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Zöe Franklin

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British politician

Zöe FranklinMP
Official portrait, 2024
Member of Parliament
for Guildford
Incumbent
Assumed office
4 July 2024
Preceded byAngela Richardson
Majority8,429 (17.5%)
Personal details
Political partyLiberal Democrats
Children2
Alma mater

Zöe Louise Franklin is a British Liberal Democrat politician who has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Guildford since 2024.

Early life

Franklin was born in Ascot, started school in Bodmin before her family moved to Farnham aged 7. She attended Hale Middle School and Farnham Heath End School before travelling to Alton College to complete her A-levels.

In 1999 Franklin moved to Guildford to study Music (BMus) at University of Surrey graduating in 2002. In 2005 she graduated from University of Southampton with a Master of Musicology (MMus).

Franklin has had a varied career. After graduating her masters she worked in the creative sector initially for Surrey County Arts and then the educational publishers Rhinegold Education Ltd.

She has described in interviews how it was there that she experienced a “quarter-life crisis” noting that she realised she wanted to do more to help people which led her to move into politics becoming Director of the Liberal Democrat Christian Forum.

Political Career

Zöe’s political career began in May 2007 when she became the temporary director of the Liberal Democrat Christian Forum, in a 5-month maternity cover appointment.

From October 2008 to August 2010, Franklin served as a Constituency Organiser for the Guildford Liberal Democrats.

In 2008, Franklin stood for election as Guildford Borough councillor for Stoke ward (now Bellfields and Slyfield) in a by-election. She won with 26.6 percent of the vote (more than double her closest rival) and continued as councillor until 2015 when she stood down.

During her time as a councillor, Franklin’s focus on partnership working saw her appointed a member of the Home-Start Guildford board of trustees between May 2009 and April 2015, as well as becoming a member of the grants panel of Guildford Philanthropy & Guildford Local Committee.

Zöe then took a short hiatus from politics during which time she was the Manager of East Horsley Village Hall and its charity from 2014-17.

Franklin was initially selected for Guildford in the 2017 general election, coming second to Anne Milton, who had held the seat since taking it from the Liberal Democrats in 2005. She stood for a second time in 2019, achieving a 12.5-per-cent swing to the Lib Dems against the backdrop of a substantial Conservative majority nationally.

Zöe Franklin won the seat at the 2024 general election with an 11.7-per-cent swing, achieving 47.5 per cent of the vote and a majority of 8,429.

Franklin is the fourth successive woman to hold the seat and only the second non-Conservative MP, following in the footsteps of Sue Doughty who was the Liberal Democrat MP from 2001-5.

Personal life

Franklin lives in Guildford with her husband Chris and their two children.

References

  1. "No. 64465". The London Gazette. 22 July 2024. p. 14085.
  2. "Zoe Franklin". PolicyMogul. Retrieved 7 July 2024.
  3. "Guildford | General Election 2024 | Sky News". election.news.sky.com. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  4. "Meet Zöe Franklin for Guildford". Guildford Liberal Democrats. Retrieved 7 July 2024.

External links

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded byAngela Richardson Member of Parliament
for Guildford
2024–present 		Incumbent
Liberal Democrat members of Parliament
North West England
Yorkshire and the Humber
West Midlands
East of England
London
South East England
South West England
Wales
Scotland
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