A former charities spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats has been appointed as chief executive of the older people’s charity Re-engage.
Jenny Willott, who was the MP for Cardiff Central between 2005 and 2015, held the voluntary sector brief for her party between 2009 and 2010.
Before entering parliament, Willott worked for Barnardo’s, Unicef UK; she has also been head of Victim Support South Wales.
She has spent the past almost seven years as director of enterprise and innovation at St Mary’s University in south-west London.
Willott succeeds Meryl Davies, who stepped down in September after five years in post to become chief executive of the older people’s charity Morden College.
Jonathan Upton, chair of Re-engage, which aims to end loneliness and isolation among people aged 75 and over, said Willott’s “varied experience across the education, voluntary and political sectors will be invaluable to us as we move forward with our ambitious growth plans”.
Willott said: “I love what [Re-engage] does and am impressed with what it has achieved over the last few years. I’m excited to be a part of its next chapter of growth.”