Christine Jardine

Christine Jardine MP
Official portrait, 2024
Member of Parliament for Edinburgh West
Incumbent
Assumed office 8 June 2017
Preceded by	Michelle Thomson
Majority	16,470 (31.4%)
Liberal Democrat portfolios
2017	Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
2017–2019, 2022–	Scotland
2019	Work and Pensions
2019	Justice
2019–2020	Home Affairs
2019–2020, 2022–	Women and Equalities
2020–2022	International Trade
2020-2022	Europe and Exiting the European Union
2020–2022	Treasury
2022–2024	Cabinet Office
Personal details
Born	Christine Anne Jardine (1960-11-24) 24 November 1960 (age 64)[1] Glasgow, Scotland
Political party	Liberal Democrats
Alma mater	University of Glasgow
Website	www.libdems.org.uk/christine-jardine

Christine Anne Jardine^[2] (born 24 November 1960) is a Scottish Liberal Democrat politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP)^[3] for Edinburgh West since 2017. She has been the Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Women and Equalities, and Scotland since July 2022.^[4]

She previously served as Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for the Cabinet Office.^[5] She was Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Treasury, Europe, Exiting the European Union and International Trade from 2020 to 2022. She was the Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson from 2019 to 2020.^[6]

Early life and career

Christine Jardine was born on 24 November 1960 in Glasgow. She was educated at Clydebank High School^[7] and the University of Glasgow, where she graduated with a MA (Hons).^[8]

She is a former journalist, who worked for BBC Scotland and was editor of the Press Association in Scotland. She also taught journalism at the University of Strathclyde, Robert Gordon University and the University of the West of Scotland.^[9]

Political career

In 2011 Jardine was appointed as the Scottish media adviser to the Coalition Government, working under Nick Clegg.^[10] That same year, she was the Lib Dem candidate for Inverness and Nairn at the 2011 Scottish Parliament election,^[11] where she finished fourth.^[12]

In May 2013, she was selected as the candidate for the upcoming by-election in Aberdeen Donside,^[13] this time coming third.^[14]

Parliamentary career

At the 2015 general election, Jardine stood for election to the House of Commons in Gordon, where she came second with 32.7% of the vote behind the SNP candidate Alex Salmond.^[15]

At the snap 2017 general election, Jardine was elected to Parliament as MP for Edinburgh West with 34.3% of the vote and a majority of 2,988.^[16][17][18]

She served as the Liberal Democrat Spokesperson on Home Affairs and Women and Equalities from August 2019 to August 2020, and was also the Justice Spokesperson from August 2019 to October 2019.^[19] She sits on the Scottish Affairs Committee at Westminster.^[20]

Jardine was re-elected as MP for Edinburgh West at the 2019 general election with an increased vote share of 39.9% and an increased majority of 3,769.^{[21][22][23][24]}

She was promoted to Trade, Treasury and Brexit spokeswoman in September 2020.

On 11 July 2022, Jardine was appointed Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Women and Equalities, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for the Cabinet Office and Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Scotland.^[25]

Jardine is a vice-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Choice at the End of Life.^[26]

At the 2024 general election, Jardine was again re-elected with an increased vote share of 50.8% and an increased majority of 16,470.^[27][28]

It was revealed that Jardine received a £4,000 donation from Nick Clegg in the 2024 General Election. ^[29]

Jardine is a co-sponsor of Kim Leadbeater's Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill on assisted suicide.^[30]

Personal life

Jardine was married for 30 years to Calum Macdonald, the Digital Editor for the Herald and Times Group. He died of a heart attack aged 55 during the 2017 general election campaign.^[31]

She has one daughter.^[32][33]

References

1. "Members' Names Data Platform query". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 24 April 2019. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
2. "Christine Jardine MP". myparliament.info. MyParliament. Archived from the original on 10 August 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
3. "Christine Jardine MP". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 17 November 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
4. "Christine Jardine - Parliamentary Career". Retrieved 30 November 2022.
5. "Parliamentary career for Christine Jardine - MPs and Lords - UK Parliament".
6. Tomos Utting (9 June 2017). "Christine Jardine wins Edinburgh West". Edinburgh Lib Dems. Archived from the original on 6 August 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
7. "Jardine, Christine". Who's Who. Vol. 2018 (February 2018 online ed.). A & C Black. Retrieved 13 February 2018. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
8. "Notable alumni". University of Glasgow. Archived from the original on 7 April 2019. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
9. "LinkedIn Profile – Christine Anne Jardine". LinkedIn. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
10. Swanson, Ian (22 April 2017). "Christine Jardine favourite to fight for Edinburgh West seat". The Scotsman. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
11. Carrell, Severin (2 May 2011). "Scottish elections: Lib Dems face 'terrible backlash' as voters opt for SNP". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
12. Ross, Duncan (6 May 2011). "Ewing triumphs in Inverness as SNP sweeps to Holyrood victory". Ross-shire Journal. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
13. Peterkin, Tom (6 May 2013). "Jardine to stand in Aberdeen Donside by-election". The Scotsman. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
14. "SNP hail 'exceptional' victory in Aberdeen Donside by-election". Daily Record. 21 June 2013. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
15. "Election Data 2015". Electoral Calculus. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
16. "Who you can vote for: UK Parliamentary General Election 8 June 2017 candidates". City of Edinburgh Council. Archived from the original on 14 May 2017. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
17. "Commons Briefing Paper 7979. General Election 2017: results and analysis" (PDF) (Second ed.). House of Commons Library. 29 January 2019 [7 April 2018]. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 November 2019.
18. "General Election Results 2017 – Seat: Edinburgh West". The Scotsman. 9 June 2017. Archived from the original on 6 August 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
19. Phyllis Stephen (12 October 2017). "Jardine now LibDem Scottish Affairs spokesman". The Edinburgh Reporter. Archived from the original on 12 October 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
20. "Membership – Scottish Affairs Committee". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
21. "UK Parliamentary General Election - 12 December 2019". The City of Edinburgh Council. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
22. "Edinburgh West parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". BBC News. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
23. "Commons Briefing Paper 8749. General Election 2019: results and analysis" (PDF). London: House of Commons Library. 28 January 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 November 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
24. "Edinburgh West parliamentary constituency - Election 2019". Archived from the original on 6 December 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
25. Pack, Mark (11 July 2022). "Lib Dem Parliamentary team reshuffled". Mark Pack. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
26. "Members". The All-Party Parliamentary Group for Choice at the End of Life. Archived from the original on 24 August 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
27. "UK Parliament Election 2024". 7 June 2024.
28. "Edinburgh West - General election results 2024". BBC News.
29. "I delved into who's funding the new Scottish Labour MPs – here's what I found". The National. 23 August 2024.
30. "Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill" (PDF). UK Parliament. Retrieved 26 November 2024.
31. The Real Me with Scottish Liberal Democrat MP Christine Jardine, 17 September 2021, retrieved 16 October 2021
32. "Obituary – Calum Macdonald, journalist and crosswords editor who spent 25 years at The Herald". The Herald. 14 May 2017. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2017.
33. Jardine, Christine (13 May 2019). "We all deserve the same quality of mental health care as my late husband – Christine Jardine". www.scotsman.com. Archived from the original on 30 October 2019. Retrieved 30 October 2019.

External links

• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Voting record at Public Whip
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou
• All-Party Parliamentary Group for Choice at the End of Life Archived 6 October 2022 at the Wayback Machine

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Michelle Thomson	Member of the Parliament for Edinburgh West 2017–present	Incumbent