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Kitty lives in Burnley with her husband Pete; their daughter Lizzie was born in Burnley General Hospital in June 2005 and recent addition to the family George was born in Burnley in January 2008. She was elected as Member of Parliament for Burnley in 2005, replacing long serving Member of Parliament Peter Pike to whom she paid tribute in her maiden speech. Kitty is the first female Member of Parliament for Burnley.
An economist by training, Kitty previously worked as political adviser to Patricia Hewitt at the Department for Trade and Industry where she helped to write the government’s first ever manufacturing strategy. She worked to strengthen the rights of working people, campaigned to make world trade rules fairer for developing countries and helped introduce measures to spur renewable energy. In her first year as MP she put forward her own Ten Minute Rule Bill to help small businesses get contracts from the Government to develop new technology.
Kitty serves as Economic Secretary to the Treasury, in Gordon Brown's new Government, meaning that she is responsible for matters involving banking and finance, and is also involved in taxation as it impacts on these areas. In addition, she advises on economic policy and works with other treasury ministers on the Comprehensive Spending Review and finance bills.
Kitty is also a proud member of Unite (Amicus section) trade union. In her spare time Kitty enjoys hill walking and spending time with her family. She is also a keen supporter of Burnley Football Club and attends matches regularly, being a season ticket holder.
Prior to becoming a Member of Parliament, Kitty was the Chief Economist on the cross-party pro-European campaign group, Britain in Europe, and has also served as a local councillor where she chaired the finance and environment scrutiny committees.
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