Caroline Voaden

Caroline Jane Voaden is a British politician and international journalist, who served as leader of the Liberal Democrats in the European Parliament, following her election as Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the South West England and Gibraltar constituency in 2019.[3]

Caroline Voaden
Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the European Parliament
In office
12 November 2019 – 31 January 2020
DeputyLuisa Porritt
LeaderJo Swinson
Sir Ed Davey and Brinton/Pack (interim)
Preceded byCatherine Bearder
Succeeded byPosition abolished
Member of the European Parliament
for South West England
In office
2 July 2019[1][2] – 31 January 2020
Preceded byJulie Girling
Succeeded byConstituency abolished
Personal details
Born (1968-11-22) 22 November 1968
Wantage, Oxfordshire, England
NationalityBritish
Political partyLiberal Democrats
Alma materUniversity of Sheffield
ProfessionJournalist
Websitewww.carolinevoaden.org.uk

Voaden has covered six European countries in her capacity as a journalist.[4] Whilst covering the latter years of the Yugoslav Wars in Zagreb, she made history as the youngest female bureau chief at Reuters.[5]

Personal life

Caroline was born in Wantage in Berkshire (now Oxfordshire), on 22 November 1968, and grew up in Scotland. She later moved to Sheffield to study French and Economics, with a year abroad living in Lille.[6][7]

She now lives in Devon with her two daughters, husband and step-son, following her being widowed at 34.[7]

Professional career

From 1991 to 2000, Voaden worked for the Reuters news agency, undergoing assignments in Amsterdam, Dublin, Bonn, Belgrade and Zagreb.[8]

In 2007, she moved to Devon, where she founded her own modern craft brand in 2012. In 2018 she became operations manager at a resettlement charity working with offenders and prisoners from HM Prison Channings Wood.[4]

Voaden was chair of the national WAY Foundation from 2009 to 2011, a charity that supports men and women widowed under the age of 50.[4]

From 2000 to 2007, she served in the team which established JustGiving, as an online editor for the charitable social platform.

Political career

Voaden joined the Liberal Democrats the day after the Brexit referendum in 2016, seeking to oppose Brexit and campaign for a second referendum on EU membership.[9]

She stood against Gary Streeter as the Liberal Democrat candidate for the South West Devon constituency in 2017, coming third with 5.2% of the vote.[10]

European Parliament

In 2019, Voaden was elected as Member of the European Parliament for the South West of England constituency, having campaigned on a platform of stopping Brexit and fighting climate change.[11]

She sat as a full member of the European Parliament Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, a substitute member of the Committee on Transport and Tourism and the Vice-President of the European Parliament's delegation for relations with the Arabian Peninsula.[6]

Following criticism of BBC television's Question Time for having never featured a pro-Remain MEP,[12] Voaden was the first pro-European MEP to feature, in October 2019.

In November 2019, Catherine Bearder announced that she would be stepping down as the leader of the Liberal Democrats in the European Parliament. Voaden was subsequently elected as the leader of the European party.[13][14]

She was a member of the Renew Europe group in the European Parliament.[15] Her name was removed after Brexit.

References
  1. "Key dates ahead". European Parliament. 20 May 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  2. "Key dates ahead". BBC News. 22 May 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  3. "The UK's European elections 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  4. "Caroline Voaden". carolinevoaden.info. Archived from the original on 28 May 2019.
  5. Rossiter, Keith (16 May 2019). "EU elections: Why big is beautiful". Devon Live. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  6. "MEPs: Caroline VOADEN". European Parliament. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  7. "carolinevoaden". carolinevoaden. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
  8. "Ex-Reuters bureau chief elected MEP". The Baron. 27 May 2019. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  9. "Caroline Voaden". Torbay Liberal Democrats. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  10. "Devon South West parliamentary constituency - Election 2017". BBC News. Retrieved 29 May 2019.
  11. Rossiter, Keith (16 May 2019). "EU elections: Why big is beautiful". devonlive. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  12. @JPCherr (7 October 2018). "Replying to @SebDance @sandypuke and 7 others" (Tweet). Retrieved 3 December 2019 – via Twitter.
  13. "Gibraltar MEP Caroline Voaden elected new leader of UK's Liberal Democrats in the European Parliament". www.gbc.gi. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  14. Nixon, Matthew. "Lib Dems elect new leader for European parliament". The New European. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  15. "Our MEP's". Renew Europe. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
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