Dame Karen Bradley is the Conservative MP for Staffordshire Moorlands, having first been elected to parliament at the 2010 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Bradley received 15,310 votes in Staffordshire Moorlands, representing 35.4% of the vote share. The Labour candidate, Alastair Watson, received 14,135 votes (32.6%), while the Reform UK candidate, Dave Poole, secured 10,065 votes (23.2%). Bradley was duly elected with a majority of 1,175 votes.

The Staffordshire Moorlands constituency covers a largely rural area in the north-east of Staffordshire, including the towns of Leek, Biddulph, and (since boundary changes in 2024) Cheadle. It borders the Peak District and includes the Alton Towers theme park. Held by Labour between 1997 and 2010, it has been represented by the Conservatives since then.

Political Career

Karen Bradley currently chairs the home affairs select committee (since September 2024). The committee is responsible for scrutinising the work of the Home Office and its associated bodies. It examines government policy, spending and the law in areas including immigration, security and policing.

By virtue of this role, Bradley sits on the liaison committee – the so-called “super committee” composed of the cross-party chairs of all the other commons select committees. It has a broad oversight role, but is best known for its questioning of the prime minister in sessions that take place two or three times a year.

Bradley chaired the House of Commons procedure select committee from 2020 to 2024.

Bradley was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2023 political honours list for public and political service.

Bradley has held two cabinet positions, serving as secretary of state for Northern Ireland from January 2018 to July 2019 and as secretary of state for culture, media and sport from July 2016 to January 2018 under Theresa May.

Previously, Bradley served as parliamentary under-secretary of state for preventing abuse, exploitation and crime, previously minister for modern slavery and organised crime at the Home Office from February 2014 to July 2016. She served as a government whip (lord commissioner of HM Treasury) from October 2013 to February 2014, having been an assistant whip since September 2012.

In September 2018, Bradley told the House magazine she had not understood Northern Irish politics before being appointed secretary of state for Northern Ireland. “I didn’t understand things like when elections are fought for example in Northern Ireland, people who are nationalists don’t vote for unionist parties and vice-versa”, she said.

“So, the parties fight for the election within their own community. Actually, the unionist parties fight the elections against each other in unionist communities and nationalists in nationalist communities. That’s a very different world from the world I came from.”

While serving as Northern Ireland secretary, Bradley faced criticism for comments made in the House of Commons regarding killings carried out by security forces during the Troubles, for which she later apologised. In March 2019, she told the commons: “Over 90% of the killings during the Troubles were at the hands of terrorists, every single one of those was a crime.”

She added: “The fewer than 10% that were at the hands of the military and police were not crimes. They were people acting under orders and under instruction and fulfilling their duty in a dignified and appropriate way.”

Colum Eastwood, then leader of the Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP), called for Bradley’s resignation.

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Bradley later said she was “profoundly sorry” for the “offence and hurt” caused by her comments. In an interview with RTÉ News, she said: “If I could turn the clock back to 11.45 yesterday, I would do so in a heartbeat because I never intended to cause hurt, upset or distress or to give anyone the impression that I believe what I said. It was not my belief.”

Bradley has been a member of the House of Commons administration committee (2012-2014), the procedure committee (2011-2012), and the work and pensions committee (2010-2012).

Bradley is co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on human trafficking and modern slavery and chairs the APPG on advertising.

Bradley delivered her maiden speech on 24 June 2010 during a debate on the budget. In it, she stated: “We have the duty, as well as an opportunity in this new parliament, to hold the executive to account, but we must understand clearly what we mean by the executive.

“Today, it is not simply cabinet government, but the extension of government through the civil service and numerous government agencies. We must ensure that, as we vote for laws in this House, what we pass is actually implemented in practice.”

Bradley first ran for parliament in Manchester Withington at the 2005 general election, finishing third with 10.5% of the vote.

In the 2005 to 2010 parliament, Bradley was added to the Tory “A-List” of prospective parliamentary candidates (PPCs), drawn up by Conservative Central Office at the behest of then-party leader David Cameron. The A-List was a centrally-approved priority list of around 100-150 PPCs created as part of Cameron’s bid to modernise the party’s image. The primary goal was to increase the diversity of Conservative MPs by fast-tracking more women and candidates from ethnic minority backgrounds into safe and winnable seats.

Political Views

Leadership elections and loyalty

Tory leadership 2024: Bradley supported Tom Tugendhat’s candidacy in the 2024 Conservative Party leadership election. The contest was triggered by the resignation of Rishi Sunak following the party’s defeat in the 2024 general election. Tugendhat, the then-shadow security minister, was eliminated in the third parliamentary ballot on 8 October 2024 after receiving 20 votes.

Tory leadership 2022 (I): Bradley supported Tugendhat’s candidacy in the Conservative Party’s July-September 2022 leadership election. The contest was triggered by the resignation of Boris Johnson, following the mass exodus of more than 60 frontbenchers.

Tugendhat, the chair of the foreign affairs select committee and a former soldier, was seen as the leading candidate on the party’s one nation wing. He was eliminated in the third parliamentary ballot on 18 July after receiving 31 votes.

Bradley went on to support Liz Truss’ successful candidacy.

In an article for the Times, published August 2022, Bradley described Truss as the “best choice to deliver for this great country”.

She added: “We also need to come together, as a nation and a party. Looking at the broad coalition of supporters she has gathered around her, Liz is in a great position to do that. Successful prime ministers need to bring all wings of their party with them.

“That includes accepting challenge and scrutiny from talented, capable colleagues whatever their Conservative perspective. That’s just one area where Liz will bring real change and show true leadership.”

