The Social Democratic Party (SDP) has appointed Hilary Salt as Deputy Leader. A successful business woman who stood as an SDP candidate in the recent general election, Hilary is the party’s first deputy leader.
Hilary says: “I’m proud and honoured to be appointed as Deputy Leader. I’ll be joining forces with William Clouston, the Party Leader, to meet the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. We saw a huge increase in the number of party members standing for election this year, and we want to build on that and get our message out.”
In the recent general election, Hilary stood as an SDP candidate in the Wythenshawe and Sale East constituency.
She says: “Election campaigns are a great opportunity for political parties and activists. It’s the only time when we can ask members of the public what they think about the world and how they’d like to change it. As John Stuart Mill argued, we support free speech because it sharpens our ideas and makes us better at expressing them. I’m keen to draw on the experiences of SDP members in the coming period.”
Hilary was a founding partner of First Actuarial, a leading pensions consultancy. Over 20 years, she helped grow a commercially sustainable business which today employs more than 450 employees. In 2012, she was named Actuary of the Year. Hilary retired from the company before the general election, but continues to sit on the Council of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries.
As a leading finance professional, Hilary will have a central role to play in the development of the SDP’s distinctive economic policies, which were the centrepiece of the party’s election manifesto.
Hilary says: “Only by growing profitable and high-value businesses can we make the social changes in areas like housing and health that are desperately needed. You can’t just leave economic growth to the market – the state has an important part to play. We want to see universities, businesses and the state in partnership to foster innovation throughout the UK.”
William Clouston, Party Leader of the SDP, concludes: “Hilary brings the right qualities to the role of Deputy Leader at the right time. We see eye to eye on policy – we’re left-leaning on the economy and sensible on cultural issues. Her appointment comes after an election in which the SDP was the only party to increase its vote by an order of magnitude. It was a great campaign for us – we doubled our vote per candidate and experienced a rapid growth in membership. Hilary and I are justifiably excited about the future.”
