John David Pugh (born 28 June 1948,
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
) is a
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 in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. He was 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 ...
for
Southport
Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England.
Southport lies on the Iris ...
from 2001 to 2017. He stood down at the
2017 snap election.
In November 2017, he was elected to
Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council
Sefton Council is the governing body for the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in the county of Merseyside, north-western England. The council was under no overall control from the 1980s until 2012 when the Labour Party took control. It is a const ...
as a councillor for Duke's Ward.
Early life and career
Pugh was educated at
Prescot Grammar School and
Maidstone Grammar School
Maidstone Grammar School (MGS) is a grammar school in Maidstone, England. The school was founded in 1549 after Protector Somerset sold Corpus Christi Hall on behalf of King Edward VI to the people of Maidstone for £200. The Royal Charter fo ...
. He graduated from
Durham University, attending
St Cuthbert's Society
St Cuthbert's Society, colloquially known as Cuth's, is a college of Durham University. It was founded in 1888 for students who were not attached to the existing colleges. St Cuthbert's Society is a Bailey college, based on Durham's peninsula next ...
, where he studied Philosophy.
Formerly a
religious studies teacher and Head of
Philosophy and Religious Studies at
Merchant Taylors' School, Crosby, Pugh has lived in
Southport
Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England.
Southport lies on the Iris ...
since 1974. He also taught at Salesian College (later Savio High School) in Bootle.
Pugh joined the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
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in 1977. Pugh served on
Sefton Metropolitan Borough Council
Sefton Council is the governing body for the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in the county of Merseyside, north-western England. The council was under no overall control from the 1980s until 2012 when the Labour Party took control. It is a const ...
, representing
Birkdale
Birkdale is an area of Southport, within the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, though historically in Lancashire, in the north-west of England. The area is located on the Irish Sea coast, approximately a mile away from the centre of S ...
, from 1987 until his election to Parliament. At the time of his election, Pugh was leader of the council (from 1992), and of the Sefton Liberal Democrats.
Parliamentary career
First elected to the House of Commons in the
2001 general election, in his first parliamentary term, Pugh served on the Transport, Local Government and Regions Select Committee and was Liberal Democrat education spokesperson with responsibility for schools. Following his re-election to Parliament in 2005, he served as shadow spokesperson for Transport and Health, and, subsequent to the election of
Nick Clegg
Sir Nicholas William Peter Clegg (born 7 January 1967) is a British media executive and former Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who has been president for global affairs at Meta Platforms since 2022, having previously been vicep ...
as party leader worked with
Vince Cable
Sir John Vincent Cable (born 9 May 1943) is a British politician who was Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2017 to 2019. He was Member of Parliament (MP) for Twickenham from 1997 to 2015 and from 2017 to 2019. He also served in the Cabinet as ...
as Shadow Treasury spokesperson. In the
2007 leadership election, Pugh supported Clegg in preference to
Chris Huhne.
With the formation of the
coalition government in 2010 he was appointed as Co-Chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Committee for Health and Social Care, a position he relinquished at the end of 2013 to focus on producing a report examining the social and economic issues facing the North.
In his party's
2015 leadership election, John Pugh supported
Tim Farron
Timothy James Farron (born 27 May 1970) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2015 to 2017. He has also served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Westmorland and Lonsdale since 2005, before which he worked in ...
in preference to
Norman Lamb.
In December 2015, Pugh voted to extend the bombing of
ISIL
An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...
targets in Iraq to Syria.
On 19 April 2017, Pugh announced that he would not be standing in the
2017 general election.
Campaign interests
Amongst Pugh's campaigning interests was public sector IT, specifically around the role
Open Source Software
Open-source software (OSS) is computer software that is released under a license in which the copyright holder grants users the rights to use, study, change, and distribute the software and its source code to anyone and for any purpose. Open ...
might play. Pugh has argued that the public sector could reduce costs by increasing use of Open Source Software and has accused the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
download service available on Windows computers (at the time).
Pugh has interests in mental health policy. In October 2009, Pugh introduced a
calling for more local control over the NHS.
Locally in Southport, Pugh was interested in saving local pubs, and also in the drinking culture of the UK. Pugh saw cheap alcohol deals in supermarkets as one of the major problems causing pub closures, and fuelling the culture. He also took the fight for Local Post Offices to 10 Downing Street.
In Transport, Pugh had long campaigned for the reinstatement of the
, and worked with local groups such as the Ormskirk, Preston and Southport Travellers' Association (OPSTA) and the Southport Rail Transport Forum (SRTF) to save services from to
Pugh supports
, with whom he is reported to have had close ties with the Formby & Southport Group over a number of years.
In 2013, he became one of only four Liberal Democrat MPs to vote against the
.
He is married to Annette with three daughters and a son. He moved to Southport in 1974.
Pugh's interests include philosophy, computers, weight-lifting and supporting
*2010– Co-Chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Committee for Health and Social Care
*2008–10 Shadow Treasury Spokesperson
*2006–07 Shadow Health spokesperson
*2005–06 Shadow Transport spokesperson,
*2002–05 Shadow Ministerial Spokesman, Education