Caroline Voaden

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix =

| name = Caroline Voaden

| honorific-suffix = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|MP|size=100%}}

| party = Liberal Democrats

| image = Official portrait of Caroline Voaden MP crop 2 v2.jpg

| caption = Official portrait, 2024

| office = Member of Parliament
for South Devon

| term_start = 4 July 2024

| predecessor = Anthony Mangnall
(Totnes{{efn|The Totnes constituency was renamed "South Devon" at the 2024 general election, with minor boundary changes{{Cite web |title=The 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries in England – Volume one: Report – South West {{!}} Boundary Commission for England |url=https://boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk/2023-review/2023-review-volume-one-report/the-2023-review-of-parliamentary-constituency-boundaries-in-england-volume-one-report-south-west/ |access-date=2023-08-02 |website=boundarycommissionforengland.independent.gov.uk}}{{cite web|url=https://www.totnes-today.co.uk/news/name-change-and-boundary-change-on-the-cards-for-south-hams-parliamentary-constituencies-571604|title=Name change and boundary change on the cards for South Hams parliamentary constituencies|date=8 November 2022|publisher=Totnes Times}}}})

| successor =

| majority = 7,127 (10.1%)

| office2 = Leader of the Liberal Democrats

in the European Parliament

| term_start2 = 12 November 2019

| term_end2 = 31 January 2020

| leader2 = Jo Swinson
Sir Ed Davey and Brinton/Pack (interim)

| deputy2 = Luisa Porritt

| predecessor2 = Catherine Bearder

| successor2 = Position abolished

| constituency_MP1 = South West England

| term_start1 = 2 July 2019{{cite web |title=Key dates ahead|url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/elections-press-kit/0/key-dates-ahead |publisher=European Parliament |accessdate=28 May 2019 |language=en |date=20 May 2017}}{{cite news |title=Key dates ahead|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-48365702|work=BBC News |accessdate=28 May 2019 |language=en |date=22 May 2017}}

| term_end1 = 31 January 2020

| predecessor1 = Julie Girling

| successor1 = Constituency abolished

| parliament1 = European

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1968|11|22|df=y}}

| birth_place = Wantage, Berkshire{{efn|name="county"|In Oxfordshire since 1974}}, England

| death_date =

| death_place =

| nationality = British

| spouse =

| relations =

| children =

| residence =

| alma_mater = University of Sheffield

| occupation =

| profession = Journalist

| website = {{Official URL}}

}}

Caroline Jane Voaden (born 22 November 1968) is a British politician and international journalist, who has served as Member of Parliament for South Devon since 2024 for the Liberal Democrats, having previously served as the party's leader in the European Parliament from 2019 to 2020, and was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the South West England and Gibraltar constituency from 2019 to 2020.{{cite web |title=The UK's European elections 2019 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/crjeqkdevwvt/the-uks-european-elections-2019 |website=BBC News |accessdate=26 May 2019}}

Voaden has covered six European countries in her capacity as a journalist.{{cite web|url=https://www.carolinevoaden.info|title=Caroline Voaden|last=|first=|date=|website=carolinevoaden.info|language=en|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190528165117/https://www.carolinevoaden.info/|archive-date=28 May 2019}} Whilst covering the latter years of the Yugoslav Wars in Zagreb, she made history as the youngest female bureau chief at Reuters.{{cite news|url=https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/eu-elections-big-beautiful-2875498|title=EU elections: Why big is beautiful|last1=Rossiter|first1=Keith|date=16 May 2019|work=Devon Live|accessdate=29 May 2019}}

Personal life

Caroline Voaden was born in Wantage in Berkshire{{efn|name="county"}}, on 22 November 1968, and grew up in Scotland. She studied French and Economics at Sheffield University, with a year abroad living in Lille.{{Cite web|url=https://www.carolinevoaden.info/|title=carolinevoaden|website=carolinevoaden|language=en|access-date=31 July 2019|archive-date=28 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190528165117/https://www.carolinevoaden.info/|url-status=dead}} In 2007, after being widowed at the age of 34, Voaden moved to Devon with her two young daughters. She married again and has a stepson.

Professional career

From 1991 to 2000, Voaden worked for the Reuters news agency, undergoing assignments in Amsterdam, Dublin, Bonn, Belgrade and Zagreb.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thebaron.info/people/ex-reuters-bureau-chief-elected-mep|title=Ex-Reuters bureau chief elected MEP|last=|first=|date=27 May 2019|website=The Baron|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190621180811/https://www.thebaron.info/people/ex-reuters-bureau-chief-elected-mep |archive-date=21 June 2019 |access-date=2020-01-31}}

In 2007, she moved to Devon, where she founded her own modern craft brand in 2012. In 2018 she became operations manager at a resettlement charity working with offenders and prisoners from HM Prison Channings Wood.

