Editing Ed Davey (section)

{{Short description|British politician (born 1965)}}
{{redirect|Edward Davey|the architect and politician in St. John's, Newfoundland|Edward Henry Davey}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix    = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name                = Sir Ed Davey
| honorific_suffix    = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|MP|FRSA}}
| image               = Official portrait of Ed Davey MP crop 3, 2024.jpg
| office              = [[Leader of the Liberal Democrats]]
| caption             = Official portrait, 2024
| deputy              = [[Daisy Cooper]]
| term_start          = 27 August 2020{{efn|name=fn1|Davey previously served as acting leader, a role he shared with [[Sal Brinton]] from 13 December 2019 to 1 January 2020 and with [[Mark Pack]] from 1 January to 27 August 2020.}}
| term_end            = 
| 1blankname          = [[President of the Liberal Democrats|President]]
| 1namedata           = {{plainlist|
* [[Sal Brinton]]
* [[Mark Pack]]
}}
| predecessor         = [[Jo Swinson]]
| successor           = 
| office1             = [[Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats]]
| leader1             = {{plainlist|
* [[Jo Swinson]]{{efn|name=fn1}}
* Himself (acting)
* [[Sal Brinton]] (acting)
* [[Mark Pack]] (acting)
}}
| term_start1         = 3 September 2019
| term_end1           = 27 August 2020
| predecessor1        = [[Jo Swinson]]
| successor1          = [[Daisy Cooper]]
| office2             = [[Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change]]
| primeminister2      = [[David Cameron]]
| term_start2         = 3 February 2012
| term_end2           = 8 May 2015
| predecessor2        = [[Chris Huhne]]
| successor2          = [[Amber Rudd]]
| office3             = [[Department for Business, Innovation and Skills|Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Employment Relations and Consumer Affairs]]
| primeminister3      = [[David Cameron]]
| term_start3         = 20 May 2010
| term_end3           = 3 February 2012
| predecessor3        = [[Anthony Young, Baron Young of Norwood Green|Anthony Young]]
| successor3          = [[Norman Lamb]]
| parliament4         = United Kingdom
| constituency_MP4    = [[Kingston and Surbiton]]
| term_start4         = 8 June 2017
| term_end4           = 
| predecessor4        = [[James Berry (barrister)|James Berry]]
| successor4          = 
| majority4           = 17,235 (34.1%)
| term_start5         = 1 May 1997
| term_end5           = 30 March 2015
| predecessor5        = ''Constituency established''
| successor5          = [[James Berry (barrister)|James Berry]]
| title6              = Liberal Democrat portfolios
| suboffice6          = [[Department for Education and Skills (United Kingdom)|Education and Skills]]
| subterm6            = 2005–2006
| suboffice7          = [[Department of Trade and Industry (United Kingdom)|Trade and Industry]]
| subterm7            = 2006–2007
| suboffice8          = [[Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs]]
| subterm8            = 2007–2010
| suboffice9          = [[Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson|Home Affairs]]
| subterm9            = 2017–2019
| suboffice10         = [[Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy|Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy]]
| subterm10           = 2019
| suboffice11         = [[Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson|Treasury]]
| subterm11           = 2019–2020
| birth_name          = Edward Jonathan Davey
| birth_date          = {{nowrap|{{birth date and age|1965|12|25|df=y}}}}
| birth_place         = [[Mansfield]], [[Nottinghamshire]], England
| death_date          = 
| death_place         = 
| party               = [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]]
| spouse              = {{marriage|Emily Gasson|2005}}
| children            = 2
| education           = {{plainlist|
* [[Jesus College, Oxford]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])
* [[Birkbeck, University of London]] ([[MSc]])
}}
| website             = {{Official URL}}
| signature           = Ed Davey signature.svg
}}

'''Sir Edward Jonathan Davey''' {{post-nominals |country=GBR |FRSA}} (born 25 December 1965) is a British politician who has served as the [[Leader of the Liberal Democrats | leader of the Liberal Democrat party]] since 2020.{{efn|name=fn1}} He served in the [[Cameron–Clegg coalition]] as [[Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change]] from 2012 to 2015 and as [[Deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats|Deputy Leader]] to [[Jo Swinson]] in 2019. An [[The Orange Book| "Orange Book"]] liberal, he has been [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for [[Kingston and Surbiton (UK Parliament constituency)|Kingston and Surbiton]] since 2017, a seat he previously held from 1997 to 2015.<ref>{{cite web |date =9 June 2017 |title =RESULT: Lib Dem Ed Davey takes Kingston & Surbiton seat from Conservatives – South West Londoner |url =http://www.swlondoner.co.uk/result-lib-dem-ed-davey-takes-kingston-surbiton-seat-conservatives/ |url-status =live |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20170930135351/http://www.swlondoner.co.uk/result-lib-dem-ed-davey-takes-kingston-surbiton-seat-conservatives/ |archive-date =30 September 2017 |access-date =14 June 2017}}</ref><ref name="orangebook">{{cite web |year =2004 |title =Orange Blossom |url=http://www.bonkers.hall.btinternet.co.uk/liberator.html |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20070707225111/http://www.bonkers.hall.btinternet.co.uk/liberator.html |archive-date =7 July 2007 |access-date=26 March 2008 |publisher=[[Liberator (magazine)|Liberator]]}}</ref>

Davey was born in [[Mansfield]], Nottinghamshire. After both his parents died before he was 16, Davey was raised by his grandparents, and subsequently attended [[Nottingham High School]]. He then went on to study at [[Jesus College, Oxford]], and [[Birkbeck, University of London]]. He worked as an economics researcher and [[financial analyst]] before being elected to the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]]. Davey served as a [[Liberal Democrat frontbench team|Liberal Democrat spokesperson]] to [[Charles Kennedy]], [[Menzies Campbell]] and [[Nick Clegg]] from 2005 to 2010, in various portfolios including [[Department for Education and Skills (United Kingdom)|education and skills]], [[Department of Trade and Industry (United Kingdom)|trade and industry]], and [[Foreign and Commonwealth Office|foreign and Commonwealth affairs]].

