Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
MP Rosie tops off exciting year with engagement news
Canterbury MP Rosie Duffield has topped a “rollercoaster” year in her new job by revealing she is getting married.
She has accepted a proposal from partner Michael Anderson and proudly announced her engagement by posting a picture of her diamond ring on Twitter.
Speaking exclusively to the Gazette, she described first seeing her 51-year beau when he walked into a Canterbury Labour group meeting she was chairing two years ago.
“He’s 6ft 4in, so made quite an impression, and I was definitely interested,” said the 46-year-old mum, who has two teenage boys.
But Rosie revealed she “played it cool” and waited two weeks before replying to his email asking if she would like to meet for coffee.
“Eventually, I told him I only had 25 minutes but we ended up chatting for three-and-a-half hours,” she said.
Mr Anderson, a dad-of-two who served in the RAF, became a maths teacher but has recently left education to pursue other interests.
Revealing how he proposed, Rosie said: “I had got home late from voting in the House of Commons and had been asleep for about 10 minutes when he woke me up and said he going to ask me at Christmas but couldn’t wait. It was so nice and very exciting so I didn’t get back to sleep at all.”
Rosie said no date or venue had been fixed for the wedding: “I just haven’t had time to think about that because I’ve been rushing around trying to get ready for Christmas.”
The exciting proposal came at the end of a hectic year for the newly-elected MP.
She admitted the job came as a surprise after one of the biggest electoral upsets in the country saw long-serving Conservative Sir Julian Brazier ousted from the seat.
“It’s been fantastic and very exciting but also a little bit like riding a rollercoaster,” she said.
“But mostly I’m loving it and it’s my dream job and a great privilege.
“At times it can be a bit overwhelming because there’s so much going on at the moment.
“You think you know what’s involved but it’s only once you get into parliament that you realise just how much work there is.
“I’m doing as much as I can because I want to be a decent constituency MP so that people will have faith in me. So far I think I have helped quite a lot of people which is the best part of it.”
She added: “It’s a very demanding job but I think Michael knows what he’s let himself in for.”