The Hon. Alexander Simon Cardigan

[Alex Cardigan]

Name: The Hon. Alexander Simon Cardigan
Age: 63 (Born 1938)
Gender: Male
Nationality: British
Sexuality: Straight (married with two children)
Avatar: Monty Don
Discord: Cardigan

Education: Shrewsbury School, Camberwell College of Arts
Career: Public intellectual in the arts, winemaker

Party: Liberal Democrats
Constituency: Oldham East and Saddleworth
Parliamentary Career: MP for Littleborough and Saddleworth (1995-1997), MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth (2001 to present).
Faction: Beveridge Group

Profile: The Hon. Alexander Simon Cardigan was born in 1938 as part of a large, landowning family. He was raised at the family home in Saddleworth, his father a Conservative peer and junior Minister, before being sent to Shrewsbury School. He was the eldest of a large family. It was as a young man that Cardigan developed a distaste for his family’s Conservative past, though was never instilled with a particularly socialist taste. At the age of 19, whilst attending the Royal College of Art, he joined the Liberal Party, causing a minor familial scandal amidst the north-western gentry.

Cardigan’s career as a notable artist and public intellectual took off before his political career. He had stood as a Liberal Party candidate for Cities of London and Westminster in the 1965 by-election and 1966 General Election, but came a distant third place each time. His often blase, theatrical style of performing as a candidate brought him to national attention within the Liberals all the same. His criticism of the House of Lords again stirred up interest, and created a rift in the family.

His resultant career in art and academia took him across much of Europe and the world, including stints lecturing in Paris and the United States. Cardigan was notable for donating large amounts to old colleagues in the Liberal Party, and then Liberal Democrats, as well as for his friendship with Paddy Ashdown during this time.

In 1991, after the death of his father and slightly unexpected inheritance of the family estate on the Saddleworth moors, Cardigan sought to win the nomination for Littleborough and Saddleworth. Losing in 1992, three years later, he was elected in a by-election, though could not retain the seat under boundary changes in 1997. Passionately campaigning over the next four years, he won with a more comfortable majority of 5,757 in 2001.

Well known in the party, but a relative unknown outside of the intellectual sphere, Cardigan is tipped as a possible leading spokesperson for the Beveridge Group. Known for his eccentricity, flamboyance and friendliness to those in all parties, he openly admits he has zero desire to lead the party. His love of wine is well-known, to the point that he now owns both a vineyard in the Bordeaux region and one in Kent. Cardigan has spoken on often unpopular causes as a Parliamentarian, championing prison reform, human rights, and a wide variety of niche foreign policy causes. He is chair of the APPG for Pubs.

[Barclay A.A. Stanley]

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