{{Short description|British Former Liberal Democrat politician}} {{Use British English|date=October 2019}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Duncan Hames | honorific_suffix = | party = Liberal Democrats | image = Duncan Hames Glasgow 2014.jpg | image_size = 211px | office = Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister | prime_minister = David Cameron | 1blankname = {{nowrap|Deputy PM}} | 1namedata = Nick Clegg | term_start = 5 September 2012 | term_end = 30 March 2015 | predecessor = Jo Swinson | successor = Vacant | office1 = Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change | prime_minister1 = David Cameron | 1blankname1 = {{nowrap|Sec. of State}} | 1namedata1 = Chris Huhne<br>Sir Ed Davey | term_start1 = 16 August 2011 | term_end1 = 5 September 2012 | predecessor1 = Jenny Willott | successor1 = Steve Gilbert | office2 = Member of Parliament <br> for Chippenham | term_start2 = 6 May 2010 | term_end2 = 30 March 2015 | predecessor2 = ''Constituency created'' | successor2 = Michelle Donelan | birth_name = Duncan John Hames | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1977|6|16}} | birth_place = Hertfordshire, England | death_date = | death_place = | spouse = {{marriage|Jo Swinson|2011}} | relations = | children = 3 | alma_mater = New College, Oxford (BA) | occupation = | profession = | signature = | website = [https://web.archive.org/web/20100504112458/http://www.duncanhames.org.uk/ www.duncanhames.org.uk] | footnotes = | caption = Hames in 2014 }} '''Duncan John Hames'''<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=59418 |date=13 May 2010 |page=8746}}</ref> (born 16 June 1977) is a Director of Policy at Transparency International UK and a former Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Chippenham constituency in Wiltshire from 2010 to 2015. Between 2012 and 2015, he served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Nick Clegg when he was Deputy Prime Minister.
==Early life== Hames was born in Hertfordshire and attended Watford Grammar School for Boys. He studied PPE at New College, Oxford,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/vote2001/candidates/candidates/6/66814.stm|title=Duncan Hames – Parliamentary candidates – BBC |publisher=news.bbc.co.uk |accessdate=24 June 2013}}</ref> where he was an executive officer of the Oxford University Student Union and represented the Oxford Union in debating competitions.<ref>[http://hustings.com/duncan-hames Duncan Hames] at hustings.com</ref>
==Career== After graduation, Hames trained as an accountant with Deloitte. In June 2000, he stood for the Liberal Democrats in the Tottenham by-election, but was unsuccessful, it being a safe seat for the Labour Party. He was then the Liberal Democrat candidate in his home constituency of Watford at the 2001 general election. He moved to Holt in Wiltshire, and from 2003 to 2007 served as a member of West Wiltshire District Council. In 2003 Hames joined the board of the South West of England Regional Development Agency and was the Lib Dem candidate for the Westbury constituency at the 2005 general election.<ref name=selected/>
In July 2006, shortly after the creation of a new Chippenham county constituency, Hames was selected as his party's first candidate for it,<ref name=selected>[http://www.duncanhames.org.uk/category/lib-dem/ Lib Dems select Duncan Hames to stand for the new Chippenham constituency] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111003092024/http://www.duncanhames.org.uk/category/lib-dem/ |date=3 October 2011 }}, dated 15 July 2006, at duncanhames.org.uk</ref> and his success at the 2010 general election gave Wiltshire its first Liberal member of parliament in 86 years.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/news/Lib-Dems-historic-Chippenham-victory/article-2128941-detail/article.html |title=Duncan Hames Wilfred Emmanuel-Jones Chippenham, first Wiltshire MP |publisher=www.thisisbath.co.uk |accessdate=8 May 2010 }}</ref><ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/election2010/results/constituency/b07.stm Election 2010: Chippenham], ''BBC News''</ref>
Following his defeat at the 2015 general election, Hames chose not to stand for re-selection as the Liberal Democrat candidate in the Chippenham constituency.
He is Head of Policy at the UK chapter of Transparency International.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.transparency.org.uk/who-we-are/meet-the-team/|title=Meet the Team|website=Transparency International UK|access-date=27 September 2016}}</ref>
==Personal life== On 13 May 2011, Hames married fellow Liberal Democrat MP Jo Swinson,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.milngavieherald.co.uk/news/local-headlines/mp_jo_swinson_weds_mp_duncan_hames_1_1641806|title=MP Jo Swinson weds MP Duncan Hames|work=milngavieherald.co.uk|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120512010802/http://www.milngavieherald.co.uk/news/local-headlines/mp_jo_swinson_weds_mp_duncan_hames_1_1641806|archive-date=12 May 2012|access-date=11 December 2011}}</ref> who was first elected as the Lib Dem MP for East Dunbartonshire in 2005 and lost her seat to John Nicolson of the Scottish National Party ten years later. Swinson regained the seat in 2017, and became the first female Leader of the Liberal Democrats on 22 July 2019. Four months later, she lost her seat by 149 votes to Amy Callaghan of the SNP and consequently was disqualified from continuing as party leader. The couple have three sons together.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2 August 2023 |title=Jo Swinson and Duncan Hames welcome third son |url=https://www.libdemvoice.org/jo-swinson-and-duncan-hames-welcome-third-son-73599.html |access-date=9 June 2024 |website=Libdemvoice.org}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20100504112458/http://www.duncanhames.org.uk/ Duncan Hames MP] ''official constituency website'' *{{cite web|title=Duncan Hames MP|url=http://www.libdems.org.uk/duncan_hames|publisher=Liberal Democrats|accessdate=4 April 2015}} *{{UK MP links | parliament = duncan-hames/3951 | hansard = <!-- mr-duncan-hames --> | hansardcurr = <!-- 5543 --> | guardian = 6922/duncan-hames | publicwhip = Duncan_Hames | theywork = duncan_hames | record = Duncan-Hames/Chippenham/1199 | bbc = 31676.stm | journalisted = }}
{{s-start}} {{s-par|uk}} {{s-new | constituency }} {{s-ttl | title = Member of Parliament for Chippenham | years = 2010–2015 }} {{s-aft | after = Michelle Donelan }} {{s-end}}
{{Jo Swinson}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hames, Duncan}} Category:Living people Category:1977 births Category:Alumni of New College, Oxford Category:Councillors in Wiltshire Category:Liberal Democrats (UK) councillors Category:Liberal Democrats (UK) MPs for English constituencies Category:People educated at Watford Grammar School for Boys Category:UK MPs 2010–2015 Category:Jo Swinson Category:Members of Parliament for Chippenham Category:Spouses of British politicians