Who is Eve Adams?

OTTAWA – She was once a rising star for the Conservative Party, stealing a sought-after Ontario seat from the Liberals in 2011.

Now, Toronto-area MP Eve Adams is sitting with the Liberals, among the few MPs who survived decimation the party suffered in the last election.

Adams, 41, first stepped into public office in 2003, spending the next eight years as a city councillor in Mississauga, Ont. In 2011, she ran federally with the Conservatives, winning Mississauga—Brampton South from the Liberals, who had held the riding since it was formed in 2004.

READ MORE: Ontario MP Eve Adams joins Liberals, calls Tories ‘fear-mongers and bullies’

Her successful federal run brought attention from the national press. The Toronto Sun voted Adams “hottest female candidate” in 2011, and the Toronto Star said she was “poised for stardom.”

The federal rookie also caught the eye of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who appointed her parliamentary secretary to the veterans minister, later moving her to parliamentary secretary to the health minister in 2013.

She was also selected to escort William and Kate on their royal tour.

READ MORE: Harper asks Conservative party to investigate Tory MP’s behaviour

But all that shine began to fade last year, when Adams became embroiled in a messy nomination process for Oakville—North Burlington in Ontario, one of 30 ridings coming in to play in the 2015 election.

In May, the Conservatives were forced to delay the nomination vote after a bitter battle erupted between Adams and fellow Conservative nomination candidate Natalia Lishchyna.

The decision to call off the scheduled vote was taken after the teams for both candidates released audio recordings supporting their respective claims of wrongdoing.

Adams’ team had been accused of paying for the memberships of supporters, alleged donations that are illegal under the Elections Act. Adams in turn has accused Lishchyna of improperly using data research firms to phone members at home.

WATCH: Conservative MP Eve Adams is under investigation over complaints she used inside information to try to win a tightly contested nomination race. 

She was also accused of being verbally abusive and using House of Commons mailing privileges to contact potential supporters.

Adams denied all the allegations, accusing the other team of using riding association resources to wage an attack on her.

The nomination furor rippled up to the highest echelons of the Conservative party where Dimitri Soudas — the party’s executive director, Adams’ fiancé and the former communications director to the prime minister — was forced to resign amid reports he intervened on Adams’ behalf in the nomination process.

Finally, in August, Adams dropped out of the contentious battle, citing health reasons.

Party president John Walsh on Monday said he wrote to Adams Jan. 29 to inform her she would not be permitted to run for the Conservatives in 2015 on account of “the misconduct” from her previous nomination battle, he wrote in an email.

Walsh said this note to Adams followed her request “of just a couple of weeks ago” to seek the nomination for the Conservatives in a new seat.

Lawrence LeDuc, professor emeritus in political science at the University of Toronto, last year said the allegations surrounding Adams were in part created by the effects of redistribution, where ridings are created or divided based on growing populations.

READ MORE: Tory MP Eve Adams accused of misusing taxpayer funds

“There are other candidates who will be switching ridings for a variety of reasons and with that you get a lot of infighting,” said LeDuc.

Nik Nanos, of Nanos Research Group, at the time said the Conservative party has to be careful about incidents like those involving Adams from becoming an ongoing narrative.

“Whenever we have gone through redistribution it’s always been messy for all parties,” said Nanos. “It’s like a game of musical chairs and when the music stops someone is left out.”

The episode in Oakville—North Burlington, however, was not the long-time Conservative’s first brush with controversy.

During her time as a Mississauga councillor, her then-husband, Peter Adams, was charged with possessing stolen property in a case of stolen election signs. And in 2006, Adams was accused of ordering employees to put up signs early without getting permission from homeowners. She denied the allegations and was re-elected.

Controversy again surrounded Adams after reports emerged in June 2013 that her 2011 campaign was trying to claim $2,777 in personal expenses, including salon visits, dry cleaning and restaurant charges.

Adams responded to criticism via Twitter saying some of the costs covered items like hand soap and mouthwash for volunteers.

WATCH: Gas station owner releases footage of Tory MP Eve Adams complaining about $6 car wash

And last April, surveillance video from an Ottawa gas station taken a few months earlier showed a dispute between Adams and gas station owner John Newcombe.

The argument, which saw Adams use her car to block access to some pumps for 15 minutes, was about the cost of a car wash. The incident prompted Newcombe to ask the Prime Minister’s Office to investigate Adams over the incident.

Adams later apologized.

The Conservatives have announced for the first time since 2006 that incumbents will not be protected from challengers in the nomination process.

*With files from The Canadian Press