Wendy Chamberlain | |
---|---|
![]() Official portrait, 2024 | |
Deputy Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats | |
Assumed office 3 December 2021 | |
Leader | Alex Cole-Hamilton |
Preceded by | Alistair Carmichael |
Member of Parliament for North East Fife | |
Assumed office 12 December 2019 | |
Preceded by | Stephen Gethins |
Majority | 13,479 (31.5%) |
Liberal Democrat portfolios | |
2020 | Northern Ireland |
2020 | International Development |
2020–2022 | Scotland |
2020–2022 | Wales |
2020–present | Work and Pensions |
2020–present | Chief Whip |
Personal details | |
Born | Wendy Anne Chamberlain 20 December 1976 Greenock,Scotland |
Political party | Liberal Democrats |
Residence(s) | Fife,Scotland |
Alma mater | University of Edinburgh [1] |
Website | www |
Wendy Anne Chamberlain (born 20 December 1976) [2] is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for North East Fife since 2019. [3] She has served as Deputy Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats since 2021.
Chamberlain is the Chief Whip of the Liberal Democrats and the Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Work and Pensions. She previously served as the Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Northern Ireland and International Development from January 2020 to September 2020,and as the Spokesperson for Scotland and Wales to July 2022. She sits on the Scottish Affairs Select Committee [4] and is the co-chair of the APPG for Ending the Need for Foodbanks. [5]
Wendy Chamberlain was born on 20 December 1976 in Greenock, [6] the older of two daughters. [7] She studied English at the University of Edinburgh,and was a member of the Edinburgh University Footlights,a student-run musical-theatre group,and performed in a show with the group at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. [7] The daughter of a police officer,after finishing university she joined the police force. [7] During her twelve years as a police officer,Chamberlain worked for the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland and the Scottish Police College. [8]
After leaving the police,Chamberlain worked as a Communications Lecturer at Fife College,before becoming a Training Manager for the Scottish Resettlement Centre,a Ministry of Defence contractor in Rosyth, [9] and then a Capability Manager for British multinational alcoholic beverages company,Diageo. While working in the private sector,Chamberlain was a Member of the Chartered Management Institute and an Associate Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. [10] In 2017,Chamberlain became a member of the board of the Camanachd Association,the world governing body of the Scottish sport of shinty,becoming the first female director of the Association. [11]
Chamberlain joined the Liberal Democrats after the 2015 United Kingdom general election,which saw the party lose 49 of its 57 MPs. After standing in an "unwinnable" council seat (the ward of Rosyth in Fife Council) [12] in the 2017 Scottish local elections,Chamberlain was asked by Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie to consider putting herself forward to stand in the 2017 general election. [13] Chamberlain stood as a paper candidate in Stirling, [13] where she finished fourth with 3.4% of the vote behind the Conservative Party's Stephen Kerr,the Scottish National Party's Steven Paterson,and the Labour Party candidate. [14]
Chamberlain was selected as the prospective Parliamentary candidate for the Liberal Democrat target seat of North East Fife in June 2018, [15] and in March 2019 was appointed as the Scottish Liberal Democrats' spokesperson for Constitutional Relations by Willie Rennie. [16] Chamberlain was elected as MP for North East Fife at the 2019 general election,overturning the Scottish National Party's slim two-vote majority and winning with 43.1% of the vote and a majority of 1,316. [17] [18] [19]
Following the election,Chamberlain was appointed as a party spokesperson in three areas:Political and Constitutional Reform;Scotland,Wales and Northern Ireland;and International Development. [20] In a wide-ranging maiden speech,Chamberlain spoke about her constituency,gender equality,the European Union,and electoral reform,while also paying tribute to her predecessors. [21]
During the course of the COVID-19 pandemic,Chamberlain expressed her belief that "civil liberties mustn't be curtailed more than necessary,and the powers mustn’t be used disproportionately against minority communities",and called for vigilance "to ensure that those [emergency] powers are used properly and evenhandedly". [22] Chamberlain wrote a letter calling for the resignation of Catherine Calderwood,the then Chief Medical Officer for Scotland,following reports that Calderwood had failed to follow coronavirus guidelines by visiting her second home,which was located in Chamberlain's constituency. [23] In April 2020,following the decision to limit the number of MPs in the House of Commons, [24] Chamberlain led a group of opposition MPs (from Plaid Cymru,the Social Democratic and Labour Party,the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland and the Green Party of England and Wales) in calling for the establishment of a COVID-19 select committee. Chamberlain stated that the creation of such a committee was "the only way to guarantee smaller parties from across the political spectrum the opportunity to scrutinise and ask questions of Ministers at this critical time". [25] She sponsored the introduction of the Carer's Leave Bill in the House of Commons in 2022. [26]
Chamberlain was one of three Liberal Democrat MPs (alongside Jamie Stone and Wera Hobhouse) to endorse Layla Moran in her ultimately unsuccessful campaign to become leader of the party. [27]
At the 2024 general election,Chamberlain was re-elected to Parliament as MP for North East Fife with an increased vote share of 54.7% and an increased majority of 13,479. [28]
Originally from Greenock,Chamberlain has lived in Fife since 2003. [6] She is married,and has two children with her husband, [29] Keith,who is a member of the Scottish National Party. [7] Chamberlain has stated that her father encouraged her to get involved in politics. [30]
Alexander Morrison "Alistair" Carmichael is a British Liberal Democrat politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Orkney and Shetland since 2001. He currently serves as the Liberal Democrat Home Affairs,Northern Ireland and Justice spokesperson. He served as the Deputy Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats from 2012 to 2021.
