Born in Buckinghamshire, Clegg was educated at the University of Cambridge, the University of Minnesota, and the College of Europe. He served as a journalist for the Financial Times before becoming a Member of the European Parliament in 1999. After his election to the House of Commons in 2005, Clegg served in a variety of leadership roles in the Liberal Democrats, most notably as Spokesperson for Home Affairs, before being elected to succeed Menzies Campbell as party leader in 2007.During his tenure as leader, Clegg asserted that the Liberal Democrats transcended the tradition “left-right” axis and labelled the party as being radical centrist in orientation.
The Conservative Party, which failed to receive a majority, formed a coalition with the Liberal Democrats, and Clegg was appointed by David Cameron to serve as his Deputy Prime Minister. In this capacity, he became the first leader of the Liberal Democrats to answer for the Prime Minister’s Questions, and used his influence in the position to pass the Fixed-term Parliaments Act.
