Quick Facts
Biography
Duncan John Hames (born 16 June 1977) is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Chippenham constituency in Wiltshire from the 2010 general election until 30 March 2015, when parliament was dissolved for the election of May 2015, at which he was defeated by the Conservative Party candidate Michelle Donelan. He served as Parliamentary Private Secretary to Nick Clegg when he was Deputy Prime Minister, a post in which he succeeded his wife Jo Swinson.
Early life
Hames was born in Hertfordshire and attended Watford Grammar School for Boys. He studied PPE at New College, Oxford, where he was an executive officer of the Oxford University Student Union and represented the Oxford Union in debating competitions.
Career
After graduating from Oxford, Hames trained as an accountant with Deloitte. In June 2000, at the age of 23, he stood for the Liberal Democrats in the Tottenham by-election which was called after the death of Bernie Grant, coming second to Labour's David Lammy with 19 per cent of the vote. 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. He joined the board of the South West of England Regional Development Agency in 2003, and was the Lib Dem candidate for the Westbury, Wiltshire, constituency at the 2005 general election. He thus achieved the remarkable feat of having stood for election to Parliament on behalf of a major political party on three separate occasions before his 28th birthday, at a time when the minimum age for candidates was 21.
In July 2006, shortly after the creation of a new Chippenham county constituency, Hames was selected as his party's first candidate for it, and his success at the 2010 general election gave Wiltshire its first Liberal member of parliament in 86 years.
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 now Head of Policy at the UK chapter of Transparency International.
Personal life
On 13 May 2011 Hames married fellow Lib Dem MP Jo Swinson. In June 2013 the couple announced that they were expecting their first child. On 22 December 2013, their son was born.