20 Facts About Mark Oaten

Mark Oaten was born on 8 March 1964 and is a British politician who was a senior member of the Liberal Democrats.

Mark Oaten served as the Member of Parliament for Winchester from 1997 to 2010.

Mark Oaten became the party's Home Affairs spokesman in 2003.

Mark Oaten stood for the position of Leader of the Liberal Democrats in 2006, but withdrew from the contest.

Mark Oaten was later hit by a series of scandals which led to his resignation as Home Affairs spokesman.

Mark Oaten did not seek re-election to the House of Commons at the 2010 general election.

Mark Oaten was educated at Queens' School, Bushey and the University of Hertfordshire.

Mark Oaten was leader of the SDP group on Watford Borough Council.

Mark Oaten stood for the Watford seat at the 1992 general election and polled 10,231 votes, finishing in third place.

Mark Oaten won the Winchester seat in the 1997 election with a majority of two, but his election was later declared void by the Election Court.

Mark Oaten held the seat in the 2001 election, with a majority of 9,634, and again in 2005, although his majority dropped to 7,473.

On 10 January 2006, Mark Oaten declared that he would be a candidate in the leadership election to replace Charles Kennedy, standing on an agenda of making liberalism relevant to the twenty-first century.

Mark Oaten was widely rumoured to be Kennedy's favoured successor but his campaign failed to gain momentum.

On 21 January 2006, Mark Oaten resigned from the Liberal Democrat front bench when it was revealed by the News of the World that he had hired a 23-year-old male prostitute between the summer of 2004 and February 2005.

Mark Oaten gave an explanation for his actions in an essay in The Sunday Times in which he said a "mid-life crisis" was partly responsible for his actions.

Mark Oaten announced that he would be standing down from Parliament at the 2010 general election.

In 2011 Mark Oaten accepted a position as executive of the International Fur Trade Federation.

Whilst an MP, Mark Oaten was critical of any plans to introduce legislation to outlaw fox hunting, and supported a 'middle way' approach to the issue, that would allow hunting to remain legal.

In 2004 Mark Oaten voted against the ban on fox hunting.

Mark Oaten was previously married to his wife, Belinda, with whom he had two daughters.