Zöe Louise Franklin (born 1 June 1981) is a British Liberal Democrat politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...

since 2024.

Early life

Franklin was born in Ascot, started school in Bodmin before her family moved to

Farnham Farnham is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a tributary of the ...

aged 7. She attended Hale Middle School and Farnham Heath End School before travelling to Alton College to complete her A-levels. In 1999 Franklin moved to Guildford to study Music (BMus) at

University of Surrey The University of Surrey is a public research university in Guildford, Surrey, England. The university received its Royal Charter, royal charter in 1966, along with a Plate glass university, number of other institutions following recommendations ...

graduating in 2002. In 2005 she graduated from

University of Southampton The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public university, public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universit ...

with a

Master of Music The Master of Music (MM or MMus) is, as an academic title, the first graduate degree in music awarded by universities and conservatories. The MM combines advanced studies in an applied area of specialization (usually performance in singing or i ...

ology (MMus). Franklin has had a varied career. After graduating her masters she worked in the creative sector initially for Surrey County Arts and then the educational publishers Rhinegold Education Ltd. She has described in interviews how it was there that she experienced a “quarter-life crisis” noting that she realised she wanted to do more to help people which led her to move into politics becoming Director of the Liberal Democrat Christian Forum.

Political Career

Zöe’s political career began in May 2007 when she became the temporary director of the Liberal Democrat Christian Forum, in a 5-month maternity cover appointment. From October 2008 to August 2010, Franklin served as a Constituency Organiser for the Guildford Liberal Democrats. In 2008, Franklin stood for election as Guildford Borough councillor for Stoke ward (now Bellfields and Slyfield) in a by-election. She won with 26.6 percent of the vote (more than double her closest rival) and continued as councillor until 2015 when she stood down

During her time as a councillor, Franklin’s focus on partnership working saw her appointed a member of the Home-Start Guildford board of trustees between May 2009 and April 2015, as well as becoming a member of the grants panel of Guildford Philanthropy & Guildford Local Committee. Zöe then took a short hiatus from politics during which time she was the Manager of East Horsley Village Hall and its charity from 2014-17. Franklin was initially selected for

in the 2017 general election, coming second to

Anne Milton Anne Frances Milton (''née'' Turner; born 3 November 1955) is a British former politician and lobbyist who served as List of education ministries, Minister of State for Skills and Apprenticeships from 2017 to 2019. She was Member of Parliament ...

, who had held the seat since taking it from the Liberal Democrats in 2005. She stood for a second time in 2019, achieving a 12.5-per-cent swing to the Lib Dems against the backdrop of a substantial Conservative majority nationally. Zöe Franklin won the seat at the 2024 general election with an 11.7-per-cent swing, achieving 47.5 per cent of the vote and a majority of 8,429. Franklin is the fourth successive woman to hold the seat and only the second non-Conservative MP, following in the footsteps of Sue Doughty who was the Liberal Democrat MP from 2001-5. Franklin was elected as a member of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee on 21st October 2024.

Personal life

Franklin lives in

with her husband Chris and their two children.

References

External links

* Living people 1981 births Alumni of the University of Southampton Alumni of the University of Surrey 21st-century British women politicians 20th-century English women 21st-century English women Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Liberal Democrats (UK) MPs for English constituencies Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Guildford People from Farnham UK MPs 2024–present Place of birth missing (living people) {{England-UK-MP-stub