Simon Hughes
Sir Simon Henry Ward Hughes (born 17 May 1951) is a British politician. Hughes was Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2010 to 2014, and from 2013 until 2015 was Minister of State at the Ministry of Justice. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark (and its predecessors) from 1983 until 2015.
Until 2008 he was President of the Liberal Democrats (the party president chairs a number of party committees and also represents the party at official functions). Hughes has twice run unsuccessfully for the leadership of the party and was its unsuccessful candidate for Mayor of London in the 2004 election. He is also Chair of the trustees for the Thames Festival, a weekend of events on London's South Bank.
He was appointed as a Privy Counsellor on 15 December 2010. In December 2013 Hughes was appointed as a Minister of State for Justice and Civil Liberties and announced he would stand down as Deputy Leader upon the election of a successor.
Hughes was born on 17 May 1951 to James Henry Annesley Hughes and his wife, Sylvia (née Ward). He was privately educated at The Cathedral School, Llandaff, where he was Dean's Scholar and Head Boy in 1964; Christ College, Brecon; Selwyn College, Cambridge, where he graduated with a 2:1 in Law; and the College of Europe in Bruges, where he earned a postgraduate Certificate of Advanced European Studies (equivalent to a master's degree). Hughes was called to the bar at the Inner Temple in 1974. He moved to Bermondsey in 1981.
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