Stephen David John Gilbert (born 6 November 1976) is a British

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

politician. He was elected at the 2010 general election the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

(MP) for the new constituency of St Austell and Newquay, but lost his seat at the 2015 general election to the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

candidate

Steve Double Stephen Daniel Double (born 19 December 1966) is a British Conservative Party politician. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for St Austell and Newquay since 2015. He has been serving as a junior Lord Commissioner of the Treasury since ...

. He now teaches politics at Highgate School, having previously taught history and politics at the

King's School, Worcester The King's School, Worcester is an English independent day school refounded by Henry VIII in 1541. It occupies a site adjacent to Worcester Cathedral on the banks of the River Severn in the centre of the city of Worcester. It offers mixed-sex m ...

Background

Gilbert was born in

Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its population was 18,766 in the 2011 census. People of Truro ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

and was educated at schools in

Lostwithiel Lostwithiel (; kw, Lostwydhyel) is a civil parishes in England, civil parish and small town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom at the head of the estuary of the River Fowey. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,739, increas ...

, Fowey and St Austell. He went on to study International Politics at

University of Wales, Aberystwyth , mottoeng = A world without knowledge is no world at all , established = 1872 (as ''The University College of Wales'') , former_names = University of Wales, Aberystwyth , type = Public , endowment = ...

and completed a master's degree, also in International Politics, at the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

. He is a former Restormel Borough Councillor, whose area overlaps considerably with the constituency, and a former Haringey Borough Councillor. Briefly working in the

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

office of the then Liberal Democrat MP,

Lembit Öpik Lembit Öpik (, ; born 2 March 1965) is a former British politician. A former member of the Liberal Democrats, he served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Montgomeryshire in Wales from 1997 until he lost his seat at the ...

, and he also worked as a public affairs consultant for a financial services company in London. Gilbert was one of 24 openly gay MPs in the House of Commons during the 2010–15 term.

Parliamentary career

He was first elected to Parliament in 2010 as MP for the new constituency of St Austell and Newquay with a majority of 1,312. On being elected, he was appointed to the Select Committee for Communities and Local Government. He has also served as a Junior Government Whip and as chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Housing. In September 2012 he was appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Energy & Climate Change Secretary of State

Ed Davey Sir Edward Jonathan Davey (born 25 December 1965) is a British politician who has served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats since 2020. He served in the Cameron–Clegg coalition as Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change from 2012 ...

. He was also a member of the

Public Bill Committee In the British House of Commons, public bill committees (known as standing committees before 2006) consider Bills – proposed Acts of Parliament. The House of Lords does not have such committees, as Bills are usually considered by the House as a ...

for the

Defence Reform Act 2014. The Defence Reform Act 2014 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom concerned with defence procurement and the UK Reserve Forces, particularly the Territorial Army. It has 51 sections and seven schedules. Part 1 of the Act relates ...

In 2013 he helped rescue a woman from the River Thames, throwing a lifebuoy after spotting what he had first thought was a body floating past the House of Commons terrace, as he enjoyed a cigarette.

References

External links

Stephen Gilbert MP
''official website''
Column archives
at the ''Liberal Democrat Voice'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gilbert, Steve 1976 births Alumni of Aberystwyth University Alumni of the London School of Economics Councillors in Cornwall People from Truro Councillors in the London Borough of Haringey Gay politicians English LGBT politicians Liberal Democrats (UK) MPs for English constituencies Liberal Democrats (UK) councillors Living people Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Cornwall UK MPs 2010–2015 LGBT members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom British educators