In 2010, after the Liberal Democrats entered into [[Cameron–Clegg coalition|a coalition government]] with the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]], Davey served as [[Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Employment Relations, Consumer and Postal Affairs]] from 2010 to 2012,<ref>{{cite web |title =Rt Hon Sir Edward Davey MP |url =http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/commons/sir-edward-davey/188 |url-status =live |website =UK Parliament |access-date =14 June 2017 |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20170722062111/http://www.parliament.uk/biographies/commons/sir-edward-davey/188 |archive-date =22 July 2017}}</ref> and in [[David Cameron]]'s [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom|Cabinet]] as [[Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change]] from 2012 to 2015, following [[Chris Huhne]]'s resignation.<ref>{{cite web |title =Ed Davey |url =https://www.theguardian.com/profile/ed-davey |url-status =live |work =The Guardian |access-date =14 December 2017 |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20170710211015/https://www.theguardian.com/profile/ed-davey |archive-date =10 July 2017}}</ref> Davey focused on increasing competition in the energy market by removing [[barriers to entry]] for smaller companies, and by streamlining the process of [[customer switching]].<ref>{{cite news |title =Davey vows faster energy switching |url =https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-24747183 |url-status =live |work =BBC News |date =31 October 2013 |access-date=10 December 2017 |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20180104093708/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-24747183 |archive-date =4 January 2018}}</ref> He also approved the construction of [[Hinkley Point C nuclear power station]].<ref>{{cite news |title =New nuclear power plant approved |url =https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21839684 |url-status =live |work =BBC News |date =20 March 2013 |access-date =10 December 2017 |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20180103155430/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21839684 |archive-date =3 January 2018}}</ref> As postal affairs minister, Davey did not investigate the details of the [[British Post Office scandal|Post Office Horizon scandal]] that had led to the wrongful prosecution of hundreds of sub-postmasters, but was the only Post Office minister to meet [[Alan Bates (subpostmaster)|Alan Bates]], the founder of the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance.

Davey lost his seat in the [[2015 United Kingdom general election|2015 general election]] and was [[knight]]ed in the [[2016 New Year Honours]] for political and public service. He regained his seat in the [[2017 United Kingdom general election|2017 general election]], and served as the [[Liberal Democrat Home Affairs spokesperson]] from 2017 to 2019. After the retirement of [[Vince Cable]], Davey unsuccessfully ran against Jo Swinson in the [[2019 Liberal Democrats leadership election]], and was later appointed [[Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson]] and [[2019 Liberal Democrats deputy leadership election|elected unopposed]] as the [[deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats]]. After Swinson lost her seat at the [[2019 United Kingdom general election|2019 general election]], Davey, while remaining deputy leader, served as acting leader alongside Liberal Democrat presidents [[Sal Brinton|Baroness Brinton]] and [[Mark Pack]] from December 2019 to August 2020.<ref>{{cite web |title =Jo Swinson quits as Lib Dem leader with Sir Ed Davey and Baroness Sal Brinton to take over |url= https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/sir-ed-davey-baroness-sal-brinton-acting-lib-dem-leaders-a4312616.html |website=[[Evening Standard]] |date =13 December 2019 |access-date =13 December 2019 |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20191213065101/https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/sir-ed-davey-baroness-sal-brinton-acting-lib-dem-leaders-a4312616.html |archive-date =13 December 2019 |url-status =live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title =Sir Ed Davey and Baroness Sal Brinton will become the joint acting leaders of the Liberal Democrats following Jo Swinson's election defeat, the party has said |url =https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/ed-davey-brinton-replace-jo-swinson-lib-dem-leader/ |publisher =[[LBC]] |access-date =13 December 2019 |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20191213103823/https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/ed-davey-brinton-replace-jo-swinson-lib-dem-leader/ |archive-date =13 December 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref>

Davey stood in the [[2020 Liberal Democrats leadership election]], in which he defeated [[Layla Moran]] with 63.5% of the vote. In his campaign he said that he would prioritise defeating the Conservatives and ruled out working with them following the [[2024 United Kingdom general election|2024 general election]]. With Davey as their parliamentary leader, the Liberal Democrats have made gains in local elections alongside [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]], with both parties making gains in the [[2024 United Kingdom local elections|2024 local elections]], where the Liberal Democrats finished second for the first time in a local election cycle since [[2009 United Kingdom local elections|2009]]. In the [[2024 United Kingdom general election|2024 general election]] Davey led his party both to their highest ever number of seats and to the highest number of seats for a third party since [[1923 United Kingdom general election|1923]], and was noted, with praise and criticism, for his campaign stunts. He led his party to further gains in the [[2025 United Kingdom local elections|2025 local elections]], and was re-elected unopposed as Liberal Democrat leader in [[2024 Liberal Democrats leadership election|2024]].