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Tory leadership 2019: Bradley supported Michael Gove for the party’s leadership in 2019. The election was triggered by the resignation of Theresa May following her inability to secure a Brexit deal acceptable to Parliament.

Gove, then the environment secretary, reached the final three of the parliamentary ballots. He was ultimately eliminated in the fifth ballot on 20 June, receiving 75 votes – just two fewer than Jeremy Hunt.

Tory leadership 2016: Bradley supported Theresa May for the party’s leadership in July 2016. The contest was triggered by the resignation of David Cameron following the UK’s vote to leave the European Union.

May, the then-home secretary, secured a commanding lead in the parliamentary stages, receiving 165 votes in the first ballot and 199 in the second. Following the withdrawal of her final rival, Andrea Leadsom, on 11 July, May was declared leader unopposed and was appointed prime minister two days later.

In a statement welcoming May’s appointment as prime minister, Bradley commented: “She will unite the party with a team of people from both sides of the referendum campaign and, with the help of this team, will work tirelessly to ensure that we get the very best deal for the UK out of negotiations with Europe.”

Factional identity and party tradition

Conservative Environment Network: Bradley is listed as a member of the Conservative Environment Network (CEN) parliamentary caucus. CEN is an independent forum for conservatives that supports conservation and decarbonisation. It calls for the environment to be given a higher profile at the heart of policy making, describing “biodiversity loss, climate change, and wasteful resource use are threats to our national security”, and promotes “market-based policies” to environmental challenges. Members of its parliamentary caucus, such as Bradley, are thought to generally align with the group’s “green” message and environmentalism.

Free Enterprise Group: Bradley was a member of the Free Enterprise Group (FEG) of Conservative MPs – a parliamentary caucus, founded in 2011 by Liz Truss, that championed free-market, libertarian economic policies. The group, seen as a standard-bearer for the Thatcherite wing of the party, is most notable for the political ascent of its founding members. Key figures in the FEG included Truss, Kwasi Kwarteng, Priti Patel, Dominic Raab, and Chris Skidmore. The 2012 book, Britannia Unchained, served as the group’s unofficial manifesto for radical free-market reform. It was effectively succeeded by the Free Market Forum, which was launched in 2021.

Brexit and Europe

Brexit referendum: Bradley campaigned for remain in the 2016 referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union (EU), and therefore disagreed with a majority of constituents, 64.7% of whom voted to leave.

At the time, Bradley said she would be voting for remain “because I believe that is the positive choice for the future of this country.”

She added: “The positive, patriotic, passionate response to the campaign is to vote to remain.”

Article 50: In February 2017, Bradley voted in favour of the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill. The legislation empowered the prime minister to notify the Council of the European Union of the UK’s intention to withdraw, formally triggering the process set out in Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union. MPs supported the bill by 498 votes to 114 at second reading.

Customs union vote (2025): In December 2025, Bradley voted against the UK-EU Customs Union (Duty to Negotiate) Bill. The bill, introduced under the ten-minute rule procedure by Liberal Democrat Europe spokesperson Al Pinkerton, sought to mandate the government to enter into negotiations with the European Union to establish a bespoke customs union.

Assisted dying

Bradley voted against the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, better known as the assisted dying bill, at both second reading (November 2024) and third reading (June 2025).

Social values and conscience issues

Same-sex marriage (2013): In February 2013, Bradley was one of the 131 Conservative MPs to vote in favour of the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill at its second reading. The landmark piece of legislation, which received its second reading by 400 votes to 175, legalised marriage for same-sex couples in England and Wales.

Foreign policy and security

Sanctioned (Russia): In April 2022, Bradley was among the group of MPs placed on a sanctions list by the Russian government. The measure barred them from entering Russia and was presented by Moscow as a retaliatory response to the UK’s stance on the invasion of Ukraine.

Trident renewal (2016): Bradley voted in favour of a government motion calling for the renewal of the Trident nuclear deterrent system in July 2016. The motion, which was passed by 472 votes to 117, committed the UK to constructing a new fleet of submarines to carry the nation’s nuclear weapons.

Syria airstrikes (2015): Bradley voted in favour of a government motion to extend UK airstrikes against Isis from Iraq into Syria in December 2015. The motion, which was passed by 397 votes to 223 after a ten-hour debate in the House of Commons, authorised the RAF to conduct strikes against Isis targets in Syria.

Syria airstrikes (2013): Bradley voted in favour of the government’s motion on the principle of military intervention in Syria in August 2013. The government motion was defeated by 285 votes to 272, a move which effectively ruled out UK participation in any US-led military strikes.

Civil liberties

Covid passes vote (2021): Bradley was one of 99 Conservative MPs to vote against Covid passes in England in December 2021.

Before Politics

Born Karen Anne Howarth on 12 March 1970 in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire. She grew up initially in Cheddleton before moving to Buxton, Derbyshire, where she attended Buxton Girls’ School, a comprehensive school.

She studied mathematics at Imperial College London, graduating with a BSc degree.

After university, Bradley qualified as a chartered accountant and chartered tax adviser, working initially for Deloitte & Touche from 1991, then becoming a senior tax manager with KPMG from 1998. In 2004, she established her own fiscal and economic consultancy before rejoining KPMG in 2007, where she remained until her election in 2010.

In 2002, while employed by KPMG, she undertook a secondment working as a policy adviser to the shadow Treasury team led by Michael Howard. She co-authored reports for the think tanks Policy Exchange and the Centre for Policy Studies.

Personal Life

Bradley is married to Neil Bradley. They live in Leek, within the Staffordshire Moorlands constituency, and have two sons.

Trivia

Bradley is a fan of Manchester City Football Club. According to her website, she enjoys walking in the Peak District and experimenting with new recipes.