Christine Jardine

MP for Edinburgh West

Liberal Democrats

Christine Jardine is the Liberal Democrat MP for Edinburgh West, having first won the seat at the 2017 general election.

In the 2024 general election, Jardine received 26,645 votes (50.8%). The Scottish National Party (SNP) candidate Euan Hyslop received 10,175 votes (19.4%), and the Labour candidate Michael Davidson secured 7,854 votes (15.0%). Jardine was duly elected with a substantially increased majority of 16,470.

The Edinburgh West constituency covers the western part of the City of Edinburgh, including areas such as Corstorphine, Davidson’s Mains, South Queensferry and Edinburgh Airport. The seat was represented by Conservative/Unionist MPs for much of the 20th century until the Liberal Democrats gained it in 1997. The SNP won the seat in the 2015 general election before Jardine regained it for the Liberal Democrats in 2017.

Political Career

Jardine is a member of the House of Commons women and equalities select committee (since October 2024) – the committee responsible for holding the government to account on equality law and policy, including the Equality Act 2010, as well as cross government activity on equalities. It also scrutinises the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC).

Additionally, Jardine is a member of the panel of chairs (since November 2025). The panel of chairs is made up of MPs chosen by the House of Commons speaker, typically at the beginning of every parliament, to chair public bill committees and other commons general committees. In this capacity, Jardine also chairs debates in Westminster Hall and may also act as temporary chair during a committee of the whole House.

Jardine has held numerous spokesperson roles for the Liberal Democrats, covering Scotland (2022-2025), women and equalities (2022-2025), the Cabinet Office (2022-2024), Treasury (2020-2022), international trade (2020-2022), Europe/exiting the EU (2020-2022), home affairs (2019-2020), justice (briefly 2019), work and pensions (briefly 2019), and, culture, media and sport (briefly 2017). She also served as Liberal Democrat deputy chief whip (2019-2020).

Jardine was reportedly removed from the Liberal Democrat frontbench in 2025 after she voted against a Conservative amendment calling for a review of access to benefits for foreign nationals and those with mental health issues.

Lib Dem whips had instructed the party’s MPs to abstain.

Jardine’s treatment prompted some criticism of Ed Davey, the party’s leader.

One Lib Dem MP told PoliticsHome: “Christine is very good. She’s capable, warm, likeable and she supports her colleagues. To be treated like that in these circumstances is just not nice.

“It’s not kind, but it just tells you that the people who are around Ed are more determined to protect themselves and their positions than they are to treat colleagues with the respect and consideration that they ought to be treated.”

Jardine is said to have found out about her removal via social media.

She told PoliticsHome: “I have been blown away by the support and kind messages from so many people. But I also accept that I knew my decision to vote against that nasty Tory amendment could lead to what has happened, even though I voted with the whip on everything else.

“As I said to Ed when he called me over the weekend and we chatted, I now just want to get on with the job, continuing to represent people to the best of my ability, and move on.”

Jardine supported Davey’s candidacy in the 2020 Liberal Democrat leadership election.

Jardine initially announced her intention to stand in the 2020 contest to succeed Jo Swinson as Lib Dem leader but later withdrew.

Jardine is listed as a member of the all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs) for antisemitism, choice at the end of life, and grief support, Portugal, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

Jardine served on the Scottish affairs committee from 2023 to 2024 and 2017 to 2019.

She delivered her maiden speech on 28 June 2017 during a debate on health, social care and security. In it, she said: “The constituency is also a key driver of the region’s economy, which is dependent on European trade and European citizens who work in the health service and other sectors and who now find that they are under threat from Brexit.

“Edinburgh airport – a key link between Scotland and the international market – the royal highland show, which is crucial to agriculture, the RBS headquarters and a new bottling plant for one of the world’s leading drink companies all represent an economy now tensely awaiting the outcome of the next two years of negotiations.”

She added: “I will remain true to the promise I made on the doorsteps of Edinburgh West… their overwhelming preference is to remain at the heart of the EU, they will have no truck with independence, and are determined that that will be as part of this United Kingdom.”

Jardine stood unsuccessfully as the Liberal Democrat candidate for the Scottish Parliament seat of Inverness and Nairn in 2011, and for the UK parliament seat of Gordon in 2015 (coming second to former SNP leader Alex Salmond).

Political Views

Brexit and Europe

Brexit referendum: Jardine supported Remain in the 2016 Brexit referendum, and therefore agreed with a majority of constituents, 71.2% of whom also voted to Remain.

Customs union vote (2025): In December 2025, Jardine voted in favour of the UK-EU Customs Union (Duty to Negotiate) Bill. The bill, introduced under the 10-minute rule procedure by Liberal Democrat Europe spokesperson Al Pinkerton, sought to mandate the government to enter into negotiations with the European Union to establish a bespoke customs union. In total, 13 Labour MPs joined the Liberal Democrats in supporting the motion, while the majority of the party abstained.

