Vikki Slade (born 17 December 1972) is a British Liberal Democrat politician who has served as the Member of Parliament for Mid Dorset and North Poole since 2024.[1] She unsuccessfully contested the same seat in 2015, 2017 and 2019.[2]
Slade was the leader of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council from 2023 until her resignation in July 2024.[3][4] She previously served as leader from the 2019 election to September 2020.[5] She was head of the "Three Towns Alliance" coalition.[6]
She has represented Broadstone ward as a local councillor since 2011,[7] including when the ward was part of Poole Borough Council prior to 2019.[8]
In the 2015 general election, her campaign to succeed Annette Brooke was supported by Lord Oakeshott.[9]
In the 2024 general election, she unseated Conservative Michael Tomlinson, who had been the Minister of State for Countering Illegal Migration.[10] After being elected she said she wouldn't have stood for a fifth time had she lost.[11]
In Parliament, Slade is a member of the frontbench Team of Ed Davey as the party's local government spokeswoman shadowing Steve Reed.[12] Slade opposed the government's cut to the Winter Fuel Payment.[13] In her first year in parliament, she has worked on issues such as the closure of Wareham Crossing and shoplifting in Wimborne.[14]
Following the Liberal Democrat Conference in Bournemouth in September 2025, Slade departed the frontbench in a reshuffle and was replaced as Local Government spokeswoman by Zöe Franklin.[15]
Slade was educated at Tonbridge Grammar School.[16] She is married to Paul Slade, who is a councillor for Creekmoor ward,[17] and they have four children.[18] They have also fostered children, including unaccompanied asylum seekers, and have hosted a refugee from the War in Ukraine under the British government's Ukraine Family Scheme.[19]
| Date of election | Seat | Party | Votes | % | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 Poole Borough Council election | Broadstone | Liberal Democrat | 2,016 | N/A | Elected (3rd) | |
| 2015 United Kingdom general election | Mid Dorset and North Poole | Liberal Democrat | 13,109 | 28.2 | Not elected (2nd) | |
| 2016 Broadstone By-election (Poole Borough Council) | Broadstone | Liberal Democrat | 2,184 | 69.56 | Elected | |
| 2017 United Kingdom general election | Mid Dorset and North Poole | Liberal Democrat | 13,246 | 27.5 | Not elected (2nd) | |
| 2019 Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council election | Broadstone | Liberal Democrat | 2,899 | 67.2 | Elected (1st) | |
| 2019 United Kingdom general election | Mid Dorset and North Poole | Liberal Democrat | 14,650 | 29.9 | Not elected (2nd) | |
| 2023 Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council election | Broadstone | Liberal Democrat | 2,564 | 69.2 | Elected (1st) | |
| 2024 United Kingdom general election | Mid Dorset and North Poole | Liberal Democrat | 21,442 | 43.3 | Elected | |
