Edward Davey

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Edward Davey MP
Lib Dems Chief of Staff and Chair of Campaign and Communications
In office 18 December 2006 – present
Leader	Nick Clegg
Preceded by	Norman Lamb
Lib Dems Trade and Industry Secretary
In office 3 March 2006 – 18 December 2006
Preceded by	Norman Lamb
Succeeded by	Susan Kramer
Lib Dems Secretary of State for Education and Skills
In office 16 May 2005 – 3 March 2006
Leader	Charles Kennedy
Preceded by	Phil Willis
Succeeded by	Sarah Teather
Member of Parliament for Kingston and Surbiton
In office 1 May 1997 – present
Preceded by	Richard Tracey
Majority	8,966
Born	December 25, 1965 (1965-12-25) (age 42) Nottingham, UK
Political party	Liberal Democrats

Edward Jonathan "Ed" Davey (born 25 December 1965) a British Member of Parliament. He is the Liberal Democrat representative for Kingston and Surbiton and was Chief of Staff to the party leader Sir Menzies Campbell.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Member of Parliament 2.1 Lib Dems Shadow Cabinet 3 Personal life 4 References 5 See also 6 Publications 7 External links

[edit] Early life

The son of a solicitor father and teacher mother,^[1] Edward Davey was born in Annesley Woodhouse, Nottinghamshire.^[2] His father died when Davey was just four years old, and his mother eleven years later, following which he was brought up by his mother's parents.^[1] After attending senior school at Nottingham High School (as have other MPs - Kenneth Clarke, Geoff Hoon and Ed Balls to name but three), where he was head boy in 1984, he furthered his education at Jesus College, Oxford^[2] where he was awarded a first class Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics in 1988.^[1] Whilst at Oxford, he was also elected to the JCR presidency of Jesus College.^[1]

As a teenager he worked in a pork pie factory and at Boots. In 1989, he became an economics researcher for the Liberal Democrats^[2] (principally to Alan Beith,^[1] the party's Treasury spokesman), whilst studying at Birkbeck College, London^[2] for a master's degree (MSc) in Economics.^[1] During that time he proposed making the Bank of England independent, a policy enacted by the Labour Party following their election in May 1997. In 1993, he took up the position of management consultant with Omega Partners until his election to Westminster.^[2]

[edit] Member of Parliament

Edward Davey was elected to the House of Commons at his first attempt at the 1997 General Election where he defeated the sitting Conservative MP for the former constituency of Surbiton Richard Tracey with a majority of just 56 votes and has remained the MP there since. He made his maiden speech on June 6, 1997, in which he gave his support for the setting up of the London Assembly, but against the idea of a directly elected Mayor of London, he also talked about the effects governmental cuts was having on the education delivery in the London Borough of Kingston upon Thames.^[3]

[edit] Lib Dems Shadow Cabinet

In parliament he was given a job immediately by Paddy Ashdown and became the party's spokesman on Treasury Affairs, adding the post of Whip in 1998, and a third job to hold as the spokesman on London from 2000. He entered the Charles Kennedy Liberal Democrat Shadow Cabinet following the 2001 General Election (at which he increased his majority to 15,676 over a former Conservative MP David Shaw), and became the Liberal Democrat Chief Secretary to the Treasury until 2002 when he became the Liberal Democrat Shadow at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. He was appointed Liberal Democrat Shadow Education and Skills Secretary in 2005 before becoming Liberal Democrats Shadow Trade and Industry Secretary in March 2006. In December 2006, he succeeded Norman Lamb as Chief of Staff to Sir Menzies Campbell, the party leader. Davey is Chair of the party's Campaigns and Communications Committee. Following Nick Clegg's election as Leader of the Liberal Democrat Party, Davey was awarded the Foreign brief, and continues to retain his chairmanship of the party's Campaigns and Communications Committee.^[1]

On 26th February 2008, Davey was suspended from parliament for the day for ignoring a warning from the deputy speaker. He was protesting about the exclusion by the speaker of a Liberal Democrat motion to debate and vote on whether the UK should have a referendum on staying in the EU.^[4]

[edit] Personal life

Edward Davey was responsible for introducing the Liberal Democrat policy of penny on income tax to pay for education in 1997. He was one of the contributors to the Orange Book (2004).

In 1995, before his election as an MP, he won a Royal Humane Society bravery award and commendation from the Chief Constable of the British Transport Police for rescuing a woman who had fallen onto the train line in the face of on oncoming train at Clapham Junction station.^[1] He speaks French, Spanish and German.^{[citation needed]}.

Edward married Emily Gasson (Lib Dem candidate in North Dorset) in summer 2005 and their first child, a son John Alban Davey, was born in December 2007. They live in Surbiton

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Liberal Democrat Frontbench Team

[edit] Publications

• Making MPs Work For Our Money: Reforming Parliament's Role In Budget Scrutiny by Edward Davey, 2000, Centre for Reform, ISBN 1-902622-21-9
• "Liberalism and localism", Chapter 2 in The Orange Book: Reclaiming Liberalism by David Laws and Paul Marshall (contributions et al), 2004, Profile Books, ISBN 1-86197-797-2

[edit] External links

• Edward Davey MP official site
• ePolitix.com - Edward Davey
• Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Edward Davey MP
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Edward Davey MP
• The Public Whip - Edward Davey voting record
• BBC News - Edward Davey profile 17 October 2007
• Open Directory Project - Edward Davey directory category
• Lib Dem frontbencher thrown out of Commons Guardian article from 26 February 2008.

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Richard Tracey	Member of Parliament for Kingston and Surbiton 1997 – present	Incumbent