Caroline Pidgeon

Caroline Valerie Pidgeon MBE (born 29 September 1972) is a Liberal Democrat politician in the United Kingdom and the only member of the Liberal Democrats in the London Assembly.

Caroline Valerie Pidgeon MBE AM
Pidgeon in 2018
Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the London Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office 13 May 2010[1]
Leader	Sir Nick Clegg Tim Farron Sir Vince Cable Jo Swinson The Baroness Brinton Mark Pack Sir Ed Davey
Preceded by	Mike Tuffrey
Member of the London Assembly as the 3rd Additional Member
Incumbent
Assumed office 1 May 2008
Preceded by	Geoff Pope
Councillor for Southwark London Borough Council
In office 7 May 1998 – 6 May 2010
Ward	Newington
Succeeded by	Catherine Bowman
Personal details
Born	29 September 1972 Southampton, Hampshire, United Kingdom
Nationality	British
Political party	Liberal Democrats
Spouse(s)	Paul
Children	1
Alma mater	Aberystwyth University[2]
Occupation	Politician
Website	Caroline Pidgeon

Personal life

Pidgeon grew up in Hampshire.[3] She was the first member of her family to go to university, graduating from Aberystwyth University in 1994.[4]

After university, Pidgeon moved to London, where she now lives with her husband Paul and their son.[5]

Political career

Between 2002 and 2010, Pidgeon was a Board Member of Lambeth and Southwark Housing Association.[4] Pidgeon has also been a Trustee of the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education since 2005.[5]

At the 1998 local election, Pidgeon was elected as a Liberal Democrat councillor for Southwark London Borough Council, representing the ward of Newington.[6] During her time on the Council, she served as Deputy Leader of Southwark Council and a cabinet member for Children's Services and Education.[4]

In the 2008 London Assembly election, Pidgeon was selected as the Liberal Democrats' candidate for the Lambeth and Southwark constituency; she came second to Labour's Valerie Shawcross.[7] In the same election, she was the third candidate on the party's London-wide party list and was thereby elected onto the London Assembly.[8] Pidgeon has since been reelected in 2012 and 2016.

Following her election to the London Assembly, Pidgeon retired from Southwark Council at the 2010 local election.[9] At the 2010 general election on the same day, Pidgeon unsuccessfully stood in the Vauxhall constituency.[10]

On the London Assembly, Pidgeon served as a member of the Metropolitan Police Authority between 2008 and 2012 and the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority between 2008 and 2010.[5] Pidgeon currently serves as Chair of the London Assembly's Transport Committee.

In the 2013 New Year Honours, Pidgeon was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for public and political service.[11]

In September 2015, Pidgeon secured the Liberal Democrats' candacy for the 2016 London mayoral election.[12] Pidgeon promised to focus on housing, affordable childcare, air pollution and public transport.[13] She emphasised the need to ensure that workers can live in the city by using rent control and reducing public transport costs.[13] She increased the Lib Dem vote from 4.2% to 4.6% but the party remained in fourth place. She held her seat on the London Assembly as the only Liberal Democrat.[14]

Footnotes

1. Pack, Mark (13 May 2010). "Caroline Pidgeon is new Leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group". Mark Pack. Retrieved 6 October 2019.
2. "About me". Caroline Pidgeon. January 19, 2007.
3. "Caroline Pidgeon". Age UK London Blog. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
4. "Caroline Pidgeon". London City Hall. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
5. http://www.libdems.org.uk/ (12 October 2017). "Caroline Pidgeon". Liberal Democrats. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
6. Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael (1998). "Local Elections Handbook 1998" (PDF). Retrieved 8 June 2018.
7. "BBC NEWS | Election 2008 | London Elections: Lambeth & Southwark". BBC News. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
8. "BBC NEWS | Election 2008 | London Assembly Election 2008". BBC News. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
9. "Previous elections results: 2010 local council elections". Southwark Council. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
10. "BBC News | Election 2010 | Constituency | Vauxhall". BBC News. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
11. "No. 60367". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 2012. p. 21.
12. "Lib Dems name mayoral candidate". BBC News. 17 September 2015. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
13. Perraudin, Frances (17 September 2015). "Lib Dems select Caroline Pidgeon to fight London mayor election". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
14. "Election Results". BBC News. Retrieved 10 May 2016.

External links

• Caroline Pidgeon Official site
• Caroline Pidgeon profile Liberal Democrats