Michael Karolov

The Rt. Hon. Michael Peter Karolov MP MA (Hons) MA (12 April 1957 - ) is a British Member of Parliament of Russian descent, most notably serving as Leader of the Liberal Democrats in 1995. He was a Liberal Democrat MP from 1987 until 1997 for the constituency of Yeovil in Devon, but resigned his seat in that year due to policy disagreements with the party. He was re-elected in a shock result in Newcastle upon Tyne North in the 1999 general election, and has served that seat for the Conservative Party ever since. He is currently the Secretary of State for Defence.

Early life and origins
Karolov's parents, Pyotr (1921 - 1987) and Misha (1924 - ) Karolov, originated in Saratov, at that time part of the USSR, but fled in 1951 after defecting to the British Embassy in Istanbul following a risky boat crossing of the Black Sea. His father was a journalist and his mother an official in the Gosplan state planning bureau. He was born in 1957 in Ashington, Northumberland an only child, but gaining British citizenship which had been given to his parents as a reward for their defection.

After attending Cramlington Community High School and attaining four A-levels, he studied International Relations and Slavonic Studies at the University of St Andrews, with a year spent at the University of Lafayette in Indiana, USA. Following this was an MA in Translation Methodology from Durham University, from which he graduated in 1980. He emigrated to Canada and lived in Winnipeg until 1985, at which point he returned to the UK.

Liberal Democrats
Karolov was selected as Liberal Democrat candidate for Yeovil at the 1987 general election, a safe seat which he won comfortably. He had been involved with the Liberals and the SDP since his university days and spoke at their conference in 1978, photographed shaking hands with David Steel. He served as a backbencher for three years, before being appointed as their spokesman for the Environment in 1990, followed by Defence in 1992. In a shock appointment after the resignation of Tom Simpson in 1995, he was put into place as an interim Lib Dem leader but only held the position for a number of months before he returned to the back benches.

After a disagreement over "the direction of the party", he refused to contest the seat for the party at the 1997 election and announced his membership of the Conservative Party.

Conservative Party
After a slight win at previous Labour safe seat Newcastle upon Tyne North, helped partially by his local origins, Karolov returned to Parliament in mid-1999. After a short stint on the back benches he was given a Cabinet position by Roland Julian Fairclough in his third ministry. As Secretary of State for Defence, he presided over Britain's military forces and their reaction to the Pakistani Crisis of 2000.

Personal life
Karolov lives in a four-bedroom Georgian townhouse in Newcastle's Grainger Town. He is married to Linda, who he met in Canada, and holds joint Russian-Canadian-British citizenship. They have no children. He is fluent in English, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, French and German. His interests include classical music, shooting (having represented Canada at the 1982 North American Championships in the 25m small-bore category) and history.