Ed Davey: Difference between revisions

Davey was re-elected in the [[2001 United Kingdom general election|2001 general election,]], increasing his share of the vote from 36.7% to 60.2%. He increased his majority from just 56 to 15,676, beating former Conservative MP [[David Shaw (British politician)|David Shaw]]. He joined the Liberal Democrat frontbench under Leader [[Charles Kennedy]] in the same year when he was appointed the party's spokesperson for [[Chief Secretary to the Treasury|Treasury matters]]. In 2002, he became the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for the [[Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities|Office of the Deputy Prime Minister]]. He was appointed spokesperson for [[Secretary of State for Education|Education and Skills]] in 2005, before becoming spokesperson for [[Department of Trade and Industry (United Kingdom)|Trade and Industry]] in March 2006. In December 2006, he succeeded [[Norman Lamb]] as Chief of Staff to [[Menzies Campbell]], the new party leader.<ref name="autogenerated1"/> Davey was chair of the party's Campaigns and Communications Committee. Following [[Nick Clegg]]'s election as Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Davey was awarded the Foreign Affairs brief, and continued to retain his chairmanship of the party's Campaigns and Communications Committee.<ref name="LibDem-EdwardDavey" />