[2] Kirkbride was the Conservative spokesman on Culture, Media and Sport from 2003 to 2004, but was replaced in a reshuffle by the party leader at that time, Michael Howard.

On 10 November 2006, it was revealed that she had links with the Midlands Industrial Council, which has donated millions of pounds to the Conservative Party.

In a case of so-called double-dipping, according to The Daily Telegraph, Mackay had used his Additional Costs Allowance to claim more than £1,000 a month in mortgage interest payments on their joint Westminster house – even though he did not have a residence in his Bracknell constituency – while Kirkbride used her Additional Costs Allowance to claim over £900 a month to pay the mortgage for their family home in her constituency.

Kirkbride also extended her mortgage to pay for a £50,000 extension to her house, which she said was to provide a separate bedroom for her son, and claimed for this on expenses.

[8][9] She said she allowed her brother to stay rent free in her house some of the time so that he could care for her son, Angus, while she undertook constituency work in the evening.

[11] In a letter to Cameron, she said, "My principal concern has to be for my very loyal local supporters in Bromsgrove whose trust in me has been very humbling in the last few weeks ...

Shortly before her decision to stand down, she had stated that it never crossed her mind that she was doing anything wrong; however, she was also quoted as saying that it was "hugely upsetting to realise I have let people down".

[13] On 5 November, she reversed her decision, telling a meeting of the Executive Council of Bromsgrove Conservative Association that she wanted to be considered as their candidate for the next general election.

[18] In October 2010, the Parliamentary Commissioner of Standards rejected complaints of her expenses and upheld that she had been within the rules to claim her Bromsgrove property as a second home, to allow her brother to stay to look after her child and to extend her mortgage to provide a further bedroom.

On the issue of the extended mortgage he wrote: "I conclude, therefore, that Ms Kirkbride was within the rules in claiming interest on the additional mortgage which she, with her husband, took out in April 2008 to extend her Bromsgrove constituency property by building a third bedroom for it so that she had somewhere for her child carer to stay while she was busy on her parliamentary duties".