John Whittingdale

Infobox MP
honorific-prefix =
name = John Whittingdale
honorific-suffix = OBE MP


caption =
office = Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport
term_start =23 July 2002
term_end = 8 December 2003
leader = Iain Duncan Smith
predecessor = Tim Yeo
successor = Julie Kirkbride
office2 = Shadow Secretary of State for Trade and Industry
term_start2 =18 September 2001
term_end2 = 23 July 2002
leader2 = Iain Duncan Smith
predecessor2 = David Heathcoat-Amory
successor2 = Tim Yeo
constituency_MP3 = Maldon and East Chelmsford
South Colchester and Maldon (1992-1997)
parliament3 =
term_start3 = 9 April 1992
term_end3 =
majority3 = 21,821 (31.9%)
predecessor3 = John Wakeham
successor3 =
birth_date = Birth date and age|1959|10|16|df=yes
birth_place = Sturminster Newton
death_date =
death_place =
nationality = British
spouse = Ancilla Murfitt
party = Conservative
relations =
children =
residence =
alma_mater = University College London
occupation =
profession =
religion =


website =
footnotes =

John Flasby Lawrance Whittingdale OBE (16 October 1959) is a Conservative politician in the United Kingdom.

Early life

He was educated at Sandroyd School near Tollard Royal in Wiltshire and Winchester College. He went to University College London where he was President of the UCLU Conservative Society, and gained a BSc in Economics in 1982. From 1982-4, he was Head of the political section of the Conservative research department. Before entering Parliament, Whittingdale was a political researcher to Margaret Thatcher from 1988-92.

Parliamentary career

He was first elected in 1992. He was shadow Culture, Media and Sport Secretary until the reshuffle after the general election in 2005 when he was re-elected Member of Parliament for Maldon and Chelmsford East. In July 2005, he became the Chairman of the Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee. Also in 2005 he was appointed to the Executive of Conservative Way Forward a Thatcherite pressure group within the British Conservative Party. John is also a patron of the Westminster Media Forum, and a frequent contibutor to their events.

Personal life

He married Ancilla Murfitt in 1990. She is a nurse at a general practice in Colchester. They have a son Henry(born January 1993) and daughter Alice(born June 1996).

External links

* [http://www.johnwhittingdale.org.uk John Whittingdale OBE MP] official site
* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/0,9290,-5510,00.html Guardian Unlimited Politics - Ask Aristotle: John Whittingdale MP]
* [http://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/john_whittingdale/maldon_and_east_chelmsford TheyWorkForYou.com - John Whittingdale MP]
* [http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/culture__media_and_sport/culture__media_and_sport_members.cfm Membership of Culture Media and Sport select committee]
* [http://media.guardian.co.uk/mediaguardian/story/0,,2119465,00.html Voted 91st in the Guardian Media 100 most powerful people in the British media industry]

News items

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4333653.stm TV licence in March 2005]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/essex/3735480.stm Flood defences in October 2004]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3434557.stm UK fishing industry in January 2004]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3186071.stm BBC digital services in August 2003]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3005231.stm BBC's future in May 2003]

Video clips

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9E9DFl2ANg Channel 4 in October 2007]