Heather Brooke

Heather Brooke is a journalist and writer living in London. In May 2008, she won a High Court case against the House of Commons for the full disclosure of MPs' second homes allowances. The ruling was the culmination of a four-year campaign for greater transparency of parliament. The resulting disclosure of all MPs' expense claims led to numerous resignations, a parliamentary inquiry and calls for full-scale reform of the parliamentary expense system.

She was runner-up for the inaugural Paul Foot award for investigative journalism and her project Justice by Postcode for The Times was one of the first examples of computer-assisted reporting in the UK. She is a visiting fellow at City University's Department of Journalism and is a consultant and presenter on several Dispatches documentaries for Channel 4. Prior to moving to the UK, Heather was a newspaper reporter covering politics and crime. She is the author of Your Right to Know, a citizens' guide to using the Freedom of Information Act. Heather was awarded the FOI award at the 2009 Investigative Reporters and Editors awards.

Heather's campaign for transparency in Parliament has been made into a BBC4 drama called On Expenses. She won the Judges' Award at the British Press Awards and the Special Commendation Award at the Tenth Annual Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Awards.