36 Facts About Simon Hughes

Sir Simon Henry Ward Hughes was born on 17 May 1951 and is a British former politician.

Simon Hughes is the Chancellor of London South Bank University, and a strategic adviser to Talgo, a Spanish manufacturer of trains.

Simon Hughes was the Member of Parliament for the constituency of Bermondsey and Old Southwark from 1983 until 2015.

Simon Hughes declined a position in the House of Lords in 2015.

Simon Hughes has twice run unsuccessfully for the leadership of the party and was its unsuccessful candidate for Mayor of London in the 2004 election.

Simon Hughes was appointed as a Privy Councillor on 15 December 2010.

In December 2013, Simon Hughes was appointed as a Minister of State for Justice and Civil Liberties, and announced he would stand down as Deputy Leader upon the election of a successor.

Simon Hughes is the deputy Chair of Millwall Community Trust Millwall Community Trust and the Rose Theatre Trust, and the Friends of Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital Trust.

In 2023 Simon Hughes was appointed a Commissioner of the UK Trade and Business Commission.

Simon Hughes is a member of the Church of England Bermondsey and Rotherhithe Deanery Synod.

Simon Hughes was born on 17 May 1951 to James Henry Annesley Simon Hughes and his wife, Sylvia.

Simon Hughes was privately educated at The Cathedral School, Llandaff, where he was Dean's Scholar and Head Boy in 1964; Christ College, Brecon; Selwyn College, Cambridge, where he graduated in law; and the College of Europe in Bruges, where he earned a postgraduate Certificate of Advanced European Studies.

Simon Hughes was called to the bar at the Inner Temple in 1974.

Simon Hughes moved to Camberwell in 1977 and Bermondsey in 1983.

Simon Hughes was first elected to Parliament in the Bermondsey by-election of 24 February 1983, in which he defeated Labour candidate and gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell.

Simon Hughes apologised for the campaign in 2006, during the same few days as revelations of his own homosexual experiences, and confirming that he is bisexual, after being outed by The Sun newspaper.

Simon Hughes should be judged on his policies, not his private life.

However, Simon Hughes subsequently chose to abstain from the final vote for gay marriage.

When interviewed on election night television by Jeremy Paxman, Simon Hughes suggested that the fall in his vote might reflect the unpopularity of Southwark Council, which had been controlled by the Liberal Democrats since 2002.

Simon Hughes lost the seat in 2015 to Labour's Neil Coyle, after being an MP for 32 years.

Simon Hughes stood again at the 2017 general election in his former seat, gaining 18,189 votes, but was defeated for the second time by Coyle who polled 31,161 votes, a majority of 12,972.

Simon Hughes stood down as a parliamentary candidate in September 2018.

Simon Hughes first joined the Liberal Party in 1971, when he signed up to Cambridge University Liberal Club as a student.

In December 2013, Simon Hughes was appointed as a Minister of State for Justice, following the resignation of Lord McNally who had become Chair of the Youth Justice Board.

Simon Hughes announced he would stand down as Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats once a successor was elected, following a decision that the Deputy Leader should not hold any office in the coalition government.

Simon Hughes was an important figure in the fight to grant a young gay man, Mehdi Kazemi, asylum so he would not be deported to his homeland of Iran, which had executed his boyfriend, on the basis that it almost certainly would have executed him.

On 12 January 2006, Simon Hughes announced his candidacy in the leadership election triggered by the resignation of Charles Kennedy.

Simon Hughes initially delayed any announcement while carrying out presidential responsibilities in drawing up the timetable for the contest.

Simon Hughes campaigned under a slogan of "Freedom, fairness and sustainability".

Simon Hughes's manifesto was released in PDF format, and was available from his campaign website.

One was held in Edinburgh, where Simon Hughes stressed his human rights and green-friendly background; another in Manchester.

Simon Hughes said he was proud to have played some part in the success of the Lib Dems across the country.

Cable's resignation as deputy leader caused a deputy leadership election, with Simon Hughes defeating Tim Farron by 38 votes to 18.

Outside politics, Simon Hughes is a supporter of Millwall Football Club.

Simon Hughes has never married, although in an interview with The Daily Telegraph in 2006, he said he had been turned down by "several women".

On 13 May 2010 Simon Hughes was sworn in as a member of the Privy Council.