Former Brussels staffer marries
Yesterday Emma Bennett, who used to work with me in Brussels, married her fiancé Martin Jee at Albury Church, Tiddington, near Oxford.
Emma is a passionate horsewoman who has been on the UK dressage team. After leaving my office in Brussels she went to Westminster to work for Andrew Tyrie MP, before moving on to the Taxpayers’ Alliance (an organisation for which I have enormous respect), where she still works. In Westminster she met Martin, who at that time was also working there as a researcher.
The wedding, in a delightful little village church, was also attended by Oliver Heald MP, for whom Martin had worked, and Matthew Elliott of TPA. The weather was typical English sunshine and showers, but the showers fell while we were undercover and the sun shone for the photos. During the reception, in a splendidly bedecked barn at the bride’s home, Sandy Lane Farm, the event was graced with a magnificent rainbow visible through the windows.
As readers of this column will be aware, I take considerable pride in the achievements of the alumni of my Brussels Office, and I am delighted that Emma is working for TPA. At one stage I seemed to have several Emmas around my office (some people suggested that the name Emma was an unofficial selection criterion). Two more of my former Emmas appear in the photo below.
L to R: RFH, Emma McClarkin MEP, Alex, Emma Mulvey; my wife Sara
Roger Helmer MEP 