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David William George Chidgey, Baron Chidgey (9 July 1942 – 15 February 2022) was a British Liberal Democrat politician who served as
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 ofte ...
(MP) for
Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census. The town lies on the River Itchen, o ...
from
1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...
to 2005, and latterly sat in the
House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in ...
from 2005 until his death.


Early life

Chidgey was born on 9 July 1942. He attended Brune Park County High School (now called Brune Park Community College) in
Gosport Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan borough on the south coast of Hampshire, South East England. At the 2011 Census, its population was 82,662. Gosport is situated on a peninsula on the western side of Portsmouth Harbour, opposite th ...
. A
chartered engineer Regulation and licensure in engineering is established by various jurisdictions of the world to encourage life, public welfare, safety, well-being, then environment and other interests of the general public and to define the licensure process thro ...
, Chidgey was educated as a
mechanical engineer Mechanical may refer to: Machine * Machine (mechanical), a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator input to achieve a specific application of output forces and movement * Mechanical calculator, a device used to perform the basic operations of ...
at the Admiralty College, Portsmouth (Portsmouth Naval College) and then as a
civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...
at the
Portsmouth Polytechnic The University of Portsmouth is a public university in Portsmouth, England. It is one of only four universities in the South East England, South East of England rated as Gold in the Government's Teaching Excellence Framework. With approximately 28 ...
. He worked for
Hampshire County Council Hampshire County Council (HCC) is an English council that governs eleven of the thirteen districts geographically located within the ceremonial county of Hampshire. As one of twenty-four county councils in England, it acts as the upper tier ...
until 1973, and then as a consulting engineer with Brian Colquhoun and Partners until 1994.


Political career

Chidgey was a councillor from the mid-1970s to the early 1990s on
New Alresford New Alresford or simply Alresford ( or ) is a market town and civil parish in the City of Winchester district of Hampshire, England. It is northeast of Winchester and southwest of the town of Alton. New Alresford has independent shops, a ...
Town Council A town council, city council or municipal council is a form of local government for small municipalities. Usage of the term varies under different jurisdictions. Republic of Ireland Town Councils in the Republic of Ireland were the second ti ...
and
Winchester Winchester is a cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, at the western end of the South Downs National Park, on the River Itchen. It is south-west of Lond ...
City Council. He contested the Hampshire Central European Parliament constituency at by-election in 1988 and at the 1989 European Parliament election. He was Regional Chairman of the Hampshire and Wight Liberal Democrats from 1992 to 1994. At the 1992 general election, he contested the Eastleigh constituency in
Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire is ...
, finishing second behind the
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization ...
candidate,
Stephen Milligan Stephen David Wyatt Milligan (12 May 1948 – 7 February 1994) was a British Conservative politician and journalist. He held a number of senior journalistic posts until his election to serve as Member of Parliament (MP) for Eastleigh in 1992. M ...
.United Kingdom general election results 1992: Eastleigh
, at Richard Kimber's Political Science Resources
After Milligan's death in 1994, Chidgey won the resulting by-election, squeezing the Conservatives into third place. He was re-elected in the
1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic (1997 film), Titanic'', the List of highest-grossing films, highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; ...
and 2001 general elections and stood down at the 2005 general election. In the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...
, he was a member of the Chairman's panel (2001–2005), an Employment & Training spokesman, Transport spokesman, Trade & Industry spokesman and a member of the
Foreign Affairs Select Committee The Foreign Affairs Select Committee is one of many select committees of the British House of Commons, which scrutinises the expenditure, administration and policy of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Inquiries The Foreign Affair ...
(1999–2005) and of the
Joint Committee on Human Rights The Joint Committee on Human Rights is a joint committee of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The remit of the committee is to consider human rights issues in the United Kingdom. Membership As at November 2022, the members of the committee ...
(2003–2005). On 13 May 2005 it was announced that Chidgey would be created a
life peer In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the peerage whose titles cannot be inherited, in contrast to hereditary peers. In modern times, life peerages, always created at the rank of baron, are created under the Life Peerages A ...
, and on 17 June 2005 the peerage was created as Baron Chidgey, ''of
Hamble-le-Rice Hamble-le-Rice is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Eastleigh in Hampshire, England. It is best known for being an aircraft training centre during the Second World War and is a popular yachting location. The village and the River Ham ...
in the County of Hampshire''. In the
House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in ...
, he was Liberal Democrat spokesman in defence from 2005 to 2006. He was Given the
Freedom of the Borough The Freedom of the City (or Borough in some parts of the UK) is an honour bestowed by a municipality upon a valued member of the community, or upon a visiting celebrity or dignitary. Arising from the medieval practice of granting respected ...
of
Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census. The town lies on the River Itchen, o ...
in 2005. In 2007, Chidgey was named a member of the AWEPA Governing Council. In 2008 Chidgey was named the Chairman of the oversight committee for the Commonwealth Policy Studies Unit, a
think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmental o ...
devoted to policy concerns throughout the Commonwealth.


Personal life and death

Chidgey married April Carolyn Idris-Jones in 1965 in
Gosport Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan borough on the south coast of Hampshire, South East England. At the 2011 Census, its population was 82,662. Gosport is situated on a peninsula on the western side of Portsmouth Harbour, opposite th ...
. They had a son and two daughters. He died on 15 February 2022, at the age of 79.


Arms


References


External links


Lord Chidgey
profile at the site of Liberal Democrats
ePolitix - David Chidgey
official site
Eastleigh Liberal Democrats



TheyWorkForYou.com - David Chidgey

The Public Whip - David Chidgey
voting record * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chidgey, David 1942 births 2022 deaths Liberal Democrats (UK) MPs for English constituencies Liberal Democrats (UK) life peers Councillors in Hampshire UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 Alumni of the University of Portsmouth English civil engineers People from Gosport Liberal Democrats (UK) councillors Life peers created by Elizabeth II