Julie Kirkbride has chosen to put her family before a potentially glittering political career and return to the relative obscurity of the back benches.

Last November, the town's Tory MP was elevated to the Opposition front bench as shadow Secretary of State for culture, media and sport.

But now the 44-year-old says she wants to spend more time with her husband and son.

In last week's shadow cabinet reshuffle, Tory leader Michael Howard offered Miss Kirkbride a middle-ranking post in foreign affairs.

But, confronted with the dilemma that thousands of working mums have to face, the MP has opted to put her career onto the back burner.

It had been predicted by many commentators that Miss Kirkbride was destined for a top job in politics.

Before last autumn, when those predictions appeared to be coming true, she had been offered and had turned down at least two shadow cabinet roles by former leaders William Hague and Iain Duncan Smith.

Her decision then had been influenced by her desire to spend more time with her son Angus and her MP husband Andrew MacKay.

Commenting about her decision Miss Kirkbride said: "In the run up to the General Election Michael Howard wants shadow ministers to be even more active.

"I have always been concerned about the impact of my front bench position on my family and as such I didn't feel that I had any more time to offer. My three-year-old son Angus has a year to go before he starts full-time school and he needs to see me too.

"Therefore I thought it best to stand down and return to the back benches. I was offered the chance to move to foreign affairs but that would have taken me away even more."

pete.lammas@midlands.

newsquest.co.uk