Voaden was chair of the national [https://www.widowedandyoung.org.uk/ WAY Foundation] from 2009 to 2011, a charity that supports men and women widowed under the age of 50.

From 2000 to 2007, she served in the team which established JustGiving, as an online editor for the charitable social platform.

From November 2021 to May 2023 she was the chief executive of Devon Rape Crisis & Sexual Abuse Services.{{Cite web|title=Caroline Voaden CEO – Devon Rape Crisis and Sexual Abuse Services|url=https://devonrapecrisis.org.uk/person/caroline-voaden-ceo/|access-date=2021-02-27|language=en-GB}}

Political career

Voaden joined the Liberal Democrats the day after the Brexit referendum in 2016, seeking to oppose Brexit and campaign for a second referendum on EU membership.{{Cite web|url=http://www.torbaylibdems.org.uk/caroline_voaden|title=Caroline Voaden|website=Torbay Liberal Democrats|access-date=3 December 2019}}

=European Parliament=

In 2019, Voaden was elected as Member of the European Parliament for the South West of England constituency, having campaigned on a platform of stopping Brexit and fighting climate change.{{Cite web|url=https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/eu-elections-big-beautiful-2875498|title=EU elections: Why big is beautiful|last=Rossiter|first=Keith|date=16 May 2019|website=Devon Live|access-date=29 July 2019}}

She sat as a full member of the European Parliament Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, a substitute member of the Committee on Transport and Tourism and the Vice-President of the European Parliament's delegation for relations with the Arabian Peninsula.{{cite web|url=http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/197749/CAROLINE_VOADEN/home|title=MEPs: Caroline VOADEN|last=|first=|date=22 November 1968|website=European Parliament|language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190729165145/http://www.europarl.europa.eu/meps/en/197749/CAROLINE_VOADEN/home |archive-date=29 July 2019 |accessdate=29 July 2019}}

Following criticism of BBC television's Question Time for having never featured a pro-Remain MEP,{{Cite tweet|number=1048904410703777792|title=Replying to @SebDance @sandypuke and 7 others|date=7 October 2018|user=JPCherr|access-date=3 December 2019}} Voaden was the first pro-European MEP to feature, in October 2019.{{Cite web |date=2019-04-27 |title=13 UK European Parliament candidates to watch |url=https://www.politico.eu/article/13-uk-european-parliament-candidates-to-watch-2019-election/ |access-date=2024-07-10 |website=POLITICO |language=en-GB}}

In November 2019, Catherine Bearder announced, that she would be stepping down as the leader of the Liberal Democrats in the European Parliament. Voaden was subsequently elected as the leader of the European party.{{Cite web|url=https://www.gbc.gi/news/caroline-voaden-elected-new-leader-uks-liberal-democrats-european-parliament|title=Gibraltar MEP Caroline Voaden elected new leader of UK's Liberal Democrats in the European Parliament|website=www.gbc.gi|language=en|access-date=6 December 2019}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/top-stories/lib-dems-elect-new-leader-for-european-parliament-1-6372274|title=Lib Dems elect new leader for European parliament|last=Nixon|first=Matthew|website=The New European|language=en|access-date=3 December 2019}}

She was a member of the Renew Europe group in the European Parliament.{{Cite web|url=https://reneweuropegroup.eu/en/about-us/our-meps/#bloc-V|title=Our MEP's|last=|first=|date=|website=Renew Europe|language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200201005942/https://reneweuropegroup.eu/en/about-us/our-meps/ |archive-date=1 February 2020 |access-date=31 January 2020}} Her name was removed after Brexit.

=House of Commons=

She stood against Gary Streeter as the Liberal Democrat candidate for the South West Devon constituency in the 2017 General Election, coming third with 5.2% of the vote.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/constituencies/E14000950|title=Devon South West parliamentary constituency – Election 2017|website=BBC News|accessdate=29 May 2019}}

In 2024, she won the "South Devon Primary" to be the Liberal Democrat candidate in the new South Devon constituency, which was effectively a renamed version of the abolished Totnes constituency with minor boundary changes.{{Cite web |date=2024-03-16 |title=Group chooses candidate to take on Totnes Tory MP |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-68563875 |access-date=2024-03-17 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}} In the 2024 general election, she was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for South Devon with 22,540 votes (46.0%) and a majority of 7,127 over Anthony Mangnall, the incumbent Conservative MP for Totnes.{{cite web |title=South Devon – General election results 2024 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/election/2024/uk/constituencies/E14001484 |website=BBC News |access-date=12 July 2024}}