David Anthony Laws

http://www.libdems.org.uk/david_laws

David Laws MP
Minister for Schools & Cabinet Office

David Laws has been the MP for Yeovil since 2001.

He graduated in Economics from King’s College, Cambridge, with Double First Class Honours in Economics and joined JP Morgan’s Treasury Division in 1987. He was a Managing Director at Barclays De Zoete Wedd from 1992 to 1994.

David left the City to become the Economics Adviser to the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Party and in 1997 was appointed as the Party’s Director of Policy. He was elected to Parliament in 2001, succeeding Paddy Ashdown as the Member of Parliament for Yeovil.

Record Of Delivery
David has a strong record of delivering for local people. As an MP, David has:

Worked in government to raise the personal tax allowance to £10,000, giving people in Yeovil a £700 tax cut.
Supported the re-building of South Petherton Hospital and the extension of its role in the local community.
Supported AgustaWestland and other key local companies, to win orders and secure jobs.
Worked in Government to introduce the Pupil Premium, giving local schools extra money to help children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Parliamentary Experience
After entering Parliament, David served on the Treasury Select Committee before taking over as the Party’s Shadow Chief Secretary, and then Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, and finally Shadow Education Secretary.

David was one of the Liberal Democrat team who negotiated the Coalition Agreement with the Conservative Party in May 2010. He then served briefly as Chief Secretary to the Treasury where he oversaw the Coalition’s plan to make immediate cuts of £6 billion to public spending.

In September 2012 David was made Minister of State for Schools and Minister of State in the Cabinet Office. His proudest Lib Dem achievement in government is overseeing the implementation of the Party’s Pupil Premium policy, which will give an extra £2.5 billion to schools by 2015 to help them raise the attainment levels of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.

David is Chair of the Liberal Democrat General Election Manifesto Group for 2015.