llandaff in Cardiff. Riley then studied law at the 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.

Political career

Bruce was elected in 2004 to Warrington Borough Council, on which she served as Executive Member for Finance from 2006–2009. 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.
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. Bruce is an Evangelical Alliance council member and describes "defending and fighting for the sanctity of human life" as her priority in Parliament. She has been a member of the Scottish Affairs Select Committee since 2010.
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. The amendment was rejected by 292 votes to 201.
Bruce supported Brexit in the 2016 referendum.
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".
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.

Personal life

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