Greg Mulholland

The seat had been held by the Conservative party from 1950 to 1997 and by the Labour party from 1997 to 2005.

Gregory Thomas Mulholland (born 31 August 1970) is a British Liberal Democrat politician who was the MP for Leeds North West.

His first experience in politics was canvassing in the Knowsley North by-election in 1986, while studying politics for A-level.

He had a long-standing interest and involvement in international development, trade justice and debt campaigns.

He was an active member of the campaigning groups Trade Injustice and Debt Action Leeds (TIDAL) and Catholic Aid For Overseas Development (CAFOD).

In 2003, he was elected as a Leeds City Councillor for Headingley ward.

From 2004 to 2005 he was the lead member for corporate services, until his election to Parliament in 2005.

He was first elected at the 2005 general election, winning the seat from Labour and was re-elected with an increased majority at the 2010 general election, and with a reduced majority at the 2015 general election.

Before his parliamentary career, he served as a councillor for Headingley.

He served as a Liberal Democrat spokesman for Health, Schools and International Development.

Mulholland was elected to Parliament at the 2005 general election for the constituency of Leeds North West.

This West Yorkshire constituency extends from inner-city Leeds through suburban and rural areas to the towns of Otley and Yeadon.

After his election to Parliament, he was appointed his party's junior International Development spokesperson from 2005 to 2006.

In November 2005, Mulholland proposed the Sale of Green Belt Land Bill to prevent 'land banking' (property speculation in Green Belt land).

However, the bill did not receive a second reading and was dropped without becoming law.

As a Roman Catholic, Mulholland describes himself as holding 'pro-life' views and has a strong voting record against abortion, embryology and euthanasia.

Mulholland is one of three Liberal Democrat MPs to have supported MP Nadine Dorries's attempts to reduce the number of weeks at which a woman can legally have an abortion.

He was also the Liberal Democrat group's spokesperson on the Leeds Supertram, approval for which was turned down in 2006.

In the 2006 Liberal Democrat leadership election Mulholland backed Chris Huhne, who eventually finished second behind Menzies Campbell.

In 2006 he was appointed Shadow Spokesperson on Schools, and in 2007 he became Shadow Spokesperson on Health.

He was also a member of the House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee.

Mulholland was a member of 27 all-party parliamentary groups including 4 as chair or co-chair and 7 as vice chair.

In the 2007 Liberal Democrat leadership election he supported Nick Clegg.

During and after the 2009 expenses scandal, Greg Mulholland's expense claims were generally without controversy and he was described as an angel by The Daily Telegraph after he called for stricter regulations.

He did, however, have two claims rejected: for a cot and playpen, then later to have photographs reframed.

In the general election of 2010 the seat was retained by the Liberal Democrats with an increased majority.

According to ThePublicWhip.org, as of February 2013, Greg Mulholland has supported the Coalition Government 91.6% of the time in the 2010 Parliament.

Mulholland took part in a community campaign in his constituency against further cuts at the Wharfedale Hospital in Otley.

He called a public meeting at which he presented a 5,000-signature petition to Parliament after one ward was closed.

He campaigned alongside other Leeds MPs for a new children's hospital in the city, questioning the then Prime Minister Tony Blair over the issue at Prime Minister's Questions.

He faced criticism for aspects of this campaign.

An article in a Liberal Democrat Focus leaflet featuring Mulholland and distributed in Leeds claimed that the government had axed plans to build a new £204 million Children's Hospital at St James's, which had been backed by all the city's MPs. The Government claimed that this was untrue and that the decision had been made by the Leeds Hospital Trust without the Government's prior knowledge.

Caroline Flint, Minister of State for Public Health, described the statement as: "taking political grandstanding too far. The article is not true, it is a complete misrepresentation."

In the 2015 general election the seat was again retained by the Liberal Democrats, leaving Mulholland as one of eight Liberal Democrat Members of Parliament.

In the 2015 Liberal Democrat leadership election Mulholland backed Tim Farron.

At the 2017 general election he lost his seat to Alex Sobel of the Labour Party.

Born in Manchester, Mulholland attended St. Ambrose College near Altrincham and studied politics at the University of York, going on to achieve an MA in Public Administration and Public Policy.

While at York University, he played at centre for the university rugby league team in matches against Bradford, Leeds, Manchester and Hull.

He then worked in marketing for five years, including two years spent in Edinburgh, working on several national promotional campaigns.

In the 2017 general election Mulholland lost his seat to Labour's Alex Sobel, who gained a majority of 4,224.