Nick Clegg

Sir Nick Clegg
Clegg at the 2023 AI Safety Summit
Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
In office
12 May 2010 – 8 May 2015
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded byJohn Prescott[a]
Succeeded byDominic Raab[b]
Lord President of the Council
In office
12 May 2010 – 8 May 2015
Prime MinisterDavid Cameron
Preceded byThe Lord Mandelson
Succeeded byChris Grayling
Leader of the Liberal Democrats
In office
18 December 2007 – 16 July 2015
PresidentSimon Hughes
The Baroness Scott of Needham Market
Tim Farron
The Baroness Brinton
DeputyVince Cable
Simon Hughes
Malcolm Bruce
Preceded byMenzies Campbell
Succeeded byTim Farron
Member of Parliament
for Sheffield Hallam
In office
5 May 2005 – 3 May 2017
Preceded byRichard Allan
Succeeded byJared O'Mara
Member of the European Parliament
for East Midlands
In office
10 June 1999 – 10 June 2004
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byRobert Kilroy-Silk
Liberal Democrat portfolios
2006–2007Home Affairs
2016–2017Brexit
2016–2017International Trade
Personal details
Born
Nicholas William Peter Clegg

(1967-01-07) 7 January 1967 (age 57)
Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire, England
Political partyLiberal Democrats
Spouse
(m. 2000)
Children3
Residence(s)Atherton, California, US
EducationWestminster School
Alma mater
Signature
WebsiteOfficial website Edit this at Wikidata

Sir Nicholas William Peter Clegg (born 7 January 1967) is a British retired politician and media executive who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2015 and as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2007 to 2015. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Sheffield Hallam from 2005 to 2017. An "Orange Book" liberal,[2] he has been associated with both socially liberal and economically liberal policies.[3][4]

Born in Buckinghamshire, Clegg was educated at Westminster School before going on to study at the University of Cambridge, University of Minnesota and College of Europe. He worked as a journalist for the Financial Times before becoming a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) in 1999.[5] After his election to the House of Commons in 2005, Clegg served in a variety of leadership roles in the Liberal Democrats, most notably as spokesperson for Home Affairs, before being elected to succeed Menzies Campbell as party leader in 2007. During his tenure as leader, Clegg said that the Liberal Democrats had transcended left and right-wing politics and described the party as radical centrist. He supported reduced taxes, electoral reform, cuts on defence spending and an increased focus on environmental issues.

As a result of the 2010 general election, Clegg's Liberal Democrats found themselves with 57 seats in the House of Commons. The Conservative Party, which failed to receive a majority, formed a coalition with the Liberal Democrats, and Clegg was appointed by Conservative leader David Cameron to serve as his Deputy Prime Minister. In this capacity, he became the first leader of the Liberal Democrats to answer for the Prime Minister's Questions, and used his influence in the position to pass the Fixed-term Parliaments Act.[6] Controversy arose during this time surrounding the Liberal Democrats' decision to abandon their pledge to oppose increases in tuition fees, which had previously been a key issue that won the party support from students.[7] During the party's time in coalition, the Liberal Democrats saw a significant drop in support,[8] and the 2015 general election left the party with just 8 seats, which resulted in Clegg's ousting as Deputy Prime Minister and his resignation as party leader.[9][10]

In 2016, following a referendum in which a majority supported leaving the European Union, Clegg returned to the Liberal Democrat frontbench, concurrently serving as Spokesperson for Exiting the European Union and for International Trade from July 2016 to June 2017. In the 2017 general election, Clegg was defeated in his constituency of Sheffield Hallam by Jared O'Mara of the Labour Party.[11] After losing his seat, Clegg moved to the United States and became vice‑president of global affairs and communications at Facebook, Inc. (renamed Meta Platforms in 2021), before being promoted in 2022 to president for global affairs. He was appointed a Knight Bachelor in the 2018 New Year Honours for political and public service.


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  1. ^ "Nick Clegg". Desert Island Discs. 24 October 2010. BBC Radio 4. Archived from the original on 22 March 2015. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  2. ^ "Orange Blossom". Liberator. 2004. Archived from the original on 7 July 2007. Retrieved 26 March 2008.
  3. ^ "Nick Clegg + Economic policy | Politics". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 11 September 2018. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  4. ^ "Nick Clegg | Biography & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 11 September 2018. Retrieved 10 September 2018.
  5. ^ "Nicholas CLEGG". European Parliament. n.d. Archived from the original on 8 November 2021. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  6. ^ "Take Back Power: Change politics for good". Liberal Democrats. 28 May 2009. Archived from the original on 30 May 2009. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
  7. ^ "Liberal Democrat 2010 election manifesto | page 6-7 4 priorities" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 19 December 2011. Retrieved 27 October 2010.
  8. ^ "Coalition under pressure as Liberal Democrat support plummets". Evening Standard. 10 August 2010. Archived from the original on 7 January 2011. Retrieved 21 December 2010.
  9. ^ "Nick Clegg holds Sheffield Hallam seat – ITV News". Itv.com. 8 May 2015. Archived from the original on 8 September 2015. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  10. ^ "Election 2015: Clegg not sorry for 'brave' coalition". BBC News. BBC. 30 April 2015. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 16 September 2015.
  11. ^ "Former Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg loses seat amid Labour surge". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 9 June 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2017.