Christine Anne Jardine (born 24 November 1960) is a
Scottish Liberal Democrat politician who has been the
Member of Parliament (MP) for
Edinburgh West since
2017
2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly.
Events January
* January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...
. She has been the
Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Women and Equalities, and
Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
since July 2022.
She previously served as Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for the Cabinet Office. 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.
Early life and career
Christine Jardine was born on 24 November 1960 in
Glasgow
Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
. She was educated at
Clydebank High School
Clydebank High School is a non-denominational secondary school in Clydebank, Scotland. It is one of three non-denominational secondary schools in West Dunbartonshire.
History
The Education (Scotland) Act 1872 created for the first time mandatory ...
and the
University of Glasgow
The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...
, where she graduated with a MA (Hons).
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
The University of Strathclyde () is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal charter in 1964 as the first techn ...
,
Robert Gordon University
Robert Gordon University, commonly called RGU (), is a public university in the city of Aberdeen, Scotland. It became a university in 1992, and originated from an educational institution founded in the 18th century by Robert Gordon (philanthrop ...
and the
University of the West of Scotland.
Political career
In 2011 Jardine was appointed as the Scottish media adviser to the Coalition Government, working under
Nick Clegg
Sir Nicholas William Peter Clegg (born 7 January 1967) is a British retired politician and media executive who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2015 and as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2007 to 2015. H ...
. That same year, she was the Lib Dem candidate for
Inverness and Nairn at the
2011 Scottish Parliament election, where she finished fourth.
In May 2013, she was selected as the candidate for the upcoming
by-election
A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections.
A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...
in
Aberdeen Donside, this time coming third.
Parliamentary career
At the
2015 general election, Jardine stood for election to the
House of Commons
The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, 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 ...
in
Gordon, where she came second with 32.7% of the vote behind the
SNP candidate
Alex Salmond.
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.
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. She sits on the Scottish Affairs Committee at Westminster.
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.
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.
Jardine is a vice-chair of the
All-Party Parliamentary Group for Choice at the End of Life.
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.
It was revealed that Jardine received a £4,000 donation from
Nick Clegg
Sir Nicholas William Peter Clegg (born 7 January 1967) is a British retired politician and media executive who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2015 and as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2007 to 2015. H ...
in the 2024 General Election.
Jardine is a co-sponsor of
Kim Leadbeater's
Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill on
assisted suicide
Assisted suicide, sometimes restricted to the context of physician-assisted suicide (PAS), is the process by which a person, with the help of others, takes actions to end their life.
Once it is determined that the person's situation qualifie ...
.
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. She has one daughter.
References
External links
Appearanceson
C-SPAN
Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American Cable television in the United States, cable and Satellite television in the United States, satellite television network, created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a Non ...
All-Party Parliamentary Group for Choice at the End of Life
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jardine, Christine
Living people
Scottish Liberal Democrat MPs
UK MPs 2017–2019
UK MPs 2019–2024
UK MPs 2024–present
Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Scottish constituencies
Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Edinburgh constituencies
Scottish journalists
Scottish women journalists
21st-century Scottish women politicians
21st-century Scottish politicians
1960 births
People educated at Braidfield High School
Politicians from Glasgow
21st-century British women politicians
Alumni of the University of Glasgow