Daisy Cooper | |
---|---|
Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats | |
Assumed office 13 September 2020 | |
Leader | Ed Davey |
Preceded by | Ed Davey |
Member of Parliament for St Albans | |
Assumed office 12 December 2019 | |
Preceded by | Anne Main |
Majority | 19,834 (38.4%) |
Liberal Democrat portfolios | |
2020 | Digital, Culture, Media and Sport |
2020 | Justice |
2020–2021 | Education |
2021–2024 | Health,Wellbeing and Social Care |
2024–present | Treasury |
Personal details | |
Born | [1] Bury St Edmunds,Suffolk,England | 29 October 1981
Political party | Liberal Democrats |
Alma mater | University of Leeds [2] University of Nottingham [3] |
Website | daisycooper |
Daisy Cooper (born 29 October 1981) [4] is a British Liberal Democrat politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for St Albans since 2019. She has served as Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats since 2020,as well as the Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson since 2024. [5]
Cooper was previously the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Health,Wellbeing and Social Care from October 2021 to September 2024,spokesperson for Education from September 2020 to October 2021,and the spokesperson for Justice and for Digital,Culture,Media and Sport from January 2020 to September 2020.
Daisy Cooper was born on 29 October 1981 in Bury St Edmunds. [6] She was educated at Halesworth Middle School,Bungay High School and Framlingham College in Suffolk, [7] before gaining a Bachelor of Laws honours degree from the University of Leeds and a Master of Laws degree in public international law from the University of Nottingham. She also has a foundation certificate in psychotherapy and counselling from Regent’s School of Psychotherapy &Psychology . [3]
Before becoming an MP,Cooper worked in Commonwealth affairs including at the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Institute of Commonwealth Studies. She also worked for Voluntary Service Overseas, [2] for the Hacked Off campaign for victims of press abuse, [8] and for the cross-party group More United. [9] She also runs a local independent campaign group for rail users. [10]
She stood for president of the Liberal Democrats in 2014,coming second to Sal Brinton. During the campaign for the presidency,she declared her support for the group "Humanist and Secularist Liberal Democrats". [11]
Cooper stood in the 2015 Lewes District Council election held on the same day;she was elected to represent the Lewes Bridge ward. Cooper stepped down as a councillor in 2016. [12]
Cooper was the Liberal Democrat candidate for Suffolk Coastal at the 2010 general election,where she came second with 29.8% of the vote behind the Conservative candidate Thérèse Coffey. [13]
At the 2015 general election,Cooper stood in Mid Sussex,coming fourth with 11.5% of the vote behind the incumbent Conservative MP Nicholas Soames,the Labour candidate,and the UKIP candidate. [14]
Cooper stood in St Albans at the 2017 general election,coming second with 32.4% of the vote behind the incumbent Conservative MP Anne Main. [15]
Cooper was elected to Parliament as MP for St Albans at the 2019 general election with 50.1% of the vote and a majority of 6,293. [16] [17] [18] The Guardian named Cooper as one of the ten new MPs from all political parties to "watch out for". [9]
In January 2020,it was announced Cooper had been appointed as the Liberal Democrats' justice,culture,media and sport spokesperson. [19] In June,she took part in George Floyd protests in Verulamium Park,St Albans,where she gave a speech about police brutality. [20]
In September 2020,Cooper was announced as the party's new deputy leader and education spokesperson. [21]
In May 2021,Cooper was a signatory to an open letter from Stylist magazine,alongside celebrities and other public figures,which called on the government to address what it described as an "epidemic of male violence" by funding an "ongoing,high-profile,expert-informed awareness campaign on men’s violence against women and girls". [22]
Cooper was re-elected as MP for St Albans at the 2024 general election with an increased vote share of 56.6% and an increased majority of 19,834. [23] During the election period,Cooper had participated in the televised leaders debates. [24]
Alan James Beith,Baron Beith,is a British Liberal Democrat politician who represented Berwick-upon-Tweed as its Member of Parliament (MP) from 1973 to 2015.
