David Laws - Parliamentary Career

Parliamentary Career

Laws had joined the Liberal Democrat back office at the same time as Nick Clegg while the party was led by Paddy Ashdown. When Ashdown resigned the leadership of the party and then decided to stand down as an MP, Laws was selected for his seat. Both would walk the constituency in what former Royal Marine Ashdown described as mufti attire; but on election day, Laws wore tailored suits.

After his election to parliament, Laws became a member of the Treasury Committee, and in November 2001 he was appointed the party's deputy Defence spokesman. In 2002 he became Lib Dem "shadow" Chief Secretary to the Treasury and launched "a spending review".

He was the co-editor of the Orange Book, published in 2004. In 2005, he was appointed the Liberal Democrats' Work and Pensions spokesman, a position in which he was critical of the government's handling of the Child Support Agency and flaws in the tax credits system. He was subsequently the Liberal Democrat spokesman on Children, Schools and Families.

Shadow Chancellor George Osborne offered Laws a seat in the Conservative Shadow Cabinet, but was rebuffed, with Laws saying "I am not a Tory, and if I merely wanted a fast track to a top job, I would have acted on this instinct a long time ago." Following the resignation of Sir Menzies Campbell on 15 October 2007, Laws announced that he would not be a candidate for the leadership of the party.