Corri Wilson

Corri Wilson
Member of Parliament
for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock
In office
8 May 2015 – 3 May 2017
Preceded by Sandra Osborne
Succeeded by Bill Grant
Personal details
Born (1965-04-11) 11 April 1965
Ayr, Scotland
Political party Scottish National Party
Alma mater University of the West of
Scotland

Corraine Wilson MP (born 11 April 1965) is a Scottish National Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock 2015–2017.

Early life

Wilson worked in the Civil Service for 20 years after leaving school. She went on to study Psychology at the University of the West of Scotland and set up her own business and events company called "Caledonii Resources" in April 2012 just before being elected to serve as a Councillor in Ayr East in the 2012 South Ayrshire Council election. [1][2]

Political career

Wilson became a South Ayrshire Councillor in the 2012 local elections for the ward of Ayr East.[3]

She was elected to the British Parliament in the 2015 general election.[4][5]

From June 2015 until August 2016, she was one of 125 MPs who employed a member of their family: employing her son Kieran as a caseworker/personal assistant.[6][7] From 15 September 2016, she had employed her daughter Shannon as a caseworker/personal assistant, which was allowed under IPSA rules up until the election in June 2017.[8]

From the period of 1 June 2015 to 31 May 2016, the statement, Wilson claimed a total of £94,545.41 in public expenses.

In 2016, Wilson was appointed as disabilities spokesperson for the SNP.[1]

Wilson campaigned in favour of the United Kingdom remaining a member of the European Union at the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, then later voted against the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill 2017.[9]

She stood for re-election at the 2017 UK general election, but lost to Conservative Bill Grant on a 17.5% swing, with Bill Grant overturning Corri Wilson's 15,137 vote lead over the Conservatives to gain the constituency with a 2,774 vote majority. During this campaign Wilson put out a leaflet that highlighted 10 facts about her time in office. In just under 2 years she dealt with over 7000 pieces of casework for her constituents. And in the last year alone, secured nearly £350,000 in benefit awards and backdates back to constituents. Supported and advocated for over 500 charities and organisations. Regularly collected food, easter eggs and christmas toys and presents for the local foodbank. Collected clothes for refugees and opened her office to 16 young people from the constituency to do their work experience.[10] Just before the election she held a Welfare Drop-In to help constituents experiencing difficulties with benefits, sanctions and the roll out of Universal Credit.[11] During Wilson's time on the Welfare Reform and Work Bill she argued against the benefit cap, benefit sanctions and the removal of poverty targets.[12]

Controversies - Alleged

In 2016, Wilson and Chic Brodie, an SNP MSP representing the South Scotland electoral region at the Scottish Parliament, faced controversy over a public expenses scandal, with Chic Brodie transferring £87,616 of public expenses into Corri Wilson's Caledonii Resources for "outsourced constituency work" after her election as councillor to the Ayr East ward in 2012, with some £20,000 being transferred during the Scottish independence referendum campaign in 2014 and a further £20,000 being transferred during the 2015 UK general election campaign, well in excess of Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority guidelines. The expenses were not recorded within Corri Wilson's Register of Members' Interests. Caledonii Resources was later dissolved in May 2017.[13][14] The above 'controversies' were later shown to be inaccurate as Wilson produced letters from the relevant bodies stating there never was any investigation and she wasn't under any investigation. All dealing between Caledonii Resources Ltd and the Scottish Parliament were cleared by the Parliament's legal department and were transparent. [15] Wilson states she was a victim of an ongoing smear campaign. [16]

References

  1. 1 2 "Corri Wilson".
  2. ↑ "CALEDONII RESOURCES LTD - Overview (free company information from Companies House)". beta.companieshouse.gov.uk.
  3. ↑ Wilson, Stuart (8 May 2015). "General Election: SNP takes Ayrshire on historic night for Scottish politics". Daily Record. Retrieved 10 May 2015.
  4. ↑ "List of Members returned to Parliament at the General Election 2015 Scotland". The Edinburgh Gazette. 15 May 2015. Retrieved 3 June 2015.
  5. ↑ "Ayr, Carrick & Cumnock Parliamentary constituency". Election 2015 Results. BBC. Retrieved 8 May 2015.
  6. ↑ 'https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/25401/corri_wilson/ayr,_carrick_and_cumnock#register "Family members employed and paid from parliamentary expenses"'
  7. ↑ Mason, Rowena (29 June 2015). "Keeping it in the family: new MPs continue to hire relatives as staff". The Guardian. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  8. ↑ "Home - IPSA". IPSA.
  9. ↑ "Brexit vote: How did your MP vote on the bill?". BBC News. 9 February 2017.
  10. ↑ "Corri Wilson SNP". www.facebook.com.
  11. ↑ "Corri Wilson SNP". www.facebook.com.
  12. ↑ "Corri Wilson - Contributions - Hansard". hansard.parliament.uk.
  13. ↑ Macnab, Scott (28 March 2016). "Former SNP MSP Chic Brodie rejects claims over expenses". The Scotsman. Johnston Press. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  14. ↑ Gilligan, Andrew (27 March 2016). "SNP expense row over £87,000 'milked from public purse'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  15. ↑ "Smear Campaign – Part 3 – Being investigated & Expenses - corriwilson". corriwilson.
  16. ↑ "Smear Campaign - context - corriwilson". corriwilson.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Sandra Osborne		 Member of Parliament
for Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock
2015–2017		 Succeeded by
Bill Grant
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.