Caroline Voaden | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2024 | |
| Member of Parliament forSouth Devon | |
| Assumed office 4 July 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Anthony Mangnall (Totnes[a]) |
| Majority | 7,127 (10.1%) |
| Liberal Democrat portfolios | |
| 2025–present | Schools |
| Member of the European Parliament forSouth West England | |
| In office 2 July 2019[3][4] – 31 January 2020 | |
| Preceded by | Julie Girling |
| Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
| Leader of the Liberal Democrats in theEuropean Parliament | |
| In office 12 November 2019 – 31 January 2020 | |
| Deputy | Luisa Porritt |
| Leader | Jo Swinson Sir Ed Davey andBrinton/Pack (interim) |
| Preceded by | Catherine Bearder |
| Succeeded by | Position abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1968-11-22)22 November 1968 (age 57) |
| Party | Liberal Democrats |
| Alma mater | University of Sheffield |
| Profession | Journalist |
| Website | www |
Caroline Jane Voaden (born 22 November 1968) is a British politician and international journalist, who has served asMember of Parliament forSouth Devon since 2024 for theLiberal Democrats, having previously served as the party's leader in theEuropean Parliament from 2019 to 2020, and was aMember of the European Parliament (MEP) for theSouth West England andGibraltar constituency from2019 to 2020.[5]
Voaden has covered six European countries in her capacity as a journalist.[6] Whilst covering the latter years of theYugoslav Wars inZagreb, she made history as the youngest femalebureau chief atReuters.[7]
Caroline Voaden was born inWantage inBerkshire[b], on 22 November 1968, and grew up inScotland. She studiedFrench andEconomics atSheffield University, with a year abroad living inLille.[8][9] In 2007, after beingwidowed at the age of 34, Voaden moved to Devon with her two young daughters. She married again and has a stepson.[9]
From 1991 to 2000, Voaden worked for theReuters news agency, undergoing assignments inAmsterdam,Dublin,Bonn,Belgrade andZagreb.[10]
In 2007, she moved toDevon, where she founded her own modern craft brand in 2012. In 2018 she became operations manager at a resettlement charity working with offenders and prisoners fromHM Prison Channings Wood.[6]
Voaden was chair of the nationalWAY Foundation from 2009 to 2011, a charity that supports men and women widowed under the age of 50.[6]
From 2000 to 2007, she served in the team which establishedJustGiving, as an online editor for the charitable social platform.
From November 2021 to May 2023 she was the chief executive of Devon Rape Crisis & Sexual Abuse Services.[11]
Voaden joined the Liberal Democrats the day after theBrexit referendum in 2016, seeking to opposeBrexit and campaign for asecond referendum on EU membership.[12]
In 2019, Voaden was elected asMember of the European Parliament for theSouth West of England constituency, having campaigned on a platform ofstopping Brexit and fightingclimate change.[13]
She sat as a full member of theEuropean Parliament Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, a substitute member of theCommittee on Transport and Tourism and the Vice-President of the European Parliament's delegation for relations with theArabian Peninsula.[8]
Following criticism of BBC television'sQuestion Time for having never featured a pro-Remain MEP,[14] Voaden was the first pro-European MEP to feature, in October 2019.[15]
In November 2019,Catherine Bearder announced, that she would be stepping down as the leader of the Liberal Democrats in the European Parliament. Voaden was subsequently elected as the leader of the European party.[16][17]
She was a member of theRenew Europe group in the European Parliament.[18] Her name was removed after Brexit.
She stood againstGary Streeter as the Liberal Democrat candidate for theSouth West Devon constituency in the2017 General Election, coming third with 5.2% of the vote.[19]
In 2024, she won the "South Devon Primary" to be the Liberal Democrat candidate in the newSouth Devon constituency, which was effectively a renamed version of the abolishedTotnes constituency with minor boundary changes.[20][1][2] In the2024 general election, she was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for South Devon with 22,540 votes (46.0%) and a majority of 7,127 overAnthony Mangnall, the incumbent Conservative MP for Totnes.[21]
Following theLiberal Democrat Conference inBournemouth in September 2025, Voaden was appointed Schools Spokesperson on thefrontbench team of Ed Davey.[22]
