Ed Davey

Sir Edward Jonathan Davey (born 25 December 1965) is a British politician who has served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats since 2020. He served in the Cameron–Clegg coalition as Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change from 2012 to 2015 and as Deputy Leader to Jo Swinson in 2019. An "Orange Book" liberal, he has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Kingston and Surbiton since 2017, a seat he previously held from 1997 to 2015.

Davey was born in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. After both his parents died before he was 16, Davey was raised by his grandparents, and subsequently attended Nottingham High School. He then went on to study at Jesus College, Oxford, and Birkbeck, University of London. He worked as an economics researcher and financial analyst before being elected to the House of Commons. Davey served as a Liberal Democrat spokesperson to Charles Kennedy, Menzies Campbell and Nick Clegg from 2005 to 2010, in various portfolios including education and skills, trade and industry, and foreign and Commonwealth affairs.

In 2010, after the Liberal Democrats entered into a coalition government with the Conservative Party, Davey served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Employment Relations, Consumer and Postal Affairs from 2010 to 2012, and in David Cameron's Cabinet as Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change from 2012 to 2015, following Chris Huhne's resignation. Davey focused on increasing competition in the energy market by removing barriers to entry for smaller companies, and by streamlining the process of customer switching. He also approved the construction of Hinkley Point C nuclear power station. As postal affairs minister, Davey did not investigate the details of the Post Office Horizon scandal that had led to the wrongful prosecution of hundreds of sub-postmasters, but was the only Post Office minister to meet Alan Bates, the founder of the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance.

Davey lost his seat in the 2015 general election and was knighted in the 2016 New Year Honours for political and public service. He regained his seat in the 2017 general election, and served as the Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson from 2017 to 2019. After the retirement of Vince Cable, Davey unsuccessfully ran against Jo Swinson in the 2019 Liberal Democrats leadership election, and was later appointed Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson and elected unopposed as the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats. After Swinson lost her seat at the 2019 general election, Davey, while remaining deputy leader, served as acting leader alongside Liberal Democrat presidents Baroness Brinton and Mark Pack from December 2019 to August 2020.

Davey stood in the 2020 Liberal Democrats leadership election, in which he defeated Layla Moran with 63.5% of the vote. In his campaign he said that he would prioritise defeating the Conservatives and ruled out working with them following the 2024 general election. With Davey as their leader, the Liberal Democrats made gains alongside Labour in the 2024 local elections, where the Liberal Democrats finished second for the first time in a local election cycle since 2009. In the 2024 general election Davey led his party both to their highest ever number of seats and to the highest number of seats for a third party since 1923, and was noted, with praise and criticism, for his campaign stunts. He was re-elected unopposed as Liberal Democrat leader in 2024 and led his party to further gains in the 2025 local elections.

Edward Davey was born on 25 December 1965 in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. His father John (1932 – March 1970), a solicitor, died when Davey was four years old in Mansfield General Hospital, three months after being diagnosed with cancer. His mother, Nina Davey (née Stanbrook), died 11 years later when Davey was 15, after which he was brought up by his maternal grandparents in the village of Eakring. Davey acted as a carer for his terminally ill mother before her death, and also cared for his grandmother.

Davey was in both the 90th Nottingham Scout group and the 17th Nottingham Air Scout group. He sang in the local church choir, St John's. Like his two brothers, Davey received the Duke of Edinburgh's Gold Award, meeting Prince Philip on 2 March 1984 when the Prince visited his school, the private Nottingham High School, where Davey was head boy. He took A-levels in German, French and History. One of his two brothers attended Trent Polytechnic, becoming a solicitor. After leaving school, Davey attended Jesus College, Oxford, where he was awarded a first class BA degree in philosophy, politics and economics in 1988. He was JCR President.

In 1989, he became an economics researcher for the Liberal Democrats, principally to Alan Beith, the party's then-Treasury spokesman, whilst studying at Birkbeck College, London, for a master's degree (MSc) in economics. He was closely involved in the development of Liberal Democrat policies such as an additional penny on income tax to fund education, and central bank independence, for the 1992 general election. From 1993 to 1997, he worked in business forecasting and market analysis for management consultancy firm Omega Partners.