Stephen Anthony Christopher Lloyd was born on 15 June 1957 and is a British Liberal Democrat politician who was twice Member of Parliament for the seat of Eastbourne.
50 Facts About Stephen Lloyd
2.
Stephen Lloyd became resident in his constituency before his 2005 candidature and became its MP, a predominantly single-town seat by population, at various times from 2010.
3.
On 6 December 2018, Stephen Lloyd resigned the Liberal Democrat whip, saying that his party's position on Brexit was inconsistent with his pledge to his constituency that he would "respect the result" of the 2016 EU referendum.
4.
Until 29 October 2019, Stephen Lloyd sat in the House of Commons as an Independent, remaining a member of the Liberal Democrat party, but had the whip restored following the announcement of the general election, and the 'clean-slate' opportunity to be on the ballot paper as a committed remainer.
5.
Stephen Lloyd was again defeated by Caroline Ansell at the 2019 general election.
6.
Stephen Lloyd was educated in the UK from the age of eight at the independent St George's College, Weybridge in Surrey.
7.
At the age of six, having contracted measles, Stephen Lloyd lost all hearing in his left ear, retaining only partial hearing in his right.
8.
From 2005 to 2010, Stephen Lloyd worked for the Federation of Small Businesses as a business development consultant.
9.
Stephen Lloyd first contested the Beaconsfield constituency, in Buckinghamshire at the 2001 general election.
10.
Stephen Lloyd came in third place behind the Labour candidate Stephen Lathrope and the victor, Dominic Grieve of the Conservatives.
11.
In 2002, Stephen Lloyd was selected by the Liberal Democrats to be their next candidate for the constituency of Eastbourne in East Sussex.
12.
Stephen Lloyd spent the next three years becoming engaged in local causes, in preparation for the next general election.
13.
At the 2005 general election, Stephen Lloyd lost to the sitting Conservative MP, Nigel Waterson.
14.
At the 2010 general election, Stephen Lloyd's campaign centred on local issues and highlighting of the expenses claims of his Conservative Party opponent, Nigel Waterson.
15.
Stephen Lloyd asked to be lent votes by local supporters of the Labour and Green parties.
16.
On 9 December 2011, the High Court ruled that Stephen Lloyd had defamed Waterson.
17.
Stephen Lloyd appealed, and on 28 February 2013 the Court of Appeal found in Stephen Lloyd's favour, overturning the original judgment.
18.
From 2010 to 2015, Stephen Lloyd served as the Liberal Democrats' spokesperson for Northern Ireland in the House of Commons.
19.
Stephen Lloyd was thought by the Labour opposition to be wavering about supporting changes to housing benefit presented to the committee, but declared that he supported the "direction of travel" of the government.
20.
Stephen Lloyd campaigned for concessions from the Department for Work and Pensions in relation to Personal Independence Payment descriptors to ensure that people with reduced mobility would still be entitled to their Motability vehicles.
21.
In 2010, Stephen Lloyd lobbied the Government to reconsider its planned reforms to student visa regulations, which threatened the future of English language schools, arguing it was "nonsensical" to require overseas students to speak the language before they came to study it.
22.
Stephen Lloyd served as vice chair of the APPGs on deafness, mental health, dementia, ageing and older people, town centre management, multiple sclerosis, trading standards, pharmacy, and justice for Equitable Life policyholders.
23.
Stephen Lloyd founded the All Party Parliamentary Group on religious education in schools in 2010.
24.
Stephen Lloyd has led campaigns to improve, encourage and support RE teaching of the world's major faiths, and of the non-religious, in schools in England and Wales.
25.
From January to December 2014, Stephen Lloyd served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change Ed Davey.
26.
Stephen Lloyd resigned this position in December 2014 over his "profound disappointment" that the Department for Transport's new road investment strategy did not meet the demands of a local campaign to properly improve the A27 road.
27.
Stephen Lloyd rarely rebelled against the coalition government on any parliamentary matter.
28.
Stephen Lloyd lost his seat at the 2015 general election to the Conservative Party candidate, Caroline Ansell, who won by 733 votes.
29.
Later that month, Stephen Lloyd announced he would retire from politics.
30.
Stephen Lloyd refused the donations and urged that they were instead directed to Save the DGH, the local group campaign to restore services at Eastbourne District General Hospital.
31.
Stephen Lloyd then took a job as business development director for West End Studios, an event and exhibition company based in Eastbourne.
32.
In July 2016, Stephen Lloyd announced that he would seek selection as the Liberal Democrat candidate at the next general election.
33.
Stephen Lloyd attributed his change of mind to a petition created by local supporters two months before, which had asked him to stand again.
34.
Stephen Lloyd stood at the snap general election in 2017 and won, beating the same Conservative MP who had unseated him in 2015, Caroline Ansell, by 1,609 votes.
35.
Stephen Lloyd was selected under an all-disabled shortlist, the first time any political party had restricted its selection to disabled people.
36.
Stephen Lloyd was reappointed to this position after Sir Vince Cable was elected as Leader of the Liberal Democrats in October 2017.
37.
In January 2018, Stephen Lloyd sponsored a parliamentary debate on Universal Credit's impact on the private rented sector.
38.
Stephen Lloyd organised for hundreds of presents to be delivered to the elderly and vulnerable who were in hospital without any visitors over the 2017 Christmas period.
39.
In 2010, Stephen Lloyd created an "MP's Commission", composed of local business and community leaders in his Eastbourne constituency.
40.
In 2011, Stephen Lloyd developed a successful local apprenticeship initiative, aiming to recruit 100 apprenticeships in 100 days in Eastbourne.
41.
In 2014, Stephen Lloyd was awarded the Grassroot Diplomat Initiative Honouree for this work.
42.
In 2015, Stephen Lloyd supported appeals made by the parents of a five-year-old girl who died in his constituency, when the child's grandparents were denied visas to enter the UK to attend her funeral.
43.
Stephen Lloyd offered to personally guarantee their return to Zimbabwe.
44.
Stephen Lloyd successfully campaigned for an inquiry into patient deaths at Gosport War Memorial Hospital, having "long supported the case" for an independent investigation.
45.
Stephen Lloyd is in favour of promoting apprenticeships as a viable career development alternative to university, suggesting the creation of a 'Royal Society of Apprentices' to improve the low perception of apprenticeships.
46.
Stephen Lloyd considers the Work Programme workfare scheme and Universal Credit introduced by the coalition government to be the liberal solution for unemployment.
47.
Stephen Lloyd voted to remain in the European Union in referendum on the United Kingdom's membership.
48.
Stephen Lloyd said that he would "respect the result" and would oppose a further referendum on the UK's membership of the European Union, contrary to his party's policy.
49.
On 6 December 2018, Stephen Lloyd resigned the Liberal Democrat whip in Parliament over Brexit.
50.
Stephen Lloyd subsequently reaffirmed his commitment to remaining in the European Union on announcement of the UK general election 2019.