Nick Clegg: biography

Nick Clegg was appointed Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in May 2010, after an historic election which produced the country's first hung parliament in decades, catapulting Clegg into the heart of government. This profile charts the rise of the Lib Dem leader.

Beginnings

Born Nicholas William Peter Clegg on 7 January 1967, Clegg was the third of four children. He grew up in Buckinghamshire, England, attending the private Caldicott and Westminster Schools before enrolling at Robinson College, Cambridge in 1986, where he studied Social Anthropology. After his first degree, Clegg studied in Minnesota and also worked as an intern for Christopher Hitchens. He studied for a second Masters degree at the College of Europe, where he was to meet his future wife Miriam Durantez, before taking up a position with a lobbying firm. After spending time with the European Commission, he was selected in 1998 as the Liberal Democrat European candidate for the East Midlands, beginning his career as an elected Parliamentarian in 1999.

MEP, MP and Leader

Clegg served as a member of the European Parliament from 1999-2004, where he was instrumental in setting up the Centre for European Reform, a progressive organisation dedicated to greater transparency and devolved power in the European Parliament. He stood as a British Parliamentary candidate in 2005, winning Sheffield Hallam with a comfortable majority. He became the party's European spokesman, before moving to Home Affairs in 2006. Following the resignation of Menzies Campbell as leader in 2007, Clegg contested the Liberal leadership and, following a somewhat controversial election, was appointed leader. He initially struggled to make an impact as leader, but found his voice calling for rights for Gurkhas and in demanding the resignation of House speaker Michael Martin over his handling the MP's expenses scandal. His profile was significantly raised during the first televised leader's debates for the 2010 election, and Liberal Democrat poll ratings soared immediately afterwards.

In Government

The 2010 election produced a hung parliament, where no party could govern alone. The 'Clegg-mania' of the campaign trail failed to translate into more seats for the party, although it got significantly more votes than in 2005. Conservative leader David Cameron proposed a full Coalition with the Liberal Democrats and, as the Conservatives held the most seats in Parliament, Clegg declared he would be willing to do a deal. After negotiations with Labour and the Conservatives, in May 2010 the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives formed Britain's first coalition government in decades, with Clegg as Deputy Prime Minister. His party secured a debate on voting reform and saw many of its policies enacted as part of the Coalition Agreement, although his personal poll ratings took a major hit.