Four years later in an article on her blog, she said she had nevertheless voluntarily paid the amount in question to HMRC, stating that "Public servants should always be at pains to ensure that they are not only compliant with the letter of the law but also with the spirit of it, and I did not focus on that." At the same time, Ussher announced that she would not contest the next election, citing the difficulties in reconciling her parental responsibilities with the working hours of Parliament, stating that this decision had preceded the expenses controversy. Commenting on her resignation, the BBC described her as a "rising star" who had risen quickly through the ranks, despite only being elected in 2005. An investigation by Sir Thomas Legg into MPs' claims found that Ussher had breached the retrospectively-applied £11,000 limit for building work in her kitchen and ordered her to repay £1,271.65. Her appeal against the ruling, on the grounds that the limit was not in place at the time the expenses were incurred, was rejected as being outside the scope of the terms of enquiry of Sir Thomas Legg's investigation. Later career In May 2010, after leaving Parliament, Ussher became the new Chief Executive of Demos, remaining in that post until 2012. She then became a research fellow of the Smith Institute, an associate at the Centre for London, a member of TheCityUK's Independent Economists' Panel, and a co founder of Labour in the City. In December 2013, she became Managing Director of Tooley Street Research, and economic and policy adviser to Portland Communications. She has also written pamphlets for the Fabian Society, the Social Market Foundation and Policy Network and for the Financial Times. In February 2015, she joined the Financial Services Consumer Panel, a scrutiny panel for the Financial Conduct Authority regulator. Between 2017 and 2019 she spent two years working as an inner city maths teacher, as part of the inaugural cohort of Now Teach, a scheme to encourage older professionals to switch careers into teaching, stating in her blog that she "thought she should do something useful". In September 2021, Kitty Ussher was appointed chief economist at the Institute of Directors. Personal life Ussher married accountant Peter J. Colley in September 1999 in Hammersmith; they have one daughter (born 7 June 2005) and a son (born 3 January 2008). Publications The Economic Cost of Inflammatory Bowel