Birchington is a former leader of the TSR Liberal Party. With a tenure of 20 months, he remains their longest serving leader, and during this time he also served as Deputy Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer.
As leader, Birchington spearheaded the permanent re-brand of the TSR Liberal Democrats to the TSR Liberal Party.
Birchington originally joined the TSR MHoC in 2008, contesting two general elections as an Independent candidate. In May 2009 he was elected as a Liberal Democrat MP, serving until October 2010 before rejoining the MHoC a year later.
He served as an MP continuously until March 2015, when he was elected as Speaker of the House. During his time as Speaker, Birchington oversaw 2 general elections, a referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union, along with numerous other events & crises.
He created Ad Hoc and served as editor
Birchington retired as Speaker in January 2016 after serving for 10 months. He subsequently returned to the TSR Liberal Party.
Record of Positions Held[]
- Speaker of the TSR Model House of Commons (March 2015 - January 2016)
Member of Parliament for the TSR Liberal Party[]
- IX-XI Parliaments (May 2009 – October 2010)
- XIV-XVIII Parliaments (October 2011 – March 2015)
Internal Roles in the TSR Liberal Party[]
Party Spokesperson for:
- Transport (May 2009 – April 2010)
- Defence (April 2010 – May 2010)
- Justice (May 2010 – August 2010)
- Local and Devolved Government (April 2011 – July 2012)
- Financial Affairs (February 2012 – October 2012)
- Deputy Leader (26 February 2012 – 22 October 2012)
- Leader (22 October 2012 - 1 June 2014)
- Chairman (1 June 2014 - 1 December 2014)
Roles in Government[]
- Secretary of State for Justice and Lord Chancellor (June 2010 – August 2010)
- Minister without Portfolio (August 2010 – October 2010)
- Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change (November 2011 – April 2012)
- Deputy Prime Minister (September 2013 - April 2014, Duties included: Lord President of the Council, Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal, First Secretary of State, Leader of the House of Commons)
- Chancellor of the Exchequer (September 2013 - April 2014)
During his time as Chancellor, Birchington wrote the 2014 Budget Report.
Roles in Opposition[]
- Shadow Deputy Prime Minister (April 2014 - June 2014)
- Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer (April 2014 - August 2014)
- Shadow Secretary of State for Health, Education and Local Government (August 2014 - October 2014)
Miscellaneous Roles[]
- Editor of Ad HOC (April 2012 - January 2016)
- Father of the House (October 2014 - March 2015)
- Independent Candidate for MP (May 2008 and October 2008 general elections).
Birchington also served as Secretary General of the TSR Model United Nations.