Editing Sandra Gidley (section)

==Parliamentary career==
She joined the Liberal Democrats in 1994, was elected as a councillor to the [[Test Valley Borough Council]] in 1995 and was, in 1997, the youngest ever female mayor of Romsey.<ref>{{cite news| url =http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2163323.stm| title =Sandra Gidley| date =16 October 2002| publisher =BBC| accessdate =4 August 2014| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20060129014502/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2163323.stm| archive-date =29 January 2006| url-status =live}}</ref>

After Romsey's [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] MP [[Michael Colvin]] died in a fire at his home in [[Tangley]] on 24 February 2000,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/662767.stm |title=Police find remains at MP's house |date=1 March 2007 |publisher=BBC News Online |accessdate=25 September 2007}}</ref> Gidley was selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate for the [[2000 Romsey by-election|resulting by-election]]. She won the by-election, on 4 May, with a majority of 3,311 votes<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/elect2000/article/0,,217939,00.html |title=Lib Dems hail byelection win as snub to Tory hard line |date=6 May 2000 |work=The Guardian |accessdate=25 September 2007 | location=London | first=Lucy | last=Ward}}</ref> and won in the [[2001 United Kingdom general election|2001]] and [[2005 United Kingdom general election|2005 general elections]]. However, in 2005 her majority was reduced to only 125 votes, the smallest of any Lib Dem MP, by the Conservative candidate, [[Caroline Nokes]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk/ge05/i16.htm |title=UK General Election results May 2005 |work=Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources |accessdate=25 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071010072810/http://www.psr.keele.ac.uk/area/uk/ge05/i16.htm |archive-date=10 October 2007 |url-status=live }}</ref> She was appointed as the party's spokeswoman on women's issues and older people from 2001. In January 2006, as Kennedy faced allegations of a drink problem, Gidley was one of 11 members of the front-bench team to write to Kennedy asking him to resign.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article785726.ece |title=Charles Kennedy defies growing revolt from his MPs |date=6 January 2006 |access-date=1 October 2007 |work=The Times |location=London |first1=Jenny |last1=Booth |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514000517/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article785726.ece |archive-date=14 May 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Gidley chaired her party's Gender Balance Task Force,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gbtf.org.uk/pages/history.html |title=History of the Campaign for Gender Balance |accessdate=25 September 2007 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071020213628/http://www.gbtf.org.uk/pages/history.html |archivedate=20 October 2007 |df=dmy-all }}</ref> an initiative to get more women into politics.

The Romsey constituency was abolished for the [[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010 election]], and in the new [[Romsey and Southampton North (UK Parliament constituency)|Romsey and Southampton North]] constituency she was defeated by the Conservative candidate [[Caroline Nokes]], who took the new seat a majority of 4,165 votes following the expenses scandal, in which it emerged Gidley accepted a £18,700 'windfall' from her London landlord in return for an increase in her taxpayer funded rent.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/england/8666852.stm |title=Lib Dem's Sandra Gidley loses seat after 10 years |date=7 May 2010 |work=BBC News |access-date=7 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170818045719/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/election_2010/england/8666852.stm |archive-date=18 August 2017 |url-status=live }}</ref>