David Chidgey, Baron Chidgey

Lord ( George William) David Chidgey, Baron Chidgey ( born July 9, 1942 in Basingstoke, United Kingdom) is a British politician of the Liberal Democrats in the UK. He was until 2005 MP for the constituency of Eastleigh in Hampshire and currently has a seat in the House of Lords.

Early life

Chidgey visited the Brune Park County High School (now Brune Park Community College) in Gosport. He trained as a Chartered Engineer and studied mechanical engineering at the Admiralty College in Portsmouth and civil engineering at the University of Portsmouth. Until 1973 he worked for Hampshire County Council and then to 1994 as a consulting engineer for Brian Colquhoun and Partners.

Political career

Chidgey was from the mid 1970s until the early 1990s councilor in the city councils of New Alresford and Winchester. In 1988 he took up under a by-election to the European Parliament for the constituency of Hampshire and also stood as a candidate in the election to the European Parliament in 1989. From 1992 to 1994 he was Regional Chairman of the Liberal Democrats for Hampshire and Wight.

In the British general election, 1992, he ran for the first time for the constituency of Eastleigh in Hampshire, finishing in second place behind Stephen Milligan, its competitor, the Conservative Party. After Milligan's death in 1994 Chidgey won the by-election in the same year and pushed the Conservatives into third place. Both in 1997 and 2001, he was re-elected. In 2005, he did not stand for election.

From 2001 to 2005 he was a member of the group chairman and spokesman for the themes work and training, transport, trade and economy in the House of Commons. From 1999 to 2005 he was a member of the Committee on foreign affairs and from 2003 to 2005 Member of the Joint Committee on Human Rights of the UK Parliament.

On 13 May 2005, announced that Chidgey a life peer (life peer ) should be awarded. On 17 June 2005, the peer Baron Chidgey of Hamble -le -Rice City was created in Hampshire for him eventually. In the House of Lords, he was from 2005 to 2006 the Democrats spokesman for the Defense Ministry.

Since 2007 Chidgey is a member of the Governing Council of the International non-governmental organization AWEPA.

In 2008 he was appointed Chairman of the Supervisory Commission for the think tank Commonwealth Policy Studies Unit, which deals with policy issues across the Commonwealth.

Personal

Chidgey married in 1965 in Gosport its present wife Carolyn April Idris Jones. They have a son and two daughters.