Tim Farron

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Tim Farron
MP
President of the Liberal Democrats
Incumbent
Assumed office
1 January 2011
Leader Nick Clegg
Preceded by The Baroness Scott of Needham Market
Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
In office
18 December 2007 – 13 May 2010
Leader Nick Clegg
Preceded by Chris Huhne
Succeeded by Vacant
Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Leader of the Liberal Democrats
In office
22 March 2006 – 20 December 2007
Leader Menzies Campbell
Succeeded by Mark Hunter
Member of Parliament
for Westmorland and Lonsdale
Incumbent
Assumed office
5 May 2005
Preceded by Tim Collins
Majority 12,264 (23.8%)
Personal details
Born Timothy James Farron
(1970-05-27) 27 May 1970
Preston, Lancashire, England
Nationality British
Political party Liberal Democrat
Spouse(s) Rosie
Children 2 daughters, 2 sons
Alma mater Newcastle University
Religion Church of England

Timothy James "Tim" Farron (born 27 May 1970) is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He is Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Westmorland and Lonsdale. He was elected President of the Liberal Democrats in November 2010 and assumed the office on 1 January 2011.[1]

Early life

Farron was born in Preston, Lancashire, and was educated at Lostock Hall High School and Runshaw College, Leyland, before going on to Newcastle University where he gained a BA in Politics in 1992. He was president of Newcastle University Union Society - the first Lib Dem to hold the position - in 1991, having joined the Liberal Party at the age of 16. In 1990, he was elected to the National Union of Students' National Executive.[2] Prior to his election to Parliament, Farron worked in higher education at Lancaster University from 1992–2002 and St. Martin's College, Ambleside, from 2002-5.

Political career

Farron contested the North West Durham constituency at the 1992 general election, where he finished in third place, 20,006 votes behind the sitting Labour Party MP Hilary Armstrong.

Farron served as a Councillor on Lancashire County Council from 1993–2000, and was also a Councillor on South Ribble Borough Council from 1995 to 1999.

Farron was selected to contest the Labour/Conservative marginal constituency of South Ribble at the 1997 general election, and again finished in third place. He was a Liberal Democrat candidate for the North West region in the 1999 European Parliament elections.

At the 2001 general election, Farron contested the Westmorland and Lonsdale seat and finished second, reducing the majority of the sitting Conservative MP Tim Collins to 3,167.

Farron served as a Councillor for the Milnthorpe ward on the South Lakeland District Council from 2004-8.

At the 2005 general election, Farron again fought Collins in Westmorland and Lonsdale, and this time won this election by a narrow margin of just 267 votes. He made his maiden speech in Parliament on 25 May 2005.[3]

Farron has been a member of the Education and Skills Select Committee since his election, and later in 2005 was appointed as Youth Affairs Spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats. He is the Chair of the All Party group on Hill Farming.

During Menzies Campbell's period as the Liberal Democrat leader, Farron was Campbell's Parliamentary Private Secretary. In 2007 he was given the responsibility as Liberal Democrat spokesman for Home Affairs.

Farron resigned from the front bench of the Liberal Democrats on 5 March 2008 in protest at the party's abstention from a parliamentary vote on the EU referendum. However he later returned to the party's front bench as spokesperson for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.[4] He is a member of the Beveridge Group within the Liberal Democrats.[5]

Farron was one of four Liberal Democrat MPs who voted against the Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007.[6][7] On his decision voted this way Farron commented "I voted against two bits of the Equalities Act because I take a rather extreme liberal view on free speech – if I remember rightly I took the same stance on the issue as Peter Tatchell who is not, so far as I am aware, a homophobe" and backing up this, Farron also stated "That’s why, for instance, I also voted for the abolition of the blasphemy laws".[8]

In the 2010 general election, Farron achieved an 11.1% swing from the Conservatives, winning by a majority of 12,264 in his historically Tory seat. This result was against the run of the rest of the party, making Westmorland and Lonsdale one of the few Lib Dem strongholds.[9]

On 27 May 2010, Farron announced he would be standing for the position of Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats, made vacant by the resignation of Vince Cable. On 9 June, Farron lost the competition to the former party President, Simon Hughes. Hughes won by 20 votes; having had 38 nominations from the parliamentary party, compared to Farron's 18.

On 16 September 2010, Farron announced he would be standing for the position of President of the Liberal Democrats following The Baroness Scott's decision not to seek re-election. He won the election with 53% of the vote, beating fellow candidate Susan Kramer on 47%.[10]

In March 2012, Farron was one of three MPs who signed a letter sent to the Advertising Standards Authority, criticising their recent decision to stop the Christian group "Healing on the Streets of Bath" from making explicit claims that prayer can heal. The letter called for the ASA to provide indisputable scientific evidence that faith healing did not work; Farron subsequently admitted that the letter was not "well-worded" and that he should not have signed it "as it was written".[11]

Personal life

Farron married Rosemary Cantley in July 2000 in Lancaster. The couple live in Milnthorpe, within the constituency Farron represents, with their two sons (born January 2004 and January 2006) and two daughters (including a daughter born in September 2001), the younger son being born since his election to Parliament. He is a church-going Anglican who describes "becoming a Christian at the age of eighteen as the most massive choice I have made." [12]

References

  1. ↑ Liberal Democrat Voice article on results - Lib Dem Voice
  2. ↑ "Tim Farron MP – MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale, Party President | The Liberal Democrats - Our MPs in Detail". Libdems.org.uk. 2010-11-13. Retrieved 2013-09-18. 
  3. ↑ House of Commons Debates for 25th May 2005 - Hansard
  4. ↑ MP Tim Farron resigns from Lib Dem frontbench - The Westmorland Gazette 2008-03-05
  5. ↑ About us - The Beveridge Group 2007-10-28
  6. ↑ Department of the Official Report (Hansard), House of Commons, Westminster (2007-03-19). "Commons Hansard 19 March 2007". Publications.parliament.uk. Retrieved 2013-09-18. 
  7. ↑ "publicwhip.org voting summary". Publicwhip.org.uk. Retrieved 2013-09-18. 
  8. ↑ "Tim Farron runs for deputy leader; Campbell and Munt back him". Libdemvoice.org. 2010-05-27. Retrieved 2013-09-18. 
  9. ↑ "BBC News - Election 2010 - Constituency - Westmorland & Lonsdale". BBC News. 7 May 2010. Retrieved 9 Nay 2010. 
  10. ↑ "Tim Farron elected as Lib Dem president". BBC News. 13 November 2010. Retrieved 2010-11-13. 
  11. ↑ "Tim Farron: 'Prayer Can Heal' Letter Was A Mistake". Huffington Post UK. 29 March 2012. Retrieved 2012-03-30. 
  12. ↑ Church Times, page 44, 20 May 2011

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tim Farron.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Tim Collins		 Member of Parliament for Westmorland and Lonsdale
2005–present 		Incumbent
Party political offices
Preceded by
The Baroness Scott of Needham Market		 President of the Liberal Democrats
2011 – 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Outgoing Deputy Leader: Vince Cable
Liberal Democrats President election, 2010
Outgoing President: Ros Scott
Failed to make ballot
Jennie Rigg
Jason Zadrozny
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