addiction,assisted suicide,housing,mission,outreach,persecution,religious freedom,young people,youth,youth work

Candidate for General Synod, House of Laity

Why am I standing for General Synod?

Having had the privilege of being a Member of Parliament for 14 years,
and with my professional background as a Solicitor, I hope to serve by
bringing to bear my legislative and legal experience.

Personal Background

I have lived mainly in the north west; I attended
Manchester University - when, as a student, I was
confirmed into the Church of England, - then Chester
Law College. I met and married my husband Richard, a
Chartered Surveyor, 36 years ago, since when we have
lived in Cheshire, bringing up our two sons, Samuel and
Daniel, now aged 33 and 30. I am now the proud
grandmother of a little girl aged 1 ½, with another on the
way!

Professional Background

I founded the Law Firm, Fiona Bruce Solicitors, based in Stockton Heath over 30 years ago and remain
Senior Partner. (www.fionabruce.co.uk). The early years were a struggle, involving Richard and I selling
our home and living at the office to keep going. The firm has now grown to a 5 Partner firm with some
40 staff providing a range of legal services. We were the first sole legal practice to attain the Law Society
" Lexcel " (Legal Excellence in Practice) Standard (1998), and I am a national winner of the
businesswomen's award "Women Into Business" (2003). I have been a long-time active member of the
Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship and served for many years on its National Council (https://lawcf.org/).

Parliamentary background

Constituency Priorities: From 2010 to 2024 I was MP for the Congleton
constituency (covering also Holmes Chapel, Sandbach, Middlewich and
Alsager). I listened to and sought to help thousands of constituents. This
also gave me a broad understanding of Cheshire wide issues. The local and
regional concerns which I worked on included successfully campaigning for
the Congleton by-pass, not least to reduce congestion and improve air
quality, improving local health provision, and working with head teachers to
press the Schools Minister to increase per pupil funding for local schools.

National Priorities: In Parliament much of the work I chose to focus on was in support of the most
vulnerable in our country and abroad. This work was almost always collaboratively with MPs from
across the political parties, as I am acutely aware that little in public life is achieved by working alone.
I pressed successive governments to implement policies to strengthen family life, and was the lead MP
promoting the creation of Family Hubs – places locally where anyone can go for help with problems
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such as debt, housing, addiction, relationships, etc. I urged many
government ministers to support and fund this work – for example
here in the House of Commons: Fiona Bruce - Family Hubs 2018
Speech. There are now hundreds of Family Hubs across the country
and support for them has continued following the change of
government in 2024.

For almost 10 years I was chair of the All Party Parliamentary Pro-
Life Group, and had the privilege of leading in Parliament the successful campaign opposing the 2015
Assisted Suicide Bill.

I also served on Parliament’s Ecclesiastical Committee between 2015 and 2024.

International Priorities

I served for many years on the International Development Select
Committee, scrutinising the use of UK Aid, travelling to many of the
poorest countries of the world to review the use of UK taxpayers’ funds.
Throughout my time in Parliament, I championed religious freedom and
challenged persecution – not only of Christians but of all those persecuted
for their beliefs, speaking frequently in the House of Commons. See for
example: Fiona Bruce - Debate on persecution 2023. I was vice chair of
the All Party Parliamentary Group on Religious Freedom and was
honoured to be appointed in 2020 as the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or
Belief, in which role I was reappointed and served three Prime Ministers until 2024. I worked in this role
with Ambassadors and other government representatives from across the world challenging
persecution and was elected by them in 2021 and re-elected in 2022 as Chair of the International cross-
governmental organisation which supports religious freedom globally – “IRBFA” the International
Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance - which grew substantially during my tenure to 43 countries.

Supporting Young People

Throughout my life I have tried to encourage young people - at my law firm by providing traineeships;
in Parliament by mentoring an intern each academic year. In our local church - St John's Hartford -
Richard and I have been involved in supporting youth outreach. Together with our sons we undertook
international youth work in several countries with YWAM (Youth With A Mission) and helped support
the development of a school in Tanzania over almost 20 years. I am a longtime supporter and now
Trustee of the Message Trust ( www.message.org.uk ) which works for " the poorest of the poor " in the
UK and abroad .

I have been a Lay Canon of Chester Cathedral since 2018.

Nominated by:

Nominator 1 Canon David Hermitt: “I am delighted to propose Fiona Bruce to be one of our General
Synod members. General Synod will benefit from Fiona’s many skills. She is an accomplished lawyer,
used to the legislative aspects and willing to attend committee meetings to refine decisions. Her many
years as MP for Congleton enabled her to improve many lives and address concerns raised by local
people. For example, when I approached her about improving school funding she was active. She
arranged a meeting with officials in Westminster. Today, our children enjoy better funding in their
schools. Her faith has been tested in the public domain, standing up in Parliament for Christian values.
I have no hesitation of recommending her as one of our General Synod members.”

Nominator 2 Dr Audrey E Kerr-Taylor BDS: "I am honoured to support Fiona's nomination . She has a
strong and proven track record of championing and advocating for some of the most vulnerable people
in our society "
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