Miriam González Durántez

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This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is González and the second or maternal family name is Durántez.
Miriam González Durántez
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Personal details
Born (1968-05-31) 31 May 1968 (age 55)
Olmedo, Valladolid, Spain
Nationality Spanish
Political party Liberal Democrat
Spouse(s) Nick Clegg (m. 2000-present)
Children Antonio, Alberto and Miguel
Alma mater University of Valladolid
Occupation Lawyer and lobbyist
Religion Roman Catholicism

Miriam González Durántez[1][2][3] (born 31 May 1968) is a Spanish[4] lawyer and partner of international legal practice at Dechert. She is the wife of Rt Hon Nick Clegg MP, who led the Liberal Democrats from 2007 to 2015, and was Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2015.

Early life

Miriam González Durántez was born to two teachers in Olmedo, in the Spanish province of Valladolid. Her father, José Antonio González Caviedes, was also Mayor of Olmedo and served as a Senator for Valladolid for the conservative People's Party (PP) from 1989 until his death in 1996.[5] She studied law at the University of Valladolid and then won a postgraduate scholarship to the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium. She met Nick Clegg in Bruges, and continued to work there.[6]

Career

Having previously worked as an advisor on trade law, economic relations and the Middle East to both the European Union and the British Government, González is a partner at Dechert, where she is co-chair of the firm’s International Trade and Government Regulation practice.[7] Prior to that, she worked at DLA Piper for six years. In February 2011, controversy arose surrounding DLA Piper's lobbying efforts on behalf of the Libyan government.[8]

She is considered an expert on European Union law and co-authored the book Regulatory Aspects of the WTO Telecoms Agreements.[9]

Since October 2013 she has been the honorary president of Canning House in London, the home of the Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian Council.[10]

She was also on the Board of Directors of Acciona, S.A. between June 2010 and July 2014.

Personal life

Miriam dated Nick Clegg for several years in Brussels before they decided to marry. They married in 2000 and have three sons. She insisted on Spanish names if they were to have the family name "Clegg". She is a practising Roman Catholic, and together with her husband they agreed that their children will be raised as such, though her husband is agnostic.[11][12][13] She has not taken British citizenship and so, as an EU citizen who is not a Commonwealth or Irish citizen, she can vote in local and European elections but not in UK Parliamentary elections.[14]

File:MiriamGonzálezDurántezTrafalgarSq.jpg
González Durántez attends the Je suis Charlie rally in Trafalgar Square, January 2015

Interviewed for The Guardian in 2014 by Miranda Sawyer, she said:

You know, I love the freedom in this country,” she says. “The very first five minutes when I came to live here, I felt a freedom that I had never felt before in my life, a freedom to be myself. I come from a culture, in Spain, in Brussels, where, if you want to be a lawyer, you study law, if you want to be an economist, you study economy. Whatever you do early in your life determines what you do later on. When I came here, I went for lots of chats with people because I didn’t know what to do. And pretty much all of them said, ‘What do you want to do?’ And I was like, ‘Me? You want to know what I think? I have a choice?’ Now I take it for granted, but it was a complete shock to my system. I still think it today: if I wanted to change my job, everyone would say, ‘Great, good for you.’ [15]

2010 UK General Election campaign

When Sarah Brown and Samantha Cameron became increasingly involved in the media and 2010 United Kingdom general election campaigns, the spotlight turned to Miriam González Durántez. She publicly said that she would be "willing to help" with the campaign but, unlike Samantha Cameron, she would be unable to take time off from work and her family life to take part.[16] Asked by a Spanish newspaper whether she would quit her job, Miriam González Durántez said, "If Nick were Prime Minister and I had to give up my job to support the country, I would have no problem in doing so."[17]

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Nick Clegg's wife Miriam Gonzalez Durantez cannot vote for her husband Mail Online, 22 March 2010
  5. ↑ González Caviedes, José Antonio SENADORES (HISTORIA)
  6. ↑ "'I'd give Nick 8/10 for Spanish', says Lib Dem leader's wife" Times Online, 16 September 2008
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ "Legal firm that employs Nick Clegg's wife advised Gaddafi regime", Tom Harper. London Evening Standard. February 22, 2011. Accessed February 27, 2011
  9. ↑ Our People - Miriam Gonzalez DLA Piper
  10. ↑ Staff and trustees of Canning House
  11. ↑ I don't believe in God, says new Lib Dem chief The Scotsman, 20 December 2007
  12. ↑ The Nick Clegg story BBC News, 19 December 2007
  13. ↑ Nick Clegg may send sons to private school Times Online, 14 September 2008
  14. ↑ Nick Cleggs Wife Miriam Gonzalez Durante Vote Husband, Daily Mail
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Nick Clegg's wife rules out prominent election role Mail Online, 21 March 2010
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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