Candidate Leadership Programme
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Candidate Leadership Programme Participant Profiles Waliur Rahman Waliur Rahman is an experienced sent by the FCO to advise the community leader with years of governments of Bangladesh, the USA and experience supporting young people and the Maldives. Waliur is currently the disadvantaged communities. Waliur is the Operations Director of Aisco CIC, a social founder and now advisor of Bristol Active enterprise training, education and Youth Service (BAYS), the largest youth management consultancy. Waliur is a organisation run by young people for graduate of the Operation Black Vote young people in the South West of Councillor Shadowing Scheme and stood England. He is currently the Vice Chair of in a council seat in 2011. the Young Muslims Advisory Group (YMAG), a specialist think tank that advises a number of Whitehall Departments, and the Association of Chief of Police Officers (ACPO). He has been Dawn Barnes Dawn Barnes is a communications set up a network of reading groups in professional and has worked in a number three cities across the UK, in addition to of sectors including regeneration, organising small literary events in London environment, housing, retail, business with smaller publishers and authors. advice and for a local council. Before moving to London, Dawn studied She is currently a Communications in France and taught in Japan. Dawn is a Manager at a charity that helps people hardworking campaigner and is the who are homeless, in prison, or misuse constituency candidate for Enfield and alcohol and other substances. Haringey in the 2012 GLA elections. In 2010, Dawn stood for Parliament for Dawn’s policy interests include housing, the first time in the Witney constituency, the environment, young people and the where she doubled the Liberal Democrat pursuit of a better quality of life for all. lead over Labour and came second in the running. Dawn is an avid reader and has Victoria Barby Victoria Barby is a chartered environment behaviour. As a longstanding active professional, who has previously worked member of her local party, Edinburgh in the aviation and transport industries, North East and Leith, Victoria campaigned helping them to reduce their for the Lib Dems in the general election, environmental impact. She currently council elections and was campaign works in the environment team for a manager for the recent Scottish elections. leading bank. Victoria’s background in Having a mother and a sister who are both environmental affairs has fuelled her teachers, Victoria will draw on this insight passion to protect the environment and, to ensure that the education system as part of her political career, she aims to allows every child to fulfil their full encourage positive environmental potential. Lib Dem Leadership Programme Chris Lucas Chris was born in Singapore, as his father Parliamentary candidate for Ealing North served in the RAF, and spent his childhood in the 2010 General Election. Chris was in a number of different countries before successfully elected as a Councillor in settling in the UK. Chris has always sought 2010 and now sits on several scrutiny to serve the interests of his community committees. and sat on the Pupil Council at school, was Student Union President at sixth form college and was Sabbatical Student Union President of Middlesex University. Chris has worked in many director level positions in the advertising and publishing industries, and is now founder/Managing Director of an online media sales & events management company. He is also the “at home parent” responsible for the daily care of his young son. Chris stood as the Belinda Brooks-Gordon Dr Belinda Brooks-Gordon left school at provision and saving an historic building sixteen years of age and worked as a for local people. Belinda stood for beautician. After an Access course in her parliament at the 2010 general election in twenties, she took a degree and then West Suffolk. Last decade Belinda was went to Cambridge where, as a single diagnosed with SLE (lupus) a disease of parent with two children, she studied the immune system. Her experience of while working two days a week. Belinda is the NHS made her a passionate patient now a leading academic in forensic advocate and she campaigns tirelessly for psychology at University of London. She disability rights. has led major campaigns to amend legislation to ensure social justice and to end violence against vulnerable women. A Councillor in Cambridgeshire, Belinda had a 15-year record of taking action in her community such as getting better nursery David Buxton David Buxton is currently CEO of the candidate in British history. He also stood British Deaf Association. His previous roles as a candidate for the 2000 GLA elections. include Regional Operations Manager for David’s interests include disability, Scope Adult Services, London Borough education, social care and community Council Senior Strategic Commissioning