Introduction
Sarah Jane Olney (born 1977) is a British Liberal Democrat politician and an accountant. She has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Richmond Park since the Richmond Park by-election on 1 December 2016.
Early life and education
Sarah Jane Olney was born in 1977. She was educated at All Hallows Catholic School, in Farnham, Surrey, and then studied English Literature at King's College London.
Early career
Olney is a qualified accountant. She worked as an accountant at Barclays, Arts & Business, Distilled Ltd, SCi Sales Group
and the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington until she entered politics after the 2015 General Election.
Political career
Olney joined the Liberal Democrats in July 2015, soon after the general election. She later said "I had never thought about being a politician. But I knew I was a liberal. When I saw what happened in the general election last year I felt I had to get involved."
On 25 October 2016, Zac Goldsmith announced his resignation from the House of Commons over his objection to a third runway at Heathrow Airport, triggering a by-election. Goldsmith stood in the by-election as an independent candidate. On 30 October 2016, Olney was announced as the Liberal Democrats' candidate.
On 1 December 2016, Olney was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Richmond Park. She received 20,510 votes (49.6% of total votes), giving her a majority of 1,872 votes (4.5%). She is the only female Liberal Democrat MP in the 2015–2020 parliament.
Views
Olney opposes the building of a third runway at Heathrow Airport. On the topic of Brexit, Olney has indicated that she would vote against the triggering of Article 50 if a parliamentary vote were to take place. She believes another referendum should be held once the exact terms of Britain's exit from the EU have been announced.
Personal life
Olney has two children with her husband Ben, a town planner.