Karl McCartney

Karl Ian McCartney (born 25 October 1968) is a British politician who served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport from July to September 2022.

He is the Conservative Member of Parliament for Lincoln.

McCartney was born St Catherine's Hospital in Birkenhead in October 1968 to parents John McCartney and Brenda McCartney (née Weir).

He was privately educated at Birkenhead School from 1980 to 1986, before joining the state-sector Sixth Form at Neston County Comprehensive School.

He gained two A-levels in Geography and Art in 1987.

He studied geography at St David's University College in Lampeter (now University of Wales, Lampeter) from 1988 to 1992.

At Lampeter, he was student union president from 1991 to 1992, and captained the Welsh Universities First XI football team from 1990 to 1991.

He later worked in the City of London.

From 1993 to 1996, he was an agent and researcher for Conservative Central Office.

He was initially a school governor in 1995 and at various schools since.

In 1998, he completed an MBA from Kingston Business School, also becoming a magistrate.

He was a justice of the peace (JP) in Dartford, Maidstone, then Lincoln.

He was first elected at the 2010 general election and represented the constituency until he was defeated by Labour's Karen Lee at the 2017 general election.

McCartney was elected to parliament as MP for Lincoln at the 2010 general election, ousting Labour's incumbent, Gillian Merron.

He made his maiden speech on 12 July, where he set out his vision for what he wanted to achieve whilst an MP, during the debate on Corporation Tax.

McCartney claimed a total £1,159,047.08 in Parliamentary staffing and business costs (often referred to as "expenses") between 2010 and 2017 (the majority of which are Parliamentary staff costs and also include travel, accommodation and office expenses) alongside his annual salary of £74,962.

In 2012, McCartney was elected by Conservative MP colleagues to the Executive of the influential 1922 Committee and the Transport Select Committee and then after the 2015 general election, he was re-elected to the same positions.

As a prominent Leave campaigner, he was elected by his colleagues as a member of the Exiting the European Union Select Committee (known colloquially as the 'Brexit Committee') and led the successful campaign across Greater Lincolnshire during the EU referendum.

He employed his wife as an "office manager" and paid her between £40,000 and £45,000 in 2015–16.

During the 2015 general election coaches of activists were transported to marginal constituencies including Lincoln to campaign alongside or in close proximity to local campaigners.

The inclusion in the Conservative party national return of what in the commission's view should have been reported as candidate spending meant that there was a realistic prospect that this enabled its candidates to gain a financial advantage over opponents.

In consequence, more than 20 sitting Conservative MPs, including Karl McCartney, were investigated by Lincolnshire Police over whether he breached election spending rules.

Lincolnshire Police subsequently passed a file to the Crown Prosecution Service for a decision on whether McCartney and his Election agent should be prosecuted for electoral fraud in relation to the 2015 general election.

His staffing and business costs rose each year he was MP, until 2017 when he accumulated over £90,000 in staffing and business costs in just six months before he was voted out at the 2017 general election (this included winding up costs such as staff severance ).

In March 2017, the Electoral Commission fined the Conservative party £70,000 (the Labour party and Liberal Democrats were both fined £20,000) following the United Kingdom general election, 2015 party spending investigation.

In May 2017, the CPS announced that no further action would be taken in respect of the allegations, including those against McCartney.

In advance of the 2017 general election, McCartney issued a letter to all other candidates for the Lincoln seat, warning of legal action against false, misleading or defamatory statements in the wake of investigations into the party's spending.

In January 2021 the JCIO issued a formal warning to McCartney for referring to his role as a Magistrate in election material, despite having been reprimanded for this previously.

This reprimand was "for allowing his judicial status to be referred to on a political leaflet in a way that gave the appearance of seeking to gain advantage, which is contrary to guidance that is intended to protect judicial independence and impartiality."

In reaching their decision, the JCIO noted that McCartney had previously received a disciplinary sanction for similar behaviour and was unwilling to acknowledge the inappropriateness of his actions.

In response, McCartney publicly stated that the complaint was 'politically motivated', that he had not been previously reprimanded and that he complied with relevant guidance.

For comparison, in 2018/19, the then Labour MP for Lincoln, Karen Lee, claimed staffing and business costs of £196,340.59.

He was re-elected at the 2019 general election.

Following his re-election in 2019, McCartney has spoken in 110 debates (up to April 2022), with a particular interest in transport and devolution for Lincolnshire.

After his return to Parliament in 2019, he was re-elected as a member of the Transport Select Committee, the 1922 Committee and has spoken out consistently against Smart motorways.

On 13 July 2020, local news outlet, the Lincolnite, interviewed McCartney on the tenth anniversary of his maiden speech to Parliament.

He was made Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Transport on 8 July 2022 as part of the caretaker administration of outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

In June 2023, he was one of six Conservative MPs to vote against censuring Boris Johnson following the Commons Privileges Committee investigation.

In 2020/21, McCartney's staffing and business costs were £147,538.47.

From January to June 2020, McCartney claimed £21,600 in expenses for Anagallis Communications, a firm run by a donor who helped fund his first election campaign.