Conservative candidate Caroline Spelman
Caroline Spelman is the Conservative candidate for Meriden. Caroline was previously a CCF trustee and stepped down in 2010. She joined Parliament in 1997 as one of only 34 Conservative MPs elected when she won the West Midlands seat. Born in 1958, she was educated at Herts and Essex Grammar School before reading European Studies at Queen Mary College, University of London and graduating with first-class honours.
Caroline is fluent in French and German and worked for the sugar beet industry in Paris for six years where she met her husband Mark .They have three children, Eleanor, David and Jonny. In her constituency, Caroline has consistently campaigned to protect the greenbelt, introducing a private members’ bill to prevent garden grabbing in 2008. She also fought to improve end-of-life care with a palliative care bill in 2009. She has helped to set up two charities in the Meriden constituency; one which helps rehabilitate people with drug addictions through training and employment opportunities, and another which provides a refuge and support facility for victims of domestic abuse. These achievements together with the part she played in helping bring a young boy called Ali Ismael Abbas out of Iraq when he was left orphaned and critically injured in a missile attack are some of her proudest moments in her Parliamentary career.
On the rare occasions Caroline has free time she is a keen gardener, an enthusiastic cook and an avid fan of cricket and rugby.