Stephen Gilbert was born and bred in mid-Cornwall and his family has deep roots in the county's clay and fishing communities.
He was raised in St Austell and went to Fowey Community School and St Austell College before moving to Aberystwyth to study International Politics in 1995.
Stephen joined the Liberal Democrats in 1992. He became Cornwall's youngest-ever Councillor in 1998 when he was first elected, aged 21, to Restormel Borough Council at a by-election. He held the seat in full elections the next year. He has also worked in Westminster as an MP's researcher and for Cornwall's former MEP.
After the European Parliament elections in 1999, Stephen moved to London to study a Masters' degree in International Politics at the London School of Economics. From 2000 to 2005 Stephen worked in the City advising the fund management (savings, investments, pensions) industry. While in London Stephen served as a Councillor on the London Borough of Haringey from 2002 to the end of 2005.
In 2005, with his father very ill with leaukemia, Stephen moved back to Cornwall.
In July 2007 Stephen was selected as the LibDem candidate in the 'new' Parliamentary seat of St Austell & Newquay.
In the 2010 General Election, Stephen was elected as the first MP for the seat. He increased the notional Lib Dem share of the vote, which saw a swing from the Conservatives to the Lib Dems in that constituency.
Stephen's policy interests include affordable housing and community cohesion, as well as international affairs, civil liberties and the environment.
In June 2010, Stephen was appointed to sit on the Communities and Local Government Select Committee, where he will scrutinise the work of the Government Department.
Stephen is also the chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Housing and sits on the Liberal Democrat back bench committees for Communities and Local Government and International Affairs.
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