Mary is leader of South Northamptonshire Council and has been an elected member for the past twelve years serving as Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Economic Regeneration. She chairs the West Northamptonshire Joint Strategic Planning Committee (WNJSPC) and is a Board member of the South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership (SEMLEP).

Mary has been Chief Executive of Cognisco since January 2004. Cognisco develops new software products and provide an occupational psychology practice that supports global corporations in over 150 countries and 31 languages across all major business sectors. Cognisco became a PLC in 2008 and has five wholly owned subsidiary companies including Cognisco USA Inc.

As a mathematics graduate from Herriot Watt University, Edinburgh, Mary spent over twenty years in the IT and Telecommunications industry, where she developed a number of start-up and high growth businesses worldwide. She served as Vice President for Lucent Technologies (formerly AT&T Network Systems) and Director of Network Services, Digital Equipment Company Limited.