Orkney and Shetland is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election. In the Scottish Parliament,Orkney and Shetland are separate constituencies. The constituency was historically known as Orkney and Zetland.
North East Fife is a county constituency in Fife,Scotland,represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament by Wendy Chamberlain of the Liberal Democrats since the 2019 general election.
Dunfermline and West Fife is a county constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was created for the 2005 general election from all of the old Dunfermline West and parts of the old Dunfermline East constituencies. The current MP is Douglas Chapman of the Scottish National Party (SNP).
Joanne Kate Swinson is a former British politician who was Leader of the Liberal Democrats from July to December 2019. She was the first woman and the youngest person to hold the position,as well as the shortest-serving holder of the post. Swinson was the first leader of the Liberal Democrats to be defeated in their own constituency. Swinson was Member of Parliament (MP) for East Dunbartonshire from 2005 to 2015 and 2017 to 2019. In September 2020,Swinson became Director of Partners for a New Economy (P4NE).
Votes at 16 is a campaign in the United Kingdom which argues in favour of the reduction of the voting age to 16 for all public elections. The campaign espouses several principles in favour of lowering the voting age.
The Scottish Liberal Democrats is a liberal,federalist political party in Scotland,part of UK Liberal Democrats. The party holds 4 of the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament and 6 of the 57 Scottish seats in the House of Commons.
William Cowan Rennie is a Scottish politician who served as the Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats from 2011 to 2021. He has served as the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for North East Fife since 2016,and previously as a list MSP for Mid Scotland and Fife and as Member of Parliament (MP) for Dunfermline and West Fife.
The Liberal Democrats are a liberal political party in the United Kingdom,founded in 1988. The current leader of the party is Ed Davey. They are the third-largest party in the United Kingdom,with 72 members of Parliament (MPs) in the House of Commons. They have 79 members of the House of Lords,four members of the Scottish Parliament,one member in the Welsh Senedd,and more than 3,000 local council seats. The party holds a twice-per-year Liberal Democrat Conference,at which party policy is formulated. In contrast to its main opponents' rules,the Liberal Democrats grant all members attending the conference the right to speak in debates and vote on party policy,under a one member,one vote system. The party also allows its members to vote online for its policies and in the election of a new leader.
Peter Grant is a Scottish politician who served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Glenrothes from 2015 to 2024. He is a member of the Scottish National Party (SNP).
Douglas Chapman is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician. He served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dunfermline and West Fife from the 2015 general election until he stood down at the 2024 general election. He served as the SNP's Small Business,Enterprise and Innovation spokesperson whilst in Parliament.
Stephen Patrick Gethins is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician and academic serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Arbroath and Broughty Ferry since the 2024 general election.
Michelle Rhonda Thomson is a Scottish businesswoman and Scottish National Party (SNP) politician. She has been the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Falkirk East since May 2021.
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 since July 2022,and for business and industrial strategy since January 2020.
Lesley Margaret Laird is a Scottish politician who served as Deputy Leader of the Scottish Labour Party from 2017 to 2019. She was Member of Parliament (MP) for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath from 2017 to 2019,and Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland during the same period. Laird was a Member of Fife Council from 2012 to 2018 and served as the Deputy Leader of the Council.
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,the Cabinet Office and Scotland since July 2022.
The 2019 Liberal Democrats leadership election was held following the announcement of the resignation of Vince Cable as leader on 24 May 2019,after just under two years as leader of the Liberal Democrats in the United Kingdom. The two candidates to succeed Cable were Ed Davey and Jo Swinson.
Daisy Cooper 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 spokesperson for Health,Wellbeing and Social Care since 2021.
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.