David Laws

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David Laws MP
David Laws
Member of Parliament
for Yeovil,
Incumbent
Assumed office 
7 June 2001
Preceded by Paddy Ashdown
Born 30 November 1965 (1965-11-30) (age 42)
Nationality British
Political party Liberal Democrat
Alma mater King's College, Cambridge

David Anthony Laws (born 30 November 1965) is a politician in the United Kingdom. He is Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Yeovil, Paddy Ashdown's old seat, and was first elected in 2001. After a substantial swing against the Liberal Democrats following the resignation of Paddy Ashdown, Laws regained some of the lost ground at the 2005 election with an increased majority of over 8000. He is Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families.

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[edit] Early life

Born in Farnham, Surrey, he went to the independent catholic St George's College, Weybridge from 1974-84. Laws graduated with a double first from King's College, Cambridge in Economics in 1987, and went into investment banking, becoming a Vice President of JP Morgan from 1987-92 and then Managing Director, being the Head of US Dollar and Sterling Treasuries at Barclays de Zoete Wedd. He left in 1994 to take up the role of economic adviser to the Liberal Democrats. From 1997-9 he was the party's Director of Policy and Research.

[edit] Parliamentary career

He contested Folkestone and Hythe in 1997.

On his election to parliament he became a member of the Treasury Committee, and in November 2001 he was appointed the party's deputy defence spokesperson. A year later took up the position of Lib Dem Chief Secretary to the Treasury and launched a spending review.

He was appointed the Liberal Democrats' Work and Pensions Spokesman in 2005, a position in which he has been highly critical of the government's handling of the Child Support Agency and flaws in the tax credits system.

He is the co-editor of the Orange Book (2004).

Shadow Chancellor George Osborne offered Laws, who is generally seen, along with other Orange Book authors, as being on the right-wing of the Lib Dems, a seat in the Conservative Shadow Cabinet, but was rebuffed, with Laws saying "I am not a Tory." [1][2]

Following the resignation of Sir Menzies Campbell on 15 October 2007, he announced that he would not be a candidate for the leadership of the party.[3]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Tories step up hunt for defectors, BBC News, March 23, 2007
  2. ^ Open maw not big tent, The Guardian, June 22, 2007
  3. ^ Menzies Campbell resigns as leader of the Lib Dems after just two years

[edit] External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Paddy Ashdown		 Member of Parliament for Yeovil
2001 – present		 Incumbent