THE Dorset sister of MP Julie Kirkbride has remained tight-lipped over her part in the expenses row that yesterday forced the member for Bromsgrove to announce her departure at the next general election.
Karen Leadley’s home in Cogdean Walk, Corfe Mullen, was revealed in yesterday’s Daily Echo as an unlikely outpost of Miss Kirkbride’s constituency office in Bromsgrove.
Miss Kirkbride had already defended allegations that her brother, Ian, an IT director, had lived rent-free at her publicly funded second home, arguing that he had been taking care of her son.
But news that Mrs Leadley had been paid £12,000-a-year from her sister’s expenses for a part time job answering the concerns of voters living more than 100 miles from East Dorset, proved decisive.
When the Daily Echo called at Mrs Leadley’s luxury detached home yesterday, our reporter was told she was not at home. She had not responded to requests for a comment as the Echo went to press.
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