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About Merlene Emerson
Merlene was born in Singapore and came to London in 1979 as a law student. Both her parents are overseas born Chinese, therefore she has inherited a strong sense of colonial history and identity. To that extent she feels a kindred bond with immigrants from other ex-colonies now in the Commonwealth.
After graduation from King's College London she obtained a Master of Laws degree at Cambridge University. She qualified as a Solicitor and worked at a leading City law firm in the high adrenaline-fueled world of corporate finance and banking. She returned briefly to work in Singapore and was made partner at a medium sized firm specialising in the areas of joint ventures and cross-border finance. In 1990 she became a CEDR accredited commercial mediator in the UK .
Merlene and her husband Mark have three sons, who have contributed to her deep desire to see that they grow up in a fair, tolerant and progressive society. She is currently a Director of the Chinese Welfare Trust and the registered social landlord, Richmond Housing Partnership (serving in the New Developments and Finance Committee). She is also an active member of her local Save the Children branch.
Nearly 25 years after first arriving in the UK she made the conscious decision to become British and to join a political party. Merlene chose the Liberal Democrats in part because it was the only major party that stood against the Iraq war and also because she believes in its values of freedom and social justice.
Merlene co-founded Chinese Liberal Democrats with Cllr Linda Chung in 2006 and since then has done much to help raise the profile of the Party amongst the Chinese community in the UK. A member of Nick Clegg's 'New Generation' of politicians from diverse backgrounds, Merlene is also on the panel of advisers to the Electoral Reform Society, advising on outreach to the black and ethnic minority communities with regard to the referendum on fairer (AV) votes.
Merlene stood in local elections in 2006 in Richmond, was the Liberal Democrat Candidate for the London Assembly, West Central Constituency in 2008 and Parliamentary Candidate for Hammersmith in May 2010 where she ran a strong and credible campaign (see video clips).
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