From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sarah McCarthy-Fry is the Labour Party Member of Parliament for Portsmouth North in the United Kingdom since the 2005 general election, when she replaced Syd Rapson.

She was born Sarah Macaree in 1955, daughter of a defence worker of Scottish descent. Fry is the name of her first husband, McCarthy of her second. She went to Portsmouth High School and worked for the multi-national defence engineering company GKN Westland at Portsmouth, and most recently as financial controller for GKN Aerospace Services at Cowes, Isle of Wight. Her job has included spells working abroad in Germany and the United States. She qualified as a chartered accountant in 2004.

She came to prominence in local politics leading a neighbourhood group, “Ban the Burner” successfully opposing a proposed incinerator. She was elected to Portsmouth Council in 1994, chaired the environment committee, and was deputy leader for five years.

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 in favour of them, and stressed her support in her maiden speech. She believes the challenge for the 21st century is for businesses to achieve greater productivity to maintain competitiveness, while giving their employees reduced working hours and a sensible work/life balance.

In 2006 Sarah was made PPS to John Healey, Financial Secretary at the Treasury.

She married her second husband Anthony McCarthy in 1997 and has two grown-up children. She is a fan of The Who, and her hobbies include tap-dancing, dog walking and amateur dramatics.

Source: Sarah McCarthy-Fry's website.

This article about a current Member of the Parliament of the United Kingdom is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.