Caroline Valerie Pidgeon
MBE AM
Pidgeon in 2018
Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the London Assembly
Assumed office
13 May 2010[1]
LeaderSir Nick Clegg
Tim Farron
Sir Vince Cable
Jo Swinson
The Baroness Brinton
Mark Pack
Sir Ed Davey
Preceded byMike Tuffrey
Member of the London Assembly for Londonwide
Assumed office
1 May 2008
Preceded byGeoff Pope
Councillor for
Southwark London Borough Council
In office
7 May 1998 – 6 May 2010
WardNewington
Succeeded byCatherine Bowman
Personal details
Born (1972-09-29) 29 September 1972
Eastleigh, Hampshire, England
Political partyLiberal Democrats
Spouse
Paul Miles
​
(m. 2006)​
Children1
Alma materAberystwyth University[2]
OccupationPolitician
WebsiteCaroline Pidgeon

Caroline Valerie Pidgeon MBE (born 29 September 1972) is a British politician serving as the Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the London Assembly since 2018, and a Londonwide Member of the London Assembly (AM) since 2008.

Early life and education

Pidgeon was born in Eastleigh, Hampshire, on 29 September 1972, to Eric and Valerie Pidgeon.[3] She grew up in the county, and was the first member of her family to go to university, graduating from Aberystwyth University with a degree in Economics in 1994.[4][5] After university, Pidgeon moved to London.[6]

Career

From 1994 to 1996, Pidgeon was a political researcher for Rose Colley, a councillor on Southwark London Borough Council. Pidgeon was also a political researcher at Brent Council from 1996 to 1999. She was employed at Croydon Health Authority as a communications manager from 1999 to 2002, and undertook the same role at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust from 2002 to 2006.[3]

At the 1998 local election, Pidgeon was elected as a Liberal Democrat councillor for Southwark London Borough Council, representing the ward of Newington.[7] During her time on the Council, she served as deputy leader of the council (from 2002 to 2004), and as a cabinet member for Education (2004–06) and Children's Services (2006–08).[3][5]

Between 2002 and 2010, Pidgeon was a board member of Lambeth and Southwark Housing Association.[5] Pidgeon has also been a Trustee of the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education since 2005.[6]

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.[8] 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.[9] 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.[10] At the 2010 general election on the same day, Pidgeon unsuccessfully stood in the Vauxhall constituency, finishing in second place.[3][11]

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.[6] Pidgeon currently serves as Chair of the London Assembly's Transport Committee.

In the 2013 New Year Honours, Pidgeon was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for public and political service.[12]

In September 2015, Pidgeon secured the Liberal Democrats' candidacy for the 2016 London mayoral election.[13] Pidgeon promised to focus on housing, affordable childcare, air pollution and public transport.[14] She emphasised the need to ensure that workers can live in the city by using rent control and reducing public transport costs.[14] 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.[15] She ranked 13 out of 50 on the Top 50 Influential Lib Dems of 2020 list.[16]

She was re-elected as one of two Liberal Democrat members at the 2021 London Assembly election. In November 2022 she announced her attention to stand down from the London Assembly at the next election, due in May 2024.[17]

Personal life

Pidgeon lives with her husband, Paul Miles, whom she married in 2006, and their son. Outside of politics, she enjoys cinema and modern art.[3][6]

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. 19 January 2007.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Pidgeon, Caroline Valerie, (born 29 Sept. 1972), Member (Lib Dem), London Assembly, Greater London Authority, since 2008". WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. 2008. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u247021. ISBN 978-0-19-954088-4. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  4. ↑ "Caroline Pidgeon". Age UK London Blog. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 "Caroline Pidgeon". London City Hall. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Caroline Pidgeon". Liberal Democrats. 12 October 2017. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  7. ↑ Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael (1998). "Local Elections Handbook 1998" (PDF). Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  8. ↑ "BBC NEWS | Election 2008 | London Elections: Lambeth & Southwark". BBC News. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  9. ↑ "BBC NEWS | Election 2008 | London Assembly Election 2008". BBC News. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  10. ↑ "Previous elections results: 2010 local council elections". Southwark Council. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  11. ↑ "BBC News | Election 2010 | Constituency | Vauxhall". BBC News. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  12. ↑ "No. 60367". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 2012. p. 21.
  13. ↑ "Lib Dems name mayoral candidate". BBC News. 17 September 2015. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
  14. 1 2 Perraudin, Frances (17 September 2015). "Lib Dems select Caroline Pidgeon to fight London mayor election". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  15. ↑ "Election Results". BBC News. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  16. ↑ "Top 50 Lib Dems of 2020". 18 November 2020. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  17. ↑ https://twitter.com/CarolinePidgeon/status/1591438748994224131
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