Layla Moran

Layla Michelle Moran (/məˈræn/ mə-RAN; born 12 September 1982) is a British Liberal Democrat politician serving as the Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and International Development since 2020, and serving as the Member of Parliament for Oxford West and Abingdon since 2017.

Moran attended schools in Brussels and Kingston before taking her A-levels at Roedean School near Brighton. She studied Physics at Imperial College London and completed her PGCE at Brunel University London. She subsequently worked as a maths and physics teacher. Moran unsuccessfully campaigned as the Liberal Democrat candidate in Battersea at the 2010 general election and in the West Central constituency at the 2012 London Assembly election.

She contested Oxford West and Abingdon at the 2015 general election, coming second. She was selected for the seat again at the 2017 general election and was elected to the House of Commons, defeating Conservative MP Nicola Blackwood, with 26,256 votes (43.7%) and a majority of 816.

She served as the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for the Department for Education under three leaders from 2017 to 2020, and was spokesperson for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport from 2019 to 2020. After Jo Swinson lost her seat at the 2019 general election, Moran stood to become Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the 2020 leadership election, which she lost to Acting Leader Sir Ed Davey. On 31 August 2020, Davey appointed Moran as the Liberal Democrats' Shadow Foreign Secretary and as International Development Spokesperson the following day.

Moran came out as pansexual in 2020 and is the first UK parliamentarian to do so. She is the first MP of Palestinian descent.