Electoral reform

Electoral reform amendment: In May 2026, Jardine signed an amendment to the Representation of the People Bill, calling on the government to establish a “national commission on electoral reform”. Tabled by Alex Sobel as chair of the fair elections APPG, the amendment aimed to force a rethink of the first past the post voting system.

At the time, Sobel described FPTP as “one of the biggest examples of a broken status quo in UK politics.” He invited colleagues to join this “common sense call to take a fresh look at how parliament is elected in modern Britain.”

Proportional representation bill: In December 2024, Jardine voted in favour of the Elections (Proportional Representation) Bill – introduced by Liberal Democrat frontbencher Sarah Olney under the 10-minute rule procedure. The bill sought to “introduce a system of proportional representation for parliamentary elections and for local government elections in England”.

A total of 138 MPs supported the bill – with 136 opposed. Notably, 59 Labour MPs backed Olney’s bill.

Introducing the bill, Olney told the House: “First past the post is a broken and unfair system. This summer, the Labour party won a landslide election victory, securing 63% of seats in the House of Commons in return for just 34% of the vote.

“The system leaves millions of voices unheard and creates a divisive, adversarial political climate where collaboration is discouraged and accountability is often sidestepped.”

Assisted dying

Jardine voted in favour of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, better known as the assisted dying bill, at both second reading (November 2024) and third reading (June 2025).

In an article for the Scotsman, published October 2024, Jardine wrote: “I don’t know what I would want to do faced with a terminal diagnosis and potentially painful death. Whether I would want palliative care alone or the option to end it when and if I felt that care was no longer enough.

“But I would want that choice to be mine. More importantly perhaps I feel I don’t have the right to deny that choice to others. I believe the law as it stands does not offer those facing such circumstances the compassionate and humane options they deserve.”

Social values and conscience issues

Abortion decriminalisation (2025): Jardine voted in favour of a backbench amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill that sought to decriminalise abortion in England and Wales in June 2025. The amendment, which was passed by a majority of 242 votes, removed women from the threat of prosecution for ending a pregnancy at any stage. As an issue of conscience, MPs were allowed to vote according to their personal beliefs.

X letter: In November 2025, Jardine was one of 34 cross-party MPs and peers who signed a letter to Ofcom demanding an investigation into the social media platform X (formerly Twitter). The letter, led by Joani Reid, chair of the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) on antisemitism, called on the regulator to determine whether the platform was in breach of its legal duties under the Online Safety Act following a reported surge in antisemitic content and calls for violence against Jews on X.

Foreign policy and security

IPAC: Jardine is a member of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) – an international, cross-party network of legislators from democratic countries focused on relations with the People’s Republic of China. The alliance, established on 4 June 2020, the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre, was formed to unite “lawmakers worldwide, promoting democracy and addressing threats to the rules-based and human rights systems posed by the rise of China.”

Palestine

Palestinian recognition letter (July 2025): In July 2025, Jardine was among the over 254 MPs to sign a cross-party letter calling for the government to immediately recognise the state of Palestine. The letter called on the prime minister and foreign secretary to recognise Palestine at the UN Conference then taking place in New York.

Ceasefire vote (November 2023): Jardine voted for a Scottish National Party amendment to the king’s speech in the House of Commons calling for an “immediate ceasefire” in the Israel-Hamas war. Labour had tabled a rival motion, making a more moderate appeal for a “humanitarian pause” in the conflict.

Civil liberties

Covid passes campaign (2021): Jardine was one of over 70 MPs and peers who launched a cross-party campaign against the “divisive and discriminatory use” of Covid passes in April 2021. The campaign was triggered by government reviews into “vaccine passports”, which signatories argued would create a two-tier society and infringe upon fundamental civil liberties.

Covid passes vote (2021): Jardine was one of 126 MPs to vote against Covid passes in England in December 2021. The measure, introduced by Boris Johnson’s government, was carried by 369 votes to 126.

Before Politics

Born Christine Anne Jardine in Glasgow on 24 November 1960, she attended Clydebank High School.

She graduated from the University of Glasgow with an MA (Hons) degree.

She had a long career in journalism before entering politics. She worked for BBC Scotland and was the editor of the Press Association in Scotland.

She also taught journalism at several institutions, including the University of Strathclyde, Robert Gordon University, and the University of the West of Scotland.

Personal Life

Jardine was married for 30 years to Calum Macdonald, the digital editor for the Herald and Times Group newspaper publishers. He died suddenly from a heart attack during the 2017 general election campaign.

Jardine has one daughter.