Tim Farron
Timothy James Farron (born
27 May 1970) is a
British politician who is the
Liberal Democrat member of parliament for
Westmorland and Lonsdale.
He was born in
Preston,
Lancashire and was educated at
Lostock Hall School and Runshaw Tertiary College in
Leyland. He continued his studies at the
University of Newcastle upon Tyne, and gained a
Bachelor of Arts degree in
politics in 1992. He was elected president of the
students' union in 1991, becoming its first Liberal Democrat president.
Prior to his election to
parliament he worked in higher education at both
Lancaster University and
St. Martin's College,
Ambleside.
Family
He lives in
Milnthorpe, within the constituency he represents, with his wife Rosie and their two sons and two daughters, the youngest son being born since his election to parliament.
He contested the
Durham North West constituency at the
1992 General Election. He finished in third place some 20,006 votes behind the sitting
Labour MP
Hilary Armstrong. He served as a councillor on the Lancashire County Council (1993 - 2000) and was also a councillor on
South Ribble Borough Council (1995 - 1999). He was selected to contest the Labour/Conservative marginal constituency of
South Ribble at the
1997 General Election, and again finished in third place.
At the
2001 General Election he contested the
Westmorland and Lonsdale seat and finished second, reducing the majority of the sitting Conservative MP
Tim Collins to 3,167. Farron was elected as a councillor to the
South Lakeland District Council in 2004, and at the
2005 General Election he again fought Collins at Westmorland and Lonsdale. He won this election by just 267 votes. He made his
maiden speech on
May 25 2005 [
1].
He has been a member of the
Education and Skills Select Committee since his election, and later in 2005 was appointed as Youth Affairs Spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats. He is the Chair of the All Party group on Hill Farming.
He has been
Menzies Campbell's
Parliamentary Private Secretary since Campbell's
March 2006 election as leader of the Liberal Democrats.
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Tim Farron MP official site
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Tim Farron MP profile at the site of Liberal Democrats
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Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: Tim Farron MP*
TheyWorkForYou.com - Tim Farron MP*
The Public Whip - Tim Farron MP voting record
