Claire Perry has been re-adopted as the Tory candidate for Devizes at the 2015 election

Claire Perry, Tory MP for Devizes, has been re-selected by the Devizes Constituency Conservative Association as the Conservative candidate for the forthcoming General Election in 2015.  

“You can be assured that for the remainder of this Parliament and, if I am re-elected in 2015, I will continue to work as hard as I possibly can to represent the views of my constituents,” she told Marlborough News Online.

Mrs Perry said she is “honoured” to have been chosen, and added: “I will campaign on the issues that matter most, both locally and nationally.  It is always important that politicians deliver on their promises and I was very pleased this month to finally be able to make good on one of mine — to move into the constituency.  

“The children and I spent a hectic half term moving into our new home which is in the heart of the Pewsey Vale, and we are so looking forward to finally settling down in the place that we love and which I am so proud to represent.”

Forty-nine-year-old Mrs Perry, now a government assistant whip, has recently separated from her husband, City fund manager Clayton Perry, after 17 years of marriage.

The family originally lived in Broad Chalke, a village near Salisbury.  Now she and her three children have moved to Charlton St Peter, through the purchase of a six-bedroom house that was put on the market with a guide price of £1.5 million.

She comfortably won the 2010 general election with a majority of 13,005 votes in a percentage poll turn out of 68.87 per cent to become Devizes first female MP.  Six other candidates contested the seat, formerly held by Michael Ancram, a Cabinet minister and Tory Party chairman who stood down following the MPs’ expenses scandal.

One constituent in Marlborough said: “Claire has been an extremely hard-working MP visiting all parts of the constituency to hear the views of local residents on a whole range of subjects.

“She has had her ups and downs in the Commons and has rarely been out of the headlines with her bold approach to politics, sometimes with most unrewarding results.  But her work to control pornographic material on internet websites has been much applauded.

“However, her outspoken manner – and one or two unfortunate clashes — has upset some members of the Conservative Association, the issue of same sex marriage, which she has voted for, disturbing a number of senior party stalwarts.

“There has also been concern over her persistent support for the government’s austerity policies and the reform of welfare benefits, which has affected families on the breadline, and the elderly affected by the bedroom tax.

“The state of the NHS is now becoming a serious issue as winter approaches, one which is having national repercussions.”