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Ed Davey - Former Nottingham High School head boy joins Cabinet as Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change
February 3, 2012 6:05 PM
Ed Davey attended Nottingham High School (1974-84) where he was head boy in 1984. He took first class honours in Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Jesus College, Oxford (1985-1988) where he was elected President of the College's Junior Common Room and was active in an environmental campaigning group.
After graduating Ed got a job as Economics Researcher for the Liberal Democrats in Parliament, working from 1989 to 1993, principally for Alan Beith and Paddy Ashdown. Promoted to senior economics adviser, Ed was closely involved in developing the party's economic policies and was in charge of costing the 1992 election manifesto. In 1993 Ed left Parliament to work for Omega Partners, visiting 28 countries to work on strategic market analysis and business forecasting projects for postal services in countries such as Belgium, South Africa, Sweden and Taiwan.
He won Kingston and Surbiton in 1997 with a majority of 56 after three recounts. In 2001 he had the largest swing in the country increasing his majority to 15,676. On election in 1997 Ed was appointed Economics Affairs spokesman by Paddy Ashdown, and was promoted by Charles Kennedy to be No 2 in the Treasury team under Matthew Taylor, with responsibility for public spending and taxation policy. After the 2001 election Ed was again promoted by Charles Kennedy to join the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury. In October 2002 Ed was appointed to shadow the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister with responsibility for Local Government and the Regions, in which role he took the lead in the Liberal Democrats' campaign to scrap the unfair Council Tax. Ed was made Liberal Democrat Shadow Education and Skills Secretary in 2005 before being transferred by Sir Menzies Campbell in March 2006 to a new role as Shadow Trade and Industry Secretary. He left this post in December 2006.
Ed was chairman of the Liberal Democrats' Campaigns and Communications Committee, in charge of the party's campaigns and preparations for the General Election. In December 2006 he was additionally appointed Chief of Staff to party leader Menzies Campbell. Ed was Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and the Chair of Campaigns and Communications after Nick Clegg was elected leader of the Liberal Democrats.
Before becoming an MP Ed received awards from the Royal Humane Society and the Chief Constable of the British Transport Police in 1994 for rescuing a woman from the path of an oncoming train at Clapham Junction. Ed speaks French, Spanish and German, and supports Notts County FC (having chosen the Magpies' strip in preference to that of Nottingham Forest when he was four) and Kingstonian FC.
Ed lives in Surbiton and in July 2005 married Emily Gasson, who was Liberal Democrat candidate in the marginal North Dorset constituency in the 2001 and 2005 General Elections. Ed's publications include Making MPs Work for Our Money (Centre for Reform, 2000) arguing for major reform of how Parliament scrutinises the budget. A free copy can be downloaded here.
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