Christopher Murray Paul-Huhne (born 2 July 1954), known as Chris Huhne, is a British energy and climate change consultant and former journalist and politician who was the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament for Eastleigh from 2005 to 2013 and the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change from 2010 to 2012. From September 2013 to August 2014 he wrote a weekly column for The Guardian. On 3 February 2012, Huhne resigned from the Cabinet when he was charged with perverting the course of justice over a 2003 speeding case. His wife at the time, Vicky Pryce, had falsely claimed that she was driving the car, and accepted the licence penalty points on his behalf so that he could avoid being banned from driving. Huhne denied the charge until the trial began on 4 February 2013 when he changed his plea to guilty, resigned as a member of Parliament, and left the Privy Council. He and Pryce were sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on 11 March to eight months in prison for perverting the course of justice. He served nine weeks of this sentence at HMP Leyhill in Gloucestershire before he was released. Huhne had twice stood unsuccessfully for election as Leader of the Liberal Democrats; in 2006 he came second to Sir Menzies Campbell and in 2007 he narrowly lost to Nick Clegg. Early life Education and upbringing Huhne was born in west London to businessman Peter Paul-Huhne and actress Ann Murray. He was educated at Westminster School. He attended Magdalen College, Oxford, where he was a Demy and editor of Isis. He also attended the Sorbonne, Paris. At Oxford, Huhne edited the student magazine Isis, served on the executive of the Oxford University Labour Club, and achieved a first-class degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE). He was active in student politics, supporting the Labour Party. Career before Parliament Before embarking on his political career, he was a City entrepreneur. He told The Independent in 2008: "I don't claim that I'm in other than a very happy position compared with most people, because, having spent a bit of time in the City before I was elected, being able to make a bit of money while I was there, I have a cushion." He started a company called IBCA Sovereign Ratings in 1994 that tried to "measure the risks of investing in different countries". In 1997 he became group