Mark James Hunter (born 25 July 1957) is a British

Liberal Democrat Several political party, political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democracy, liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties ...

politician and leader of

Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council is the local authority for the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The council is currently run by a Liberal Democrat minority administration. At the 2022 local elections, the ...

who became

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(MP) for Cheadle at a 2005 by-election. At the 2015 general election, Hunter lost his seat to

Mary Robinson Mary Therese Winifred Robinson ( ga, Máire Mhic Róibín; ; born 21 May 1944) is an Irish politician who was the 7th president of Ireland, serving from December 1990 to September 1997, the first woman to hold this office. Prior to her electi ...

of the

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. Since 19 May 2022, Hunter has served as the leader of

Education and background

Mark Hunter was educated at Audenshaw Grammar School for Boys and worked as a marketing executive for the

Guardian Media Group Guardian Media Group plc (GMG) is a British-based mass media company owning various media operations including ''The Guardian'' and ''The Observer''. The group is wholly owned by the Scott Trust Limited, which exists to secure the financial and e ...

until 2002.

Political career

Before Parliament

Mark Hunter ran as the

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

candidate in

Ashton under Lyne Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England. The population was 45,198 at the 2011 census. Historically in Lancashire, it is on the north bank of the River Tame, in the foothills of the Pennines, east of Manche ...

in the 1987 general election, and as the

candidate in

Stockport Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here. Most of the town is within ...

in the 2001 general election. He was first elected to

in May 1996 for a ward in

Marple Marple may refer to: Places * Marple, Greater Manchester, a town close to Stockport, in England ** Marple Bridge, a village within the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, in Greater Manchester ** Marple railway station in Marple, Greater Manches ...

, and served as chair of education before replacing Patsy Calton as deputy leader and executive member for regeneration in June 2001 when she stood down after becoming the local MP. In May 2002 he became leader of the council. As Leader, Mark Hunter served on the North West Regional Authority. He was also elected to the Liberal Democrat executive on the

Local Government Association The Local Government Association (LGA) is the national membership body for local authorities. Its core membership is made up of 339 English councils and the 22 Welsh councils through the Welsh Local Government Association. The LGA is p ...

Election to Parliament

When Patsy Calton died from cancer shortly after the 2005 general election, Mark Hunter was selected to follow her. Stephen Day who was MP prior to 2001 was selected as the Conservative Party candidate. In a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

which saw accusations of 'dirty tricks' from all parties but was fairly low-profile (coming so soon after the general election), he managed to slightly increase the Liberal Democrat percentage of the vote on a lower turnout.

Parliamentary roles

Mark Hunter served as Liberal Democrat Deputy Chief Whip in the Coalition Government from 2010 until his resignation in 2014. From the election of

Nick Clegg Sir Nicholas William Peter Clegg (born 7 January 1967) is a British media executive and former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who has been president for global affairs at Meta Platforms since 2022, having previously been vicepr ...

as leader of the Liberal Democrats in December 2007 to the 2010 general election, Hunter served as Clegg's Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) and the party's Transport Spokesman in the Commons. Prior to this, Hunter had been a member of the Shadow Foreign Affairs team in 2007, Shadow Home Affairs team in 2006 and Shadow ODPM team in 2005. Hunter was a member of the Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Committee which replaced the Trade and Industry Select Committee (of which he was also a member) in November 2007. By virtue of sitting on the BERR committee, Hunter was also a member of the Quadripartite Committee on Strategic Export Controls. In 2009 he tabled an

early day motion In the Westminster parliamentary system, an early day motion (EDM) is a Motion (parliamentary procedure), motion, expressed as a single sentence, Table (parliamentary procedure), tabled by Member of Parliament, members of Parliament that formally ...

to save payments by

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which were due to be phased out.

2015 general election

defeated Mark Hunter with a majority of 6,453 on a 16.1% swing from the Liberal Democrats to the Conservatives. Hunter said that "sometimes you have to accept that you can't swim against the national tide."

2017 general election

Mark Hunter failed to regain his seat in the Cheadle constituency during the 2017 general election.

Return to Stockport Council

Hunter re-joined

after winning election to the Cheadle Hulme South ward in 2016. He subsequently replaced Iain Roberts as leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, and opposition leader, in June 2017. Following the 2022 local elections he was elected as the leader of the council, ousting Labour's Elise Wilson.

References

External links

Mark Hunter MP
official constituency site
Profile
at the Liberal Democrats
Cheadle Liberal Democrats
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hunter, Mark UK MPs 2005–2010 UK MPs 2010–2015 Councillors in Stockport 1957 births Living people Liberal Democrats (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Cheadle Leaders of local authorities of England Liberal Democrats (UK) councillors Members of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority