Karen Lumley, Tory MP for Redditch who took a principled stand on same-sex marriage and Brexit – obituary

Karen Lumley, who has died after a long illness aged 59, was a popular Conservative MP for Redditch from 2010 until 2017, when ill health forced her to give up her seat.

Announcing her death in the Commons last Thursday, Penny Mordaunt, Leader of the House, fought back tears. Praising Karen Lumley as a “force for good”, she said: “We will miss her, her amazing hairdos and the joy she brought us all.”

Karen Lumley defeated the former Labour Home Secretary Jacqui Smith to win a Commons seat at the fourth attempt, bringing to Westminster experience in politics in North Wales and locally. Strong and charismatic, she carried on campaigning even when clearly unwell.

At Westminster, she opposed same-sex marriage and pressed for Brexit. Locally, she fought in vain to save acute services at Redditch’s Alexandra Hospital from cuts imposed under George Osborne’s austerity Budgets. She was caught up in controversy when an eight-year-old boy, who lived three minutes from “the Alex”, died after being taken to another hospital 19 miles away.

She was born Karen Elizabeth Allott in Barnsley on March 28 1964, to Derek and Sylvia Allott. Growing up in Warwickshire, she attended Rugby High School for Girls and East Warwickshire College before joining the Ford Motor Company as a trainee accountant.

Marrying Richard Lumley in 1984, she became company secretary to his business, RKL Geological Services. They settled in Wrexham, and she was elected deputy chairman of the Welsh Young Conservatives for 1986-87. Next she was elected to Wrexham Maelor council, leading its Conservative group from 1991 to 1996; she also served for three years on Clwyd County Council.

Karen Lumley fought her first Commons seat – Delyn – in 1997 against Labour’s David Hanson, who increased his previously slim majority by 10,000. Two years later she fought Delyn again, in the first elections for the Welsh Assembly, finishing second to the former Merseyside assistant chief constable Alison Halford, who would later join the Tories.

Moving to Redditch, Karen Lumley was elected to the local council in 2001, and the same year made her first attempt to win the town’s parliamentary seat. Jacqui Smith held her off by 2,484 votes, and in 2005 increased the margin against the national trend to 2,716.

By the 2010 election Labour was on the defensive, and Jacqui Smith had resigned as Home Secretary the year before over expenses claims disclosed by The Daily Telegraph. At the third attempt, Karen Lumley captured Redditch with a majority of 5,821.

Arriving in the Commons as David Cameron’s Coalition took power, she served in turn on the Welsh Affairs and Transport select committees. In 2013 she voted against the Bill authorising same-sex marriage, saying that while she supported civil partnerships, she felt the Bill would redefine the meaning of marriage and was not supported by the majority of her constituents.

Re-elected by 7,054 votes in 2015, she was appointed to the Finance Select Committee, also serving as a PPS to health ministers. She voted Leave in the 2016 referendum on EU membership, then pressed for Brexit’s full and speedy implementation.

Soon after, she was overtaken by illness. Initially she had hoped to stand again, but when Theresa May called a snap election for June 2017 she decided to step down, saying: “Redditch has been my home for nearly 20 years and it has been a huge honour to have represented its great people for the past seven. There is nothing more important or rewarding than helping people; however, I need to be fully fit to be able to undertake the job properly.” The seat was held for the Conservatives by the current Redditch MP, Rachel Maclean.

Karen Lumley is survived by her husband, son and daughter.

Karen Lumley, born March 28 1964, died May 25 2023