Julia Goldsworthy

Julia Anne Goldsworthy(born 10 September 1978) is a British politician who served as theMember of Parliament(MP) forFalmouth and Cambornefrom2005until2010.A member of theLiberal Democrats,she was narrowly defeated by 66 votes by theConservativesin the newCamborne and Redruthconstituency following boundary changes. In theHouse of Commons,she served as the Liberal Democrat spokesperson forCommunities and Local Government.Afterwards, she worked as aspecial adviser.

Julia Goldsworthy
Liberal Democrat Communities and Local Government Spokesman
In office 18 December 2007 – 12 May 2010
Leader	Nick Clegg
Preceded by	Andrew Stunell
Succeeded by	Stephen Williams(2015)
Liberal Democrat Deputy Treasury Spokesman
In office 2 March 2006 – 18 December 2007
Leader	Sir Menzies Campbell Vince Cable(Acting)
Preceded by	Chris Huhne
Succeeded by	Jeremy Browne
Member of Parliament forFalmouth and Camborne
In office 6 May 2005 – 12 April 2010
Preceded by	Candy Atherton
Succeeded by	Constituency abolished George Eustice (Camborne and Redruth)
Personal details
Born	(1978-09-10)10 September 1978 Camborne,Cornwall,England
Political party	Liberal Democrats
Spouse	Christopher Church ​ (m.2012)​
Alma mater	Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge
Profession	Special adviser

Early life and career

Goldsworthy was born inCamborne,Cornwall,where her mother was a localteacher.She was educated locally at theSt Meriadoc Primary SchoolinCambornebefore winning a scholarship to the independentTruro School.She took agap yearbetween school and beginning university in 1997, and in 2000 she graduated fromCambridge,with aBA(Hons) degree inHistory,having read for her degree atFitzwilliam College.She then spent a year atDaiichi University of Economicsin theFukuoka Prefecture,Japan,and the following year completed aPostgraduateCertificate in Economics atBirkbeck College,London,in 2002.

Between 2002 and 2004, Goldsworthy worked in Westminster as an economics researcher forMatthew Taylor,the Liberal Democrat MP forTruro and St Austell,the seat adjacent to the one she would later represent. In 2004, she was appointed as a regeneration officer with theCarrick DistrictCouncil where she worked until her election toWestminsterless than a year later.

At the 2002Lambeth CouncilElections, Julia contested theHerne Hill ward.She polled 486 votes, finishing behind the Labour Party and Green Party.

Parliamentary career

Goldsworthy was elected to the House of Commons at the2005 General Electionfor Falmouth and Camborne when she defeated the sittingLabourMPCandy Atherton.She gained the seat with a majority of 1,886 and made hermaiden speechon 19 May 2005.She names former Cornish Liberal MPDavid Penhaligon(1944–1986) as her greatest hero. Her election in 2005 meant that the Liberal Democrats held all the Westminster Parliament seats in Cornwall, for the first time since 1923.

In 2005, she was appointed as a spokesperson onhealthbyCharles Kennedy,and promoted in 2006 by new leaderSir Menzies CampbellasVince Cable's deputy in theTreasuryteam. She was also member of thePublic Administration Select Committeefrom 2005 until mid-2006.Julia Goldsworthy was promoted again in December 2007 to become the Liberal Democrat shadow secretary onCommunities and Local Government.As an MP, she worked on issues such as the 'Axe the Tax' campaign against council tax, pensions, student tuition fees, health funding formulas and the abolition of central housing targets on local communities.

During her parliamentary career, Goldsworthy also used the social networking websiteFacebookas a way of gauging the opinions and views of her constituents, and this has led her to campaign for various issues. On 14 May 2008 in theHouse of Commonsdebates, she presented a petition on behalf of many thousands of people living in Cornwall who would like to see Cornwall be recognised as a network region on the website.Goldsworthy is a supporter of the Facebook Cornish Tickbox for the 2011 Census campaign.

Goldsworthy co-sponsored theSustainable Communities Act 2007 (Amendment) Act 2010.

Expenses

Main article:United Kingdom Parliamentary expenses scandal

The Daily Telegraphshowed that in 2006 Goldsworthy bought a "£999 television, £1,500 of furniture inHouse of Fraser,a £1,111 sofa bed and a £1,200 rocking chair from Heal's, an upmarket furniture store ", as part of moving into an unfurnished flat, but she did not claim the full amount for these items.Between 2005 and 2008, she also regularly claimed £400 per month for food, as many other MPs did at the time, without providing receipts to prove the expenditure. She has responded with a full account of her transactions and a statement that she opposed steps to block the publication of MPs' expenses claims.In February 2010, it was again reported that she repaid £1,005 for the "designer pink rocking chair" (this was repaid in June 2009) and £171.32 over-claimed in mortgage interest in 2005–06.

2010 and 2015 elections

At the2010 general election,Goldsworthy stood at the new seat ofCamborne and Redruthwhich she narrowly lost by just 66 votes (0.16%) to theConservativecandidateGeorge Eustice.Following her defeat at the 2010 general election, she was namedspecial advisertoChief Secretary to the TreasuryDanny Alexander.

Five years latershe contested the seat again. However, on this occasion, Goldsworthy finished in fourth place with 5,687 votes. Eustice retained the seat with 18,452 votes to 11,448 toLabour,withUKIPfinishing in third place.

Personal life

In 2006, Julia Goldsworthy competed on theChannel 4showThe Gameswhere she was runner-up. She raised £20,000 for the CornishAir Ambulance.She competed inswimming,hurdles,hammer,curling,track cycling,sprint,andkayak slalom.In parliament, she was the chairwoman of the all-partyrowinggroup; she rows in aCornish pilot gig.

She married Christopher Church on 19 May 2012 in Camborne Parish Church.

External links

• Julia Goldsworthyofficial site
• Camborne, Redruth and Hayle Liberal Democrats
• Contributions in ParliamentatHansard 1803–2005
• Voting recordatPublic Whip
• Record in ParliamentatTheyWorkForYou
• BBC Politics pageArchived21 October 2007 atarchive.today
• Fast trackStuart Jeffries,The Guardian,18 March 2006
• Meet the MP: Julia GoldsworthyBBC News,8 June 2005