Biography

Anne at the Kids Allowed Nursery, in Cheadle, Greater Manchester courtesy of Stockport Express

Anne lives in her Vale of York constituency near Thirsk with her husband John Harvey, who is a director of an insurance company. She was born in Edinburgh in 1954, educated at Harrogate Ladies College, and studied at the Universities of Edinburgh and Aarhus in Denmark.

After qualifying as a Scottish Advocate, Anne practised Law in Edinburgh and Brussels and then worked for the Conservatives in the European Parliament. She fought Workington, Cumbria for the Conservatives in the 1987 General Election and served as the Member of the European Parliament for North East Essex (1989-94) and North Essex and South Suffolk (1994-99), acting as Assistant Whip and Conservative Transport Spokesman.

Since her election as the Member for the Vale of York in 1997, Anne has served on the House of Commons Transport, Local Government and the Regions Select Committee, the European Scrutiny Select Committee, and the Executive of the Conservative Backbench 1922 Committee. In September 2001 Anne was appointed Shadow Minister for Culture, Media and Sport, with responsibility for Media and Broadcasting, and in July 2002 became Shadow Minister forTransport, with responsibility for aviation, shipping and buses. She has been Shadow Minister for the Environment and Transport from November 2003 to May 2005.

Anne served as a Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs from May 2005 to December 2005.

Since December 2005 Anne served as Shadow Minister for Women's Pensions and Family Welfare on the Shadow Work and Pensions Team. She is now serving as the Shadow Minister for Environment.

Anne with Martin Houghton-Brown, Policy Adviser from the Children's Society' Photo taken by Flavia Frser Cannon

At the Party Conference in October 2006, Anne demonstrates her support for the  Scotch Whisky Association. Copyright Peter Stevens Photography/CCO Conferences Ltd 2006

Supporting the Disability Rights Commission campaign entitled "Are We Taking The Dis?"

McIntosh in the swim, raising money for 'Women Caring Trust'

Studying the Budget 2007 in the House of Commons Library

Anne has brought her considerable political experience to bear in the Vale of York, particularly on issues relating to local transport, agriculture, health, education, law and order, the countryside and rural services. Working closely with local farmers, businessmen, educators and the police force, she works hard to ensure that the views of all her constituents in the Vale of York are heard.

In the 2005 General Election Anne was re-elected with with an increased majority (13,712 from 12,517) and 51.7 per cent of the vote (up from 44.7 per cent in 1997) and 26025 votes up from 25033 in 2001.