Nick Clegg launches leadership bid (Cheltenham Liberal Democrats)

Cheltenham Liberal Democrats <info@cheltlibdems.org.uk>

Nick Clegg launches leadership bid

October 24, 2007 3:05 PM

Shadow Home Secretary Nick Clegg MP

On 19th October, Nick Clegg announced his decision to stand for the leadership of the Liberal Democrats

Nick Clegg is MP for Sheffield Hallam and Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary.

At his campaign launch, Nick said "It is a crucial time for the Liberal Democrats. After nearly two years of introspection, the party needs to raise its head and start talking to the British people, instead of to ourselves.

"That's why I chose to make my statement among friends and colleagues from my local party in Sheffield. Too often, Westminster politicians forget about life outside the parliamentary bubble."

Nick was born in 1967 and studied at three universities: Cambridge, Minnesota and College D'Europe.

He worked as a trainee journalist at the US magazine The Nation and won a national prize for first time writers at the Financial Times. He then worked as a development aid and trade expert in the European Union, including managing aid projects in the poorest parts of the former Soviet Union and overseeing the EU's side in negotiations for China and Russia to join the World Trade Organisation.

He was elected as a member of the European Parliament in 1999, where as Trade and Industry spokesman for the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe he led the move to open up the domestic telecoms market, allowing consumers to pick their telephone provider for the first time and advocated trade measures against illegally logged timber. He was a co-founder of the Campaign for Parliamentary Reform, which argued for more transparency and accountability in the European Parliament.

Throughout his time as an MEP, Nick wrote essays on public policy issues including greening the WTO, secondary education policy, and reform of the EU's decision making procedures. For several years he was a columnist for The Guardian Unlimited.

Nick stood down from the European Parliament in 2004 and lectured part time at Sheffield and Cambridge Universities. He was elected as MP for Sheffield Hallam in 2005 with a majority of 8,682. Charles Kennedy appointed him as Europe spokesman, acting as deputy to Sir Menzies Campbell. When Campbell won the 2006 leadership election, he appointed Clegg as Shadow Home Secretary.

Nick has spearheaded the Liberal Democrats' defence of civil liberties, proposing a Freedom Bill to repeal unnecessary and illiberal legislation, campaigning against Identity Cards and the retention of innocent people's DNA, and arguing against excessive counter-terrorism legislation. He has campaigned for prison reform, a liberal approach to immigration, and defended the Human Rights Act against ongoing attacks from across the political spectrum.

In January 2007 he launched the Liberal Democrat's We Can Cut Crime campaign, widely welcomed by local campaigners as a new and successful way for the party to campaign effectively on crime.

Nick is married to Miriam Gonzalez Durantez and has two young children.

You can find out more about Nick's campaign at: www.nickclegg.com