Katharine Anne Ussher (born 18 March 1971) is a British economist,public policy research professional and former politician. In November 2023 she moved from being chief economist at the Institute of Directors to Managing Director,Group Head of Policy Development at Barclays.[1] She was previously a Labour Party MP and Treasury minister,and later Chief Executive of the Demos think tank.[2] She was a Non Executive Director with the UK subsidiary of the fintech Revolut from 2020-23,and is a current NED at the local authority pension pooling company,London CIV.[3] In 2023 she was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences.[4]
After training as an economist and working as a macroeconomic forecaster at the Economist Intelligence Unit,[5] she was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Burnley at the 2005 general election,succeeding Peter Pike. Seen as a high flier,she went on to serve as a minister in Gordon Brown's government from 2007 to 2009,mainly at the Treasury,but also at the Department for Work and Pensions,having previously been a Special Advisor at the Department for Trade and Industry.[5] At the time she was the second-youngest government minister,and the youngest woman.
Ussher resigned from her ministerial role in 2009 following her involvement in the United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal in which it was reported she had taken action on the advice of her accountants to reduce her capital gains tax liability.[6] She did not stand at the 2010 election,citing the desire for a more normal family life while her children were young.[7][8][9] Since then,she has worked primarily in public policy thought leadership,at Demos,as Managing Director of Tooley Street Research,[5] and at the Institute of Directors. In August 2021,she predicted that unemployment would not rise when the coronavirus furlough scheme ended at the end of the following month.[10] At the time this was out of step with most economic forecasts;however,when the official ONS data were released four months later,her prediction was shown to be correct.[11] In September 2023 she was the only one out of nine members of The Times shadow monetary policy committee to correctly anticipate the Bank of England's decision that month to hold interest rates at 5.25% after 14 consecutive rate rises.[12]
Ussher was elected as the member of Parliament for Burnley at the 2005 general election,having been selected through an All-Women Shortlist as the constituency's Labour candidate.[14] The new intake of MPs was called the brightest for a generation.[15]
Her period in office also saw a review of the policy towards co-operatives and credit unions,to give them greater commercial freedom and ability to expand. She also developed the policy leading to the Dormant Bank and Building Society Accounts Act 2008 that redistributes unclaimed banking assets to community use,and the Savings Gateway Act 2009 that provides financial incentives to poorer people to save.
She became responsible for the government's review of housing benefit policy and a review of the social fund,as well as the Child Support Agency and welfare policy on lone parents. Ussher made London her permanent home in April 2009,moving to Brixton,so she could send her children to school in Westminster.[21]
In the June 2009 reshuffle,she was moved back to the Treasury,this time promoted to Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury,but ten days later resigned to prevent embarrassment to the government regarding her tax position,and was replaced by Sarah McCarthy-Fry,the MP for Portsmouth North.
On 10 May 2009 the Sunday Telegraph reported that within a year of being elected, Ussher was inquiring about claiming for around £20,000 worth of renovations to her London home, a property she had owned for several years before becoming an MP. In her claims she stated: "The plumbing in the entire house is strange [...] The electrics are also odd [...] Most of the ceilings have Artex coverings. Three-dimensional swirls. It could be a matter of taste, but this counts as 'dilapidations' in my book!" A letter produced by the Telegraph include a covering "With Compliments" slip stating "I am aware this takes us over our limit. Please pay as much as you are able".[22]
The following month, Ussher resigned, citing a desire to "prevent embarrassment to the government" after allegations that she also temporarily changed the designation of her "main" home for tax purposes to reduce her tax bill.[23] Ussher's main home was in London, but in order to reduce her capital gains tax bill by £3,420 she temporarily designated her Burnley house as the main residence for one month while it was sold. A letter from her accountants concerning the matter was also hidden from the published official version of her office expenses file published online.[24]
In her resignation letter, Ussher claimed that she had done nothing wrong and that her actions were "in line with HM Revenue and Customs guidance and based on the advice of a reputable firm of accountants who in turn were recommended to me by the House of Commons fees office". She also denied any abuse of the allowances system of the House of Commons.[25] Four years later in an article on her blog, she said she had nevertheless voluntarily paid the amount in question to HMRC, stating that "Public servants should always be at pains to ensure that they are not only compliant with the letter of the law but also with the spirit of it, and I did not focus on that."[26]
At the same time, Ussher announced that she would not contest the next election, citing the difficulties in reconciling her parental responsibilities with the working hours of Parliament, stating that this decision had preceded the expenses controversy.[27] Commenting on her resignation, the BBC described her as a "rising star" who had risen quickly through the ranks, despite only being elected in 2005.[28]
An investigation by Sir Thomas Legg into MPs' claims found that Ussher had breached the retrospectively-applied £11,000 limit for building work in her kitchen and ordered her to repay £1,271.65. Her appeal against the ruling, on the grounds that the limit was not in place at the time the expenses were incurred, was rejected as being outside the scope of the terms of enquiry of Sir Thomas Legg's investigation.[29]
Later career
In May 2010, after leaving Parliament, Ussher became the new Chief Executive of Demos, remaining in that post until 2012.[5] She then became a research fellow of the Smith Institute,[30] an associate at the Centre for London, a member of TheCityUK's Independent Economists' Panel, and a co founder of Labour in the City.
In February 2015, she joined the Financial Services Consumer Panel, a scrutiny panel for the Financial Conduct Authority regulator. Between 2017 and 2019 she spent two years working as an inner city maths teacher, as part of the inaugural cohort of Now Teach, a scheme to encourage older professionals to switch careers into teaching, stating in her blog that she "thought she should do something useful".[34]
Ussher married accountant Peter J. Colley in September 1999 in Hammersmith;[13] they have one daughter Elizabeth (born 7 June 2005)[36] and a son George (born 3 January 2008).[37]
Publications
The Economic Cost of Inflammatory Bowel Disease in the UK, Demos 2021
Everyday Places: Creating strong locations to support daily life in Britain, Demos 2021
Post Pandemic Places, Demos 2021
Potential Limited: The economic cost of uncontrolled asthma, Demos 2020
Patient Power: Unleashing choice over routine medications, Demos 2020
The economic cost of inflammatory bowel disease, Demos, 2021
Everyday places: creating strong locations to support daily life in Britain, Demos, 2021
Post pandemic places, Demos, 2021
Potential limited: the economic cost of uncontrolled asthma, Demos, 2020
The Learning Curve (co-author), Demos, 2020
Patient power: unleashing choice over routine medications, Demos 2020
Improving pay, progression and productivity in the retail sector, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2016
Pay progression: Understanding the barriers for the lowest paid. Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, 2014
Wealth of our nation: rethinking policies for wealth distribution. The Smith Institute, 2014
Good Growth: A Demos and PWC report on economic wellbeing. Demos, 2011
City Limits: The progressive case for financial services reform. Demos, 2011
Labour's Record on the Economy. The Political Quarterly, 2010
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