activities. He is married and has a nine- Manager for Disabilities and HIV/AIDS, year-old son with mild CHARGE syndrome. and Regional Director for a national He enjoys working towards providing charity. In 1990, David became the first accessible services to vulnerable children, ever born Deaf BSL user in the UK to be adults and older people. elected as a Borough Councillor. He has stood for Parliament twice in Lewisham East, making him the first ever Deaf BSL Lib Dem Leadership Programme Daisy Cooper Daisy is currently the Director of the University, a Certificate in Psychotherapy Commonwealth Advisory Bureau (CA/B), and Counselling and is also an SPC an independent think tank and advisory Accredited Mediator. She was the service for the modern Commonwealth. Parliamentary Candidate for Suffolk Prior to this Daisy was the Strategic Coastal at the 2010 General Election and a Planning Officer at the Commonwealth member of the party’s 2010 Policy Group Secretariat and worked for CA/B as a on International Development. Daisy Project Officer. She has also been the believes passionately in fighting strategic and technical advisor to two inequality between men and women and Commonwealth high-level groups. Daisy is is an active member of the Fawcett also a Director and Editorial Advisory Society. Board member of Britain’s oldest journal, the ‘Round Table’. Daisy holds an LLM in Public International Law from Nottingham University, an LLB Hons in Law from Leeds Phillip Ling Philip grew up in Warwick, before the Liberal Democrat’s parliamentary studying Economics at the University of candidate for the Bromsgrove Bath. As part of his course he spent a year constituency. During his campaigning working as an Assistant Economist at the experience, Phillip gained a great interest Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit. After in youth services and mental health after graduating, he has worked for a variety of witnessing the huge impact they had in companies including BT, LTSB and society. His general policy interests also lie currently for a Marketing and Strategy in economics, environment and transport. Consultancy firm. Philip joined the Liberal Democrats at university, and became an activist member of the party in 2007. In the 2010 General Elections, Philip stood as Katy Gordon Katy Gordon studied French and Swedish presented UNISON’s submission to the at Aberdeen University, taught for a year Scottish Parliament. Katy’s interest in in Paris, then studied for her postgraduate political campaigning was harnessed when qualification in Careers Guidance before she helped Jo Swinson MP win her seat in finally settling in Glasgow. Over 16 years 2005. Since then Katy has campaigned in the careers service Katy has extensively in Glasgow and went on to accumulated a breadth of experience stand as a Westminster candidate for from helping school leavers apply for jobs, Glasgow North in 2010 and as a candidate college and university courses to running for the Scottish Parliament in Glasgow million pound national projects that help Region in 2011. Katy is committed to people back into work. As an experienced helping people succeed despite their senior steward for UNISON she advocated background and believes education is key for the fair treatment of employees and to this. Lib Dem Leadership Programme Wera Hobhouse Wera Hobhouse moved to Britain from Rochdale MBC. Wera is currently studying Germany in 1990 and became a British for a PGCE (for modern foreign languages). citizen in 2007. She lives in Rochdale with She believes her ability to build effective her husband and they have 4 children. campaign teams is one of her key strengths Wera has been a local councillor since and it is essential to winning elections. 2004 and her key interests are the environment, education and Europe. While the Liberal Democrats were running Rochdale Council she held several senior positions including Cabinet Member for the Environment for three years. In 2010 she stood as a parliamentary candidate in the Heywood and Middleton constituency increasing the Lib Dem vote from 7,500 to 10,500. In 2011 she became the leader of the Liberal Democrat Council Group in Marie Jenkins Marie grew up in South Devon. She Marie was named by The Municipal completed her first degree in Journalism Journal as one of the “40 Under 40 to at the University for the Creative Arts in Watch in Local Government”. Her Surrey then proceeded to a Masters interests lie in education, the degree in Radio. Marie represented the environment and local government. She is UK at the Forum for European Journalism a supporter of Amnesty International and Students’ annual conference in Helsinki. the Fawcett Society. Marie has worked for a Westminster think tank including organising high- profile events in Westminster. Marie currently works for Nick Harvey MP and is a member of Newton Abbot Town Council. She served on Teignbridge District Council from 2007 to 2011 and was also the Portfolio Holder for Communities and Regulation.