Kerry Patrick Pollard is a Labour politician in the United Kingdom. He was elected at the general election of 1997 as Member of Parliament for St Albans,and held the seat until his defeat at the general election of 2005.
Susan Veronica Kramer,Baroness Kramer PC is a British politician and life peer who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Richmond Park from 2005 to 2010. A member of the Liberal Democrats,she was their Treasury Spokesperson from 2015 to 2017 and 2017 to 2019.
Lorely Jane Burt,Baroness Burt of Solihull,is a British politician,who was the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Solihull from 2005 to 2015. She received a life peerage in the 2015 Dissolution Honours. She is a patron of Humanists UK.
St Albans is a constituency in Hertfordshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Daisy Cooper,a Liberal Democrat.
Mid Sussex is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament from 2024 by Alison Bennett,a Liberal Democrat.
Stephen Roy Williams is a British Liberal Democrat politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Bristol West from the 2005 general election until his defeat by Labour Party candidate Thangam Debbonaire in 2015. As an MP,he served in the Cameron–Clegg coalition government as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department of Communities and Local Government from 2013 to 2015.
Anne Margaret Main is a Conservative Party politician who formerly served as the Member of Parliament for St Albans in Hertfordshire. She was elected at the general election of 2005,and was re-elected in 2010,2015 and 2017. She lost her seat to Daisy Cooper,a Liberal Democrat,at the 2019 general election.
Rosemary Elizabeth Cooper is a British health official and former politician. Cooper was a Liberal and later Liberal Democrat member of the Liverpool City Council from 1973 until 1999,when she joined the Labour Party. After leaving the council the following year,she was the Labour Member of Parliament (MP) for West Lancashire from 2005 until her resignation in 2022,when she was named chair of the Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust. In 2018,she was the victim of attempted murder by Jack Renshaw.
Victoria Grace Ford is a British politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Chelmsford from 2017 to 2024. A member of the Conservative Party,she briefly served as Minister of State for Development from 6 September to 25 October 2022.
Layla Michelle Moran is a British Liberal Democrat politician. She has served as the Chair of the Health and Social Care Select Committee since September 2024,and has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Oxford West and Abingdon since 2017.
Wendy Anne Chamberlain is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Fife since 2019. She has served as Deputy Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats since 2021.
Maria Colette Caulfield is a former British politician. She served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Mental Health and Women's Health Strategy and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Women from October 2022 to July 2024.
Felicia Jane "Flick" Beatrix Drummond is a British Conservative Party politician. She was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Meon Valley from 2019 until 2024,having previously represented Portsmouth South from 2015 to 2017.
Sarah Jane Olney is a British Liberal Democrat politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Richmond Park since 2019,previously holding the seat from 2016 to 2017. Olney has served as the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for the Treasury from July 2022 to 2024. And for business and industrial strategy from January 2020 to 2024,she currently serves as Spokesperon for the Cabinet Office since September 2024.
Wera Benedicta Hobhouse is a British-German Liberal Democrat politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bath since 2017.
Christine Anne Jardine is a Scottish Liberal Democrat politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Edinburgh West since 2017. She has been the Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Women and Equalities,and Scotland since July 2022.
Munira Hassam Wilson is a British Liberal Democrat politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Twickenham since 2019. She has served as the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for education since 2021 under Sir Ed Davey,and previously as the spokesperson for health,wellbeing and social care from 2020 to 2021.
Angela Joy Richardson is a British Conservative Party politician who was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Guildford from 2019 until 2024. She served as a Deputy Chairwoman of the Conservative Party until she lost her seat in the 2024 general election.
The 2020 Liberal Democrats leadership election was held in August 2020,after Jo Swinson,the previous leader of the Liberal Democrats,lost her seat in the 2019 general election. It was initially set to be held in July 2020,but due to the COVID-19 pandemic it was delayed by six weeks,having been at first postponed until May 2021.
an interview to announce her election as deputy