Ed Davey takes over energy hot seat

Chris Huhne's vacated role as energy secretary has been given to a fellow Lib Dem with a history of speaking out on controversial issues.


Edward Davey, who prefers to be known as Ed, has today (February 3) been appointed to the role left by Mr Huhne as he prepares to fight a legal battle over allegations of asking his now ex-wife to take his speeding points.

Mr Davey, Lib Dem MP for Kingston and Surbiton since 1997, has a record of speaking his mind on issues.

In February 2008 he received a suspension from Parliament for one day for ignoring a warning from the deputy speaker, after protesting about the exclusion of a Liberal Democrat motion to debate and vote on whether the UK should have a referendum on staying in the EU.

He made headline a year later in 2009 at the Lib Dem conference by declaring it was ‘time for tea with the Taliban’ in an effort to work with the fundamentalists group.

Mr Davey went to Nottingham High School and then studied politics, philosophy and economics at Jesus College, Oxford, before also gaining an MSc in economics from Birkbeck College, London University.

He started his political career as far back as 1989 working in the Commons and rising to be the Lib Dem party’s senior economics adviser the until 1993.

In 1993 he left Parliament to work for Omega Partners, specialising in consultancy in the postal services sector, a role he maintained until his election in 1997.

He was immediately following the lection appointed the party’s economics affairs spokesman.

After the 2001 election he joined the Shadow Cabinet as shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, the first of a number of shadow roles,

His big break came when he was appointed shadow secretary of state for foreign and commonwealth affairs after Nick Clegg was elected party leader in 2007.

Luke Walsh

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