Bill Wiggin
Encyclopedia
William David Wiggin is a British Conservative Party
politician, Member of Parliament and a former Shadow Minister for Agriculture & Fisheries. He held the seat of Leominster
from the 2001 election
until the 2010 election, when the seat of Leominster was abolished. Wiggin now holds the seat of North Herefordshire having been elected in 2010.
in 1966. He attended Eton
and later read Economics at the University of Wales, Bangor, gaining a Bachelor of Arts
(Hons) in 1988. He also served in the Royal Welch Fusiliers
in the TA, being a platoon commander for Holyhead, Bangor and Caernarfon
.
Following this, Wiggin worked as a Trader in Foreign Exchange Options for UBS
from 1991-3, then was an Associate Director of Kleinwort Benson
from 1994-8, then as a manager in the Foreign Exchange department of Commerzbank
from 1998.
for the 1997 election
. He came second to Peter Pike
, who recorded a 17,062 majority over him. Returning to his roots, he was selected as the Conservative Party candidate in the safe seat of Leominster in April 1999, replacing Peter Temple-Morris
, who had defected to the Labour Party
. He won his seat in 2001 with a 10,367 majority over his Liberal Democrat opponent.
Initially a backbencher, he became a member of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs select committee in 2002. During 2003, Michael Howard
appointed him to the position of Shadow Minister for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Shadow Secretary of State for Wales
.
In January 2009, Wiggin became a whip
.
He was re-elected at the 2005 general election
with a 2.4% swing in his favour. In the reshuffle following the election, he was moved to Shadow Minister of Agriculture & Fisheries, where he remained until the 2010 general election.
Wiggin has voted against a blanket ban on smoking in pubs and restaurants, the 2004 Hunting Bill, and some sections of the Prevention of Terrorism bills.
Also, between 2004 and 2006, Wiggin usually claimed just under £240 a month, the maximum claimable without a receipt per month for council tax, utilities and phone costs. Figures released by Hammersmith and Fulham Council suggested that Wiggin may have received up to £2,520 more than charged in their highest council tax band for a second home at the time.
On 12 October 2010, the Parliamentary Committee on Standards and Privileges found that although evidence showed that it is more likely than not that Mr Wiggin did claim for expenditure he did not incur, in respect both of telephone services and of service and maintenance, Mr Wiggin was within the rules in claiming, as he did, £240 each month towards them from his Additional Costs Allowance.
It was also concluded that Mr Wiggin's muddled failure to designate his main home correctly was unfortunate and unintended and that he had gained nothing and the public purse lost nothing from this mistake.
The rest of Mr Wiggin's breaches were considered serious and it was recommended that Wiggin apologise to the House in writing for wrongly designating his main home from 2004 to 2007. It was also recommended that Mr Wiggin repay the £285 he over-claimed in respect of council tax in 2005-06. It was further recommended that Mr Wiggin apologise to the House for claiming from Parliamentary allowances costs that he did not actually incur and that he repay £4,009, representing half of the sum he was paid from Parliamentary allowances in respect of telephone and communication costs and service and maintenance costs for his second home in financial years 2004-05 and 2005-06.
On 9 March 2011, the BBC reported that the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards had commenced a second investigation into Mr Wiggin's expenses claims, this time for "room hire for constituency surgeries" of £5,000 for three surgeries ".
, former MP for Weston-super-Mare
.
He is married with three children.
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
politician, Member of Parliament and a former Shadow Minister for Agriculture & Fisheries. He held the seat of Leominster
Leominster (UK Parliament constituency)
Leominster was, until 2010, a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.From 1295 to 1868, it was a parliamentary borough which elected two Members of Parliament by the bloc vote system of election. Under the Reform Act 1867 its...
from the 2001 election
United Kingdom general election, 2001
The United Kingdom general election, 2001 was held on Thursday 7 June 2001 to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. It was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media, as the Labour Party was re-elected with another landslide result and only suffered a net loss of 6 seats...
until the 2010 election, when the seat of Leominster was abolished. Wiggin now holds the seat of North Herefordshire having been elected in 2010.
Early life
Wiggin was born in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1966. He attended Eton
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
and later read Economics at the University of Wales, Bangor, gaining a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
(Hons) in 1988. He also served in the Royal Welch Fusiliers
Royal Welch Fusiliers
The Royal Welch Fusiliers was an infantry regiment of the British Army, part of the Prince of Wales' Division. It was founded in 1689 to oppose James II and the imminent war with France...
in the TA, being a platoon commander for Holyhead, Bangor and Caernarfon
Caernarfon
Caernarfon is a Royal town, community and port in Gwynedd, Wales, with a population of 9,611. It lies along the A487 road, on the east banks of the Menai Straits, opposite the Isle of Anglesey. The city of Bangor is to the northeast, while Snowdonia fringes Caernarfon to the east and southeast...
.
Following this, Wiggin worked as a Trader in Foreign Exchange Options for UBS
UBS AG
UBS AG is a Swiss global financial services company headquartered in Basel and Zürich, Switzerland, which provides investment banking, asset management, and wealth management services for private, corporate, and institutional clients worldwide, as well as retail clients in Switzerland...
from 1991-3, then was an Associate Director of Kleinwort Benson
Kleinwort Benson
Kleinwort Benson is a leading Private Bank that offers a wide range of financial services to private and corporate clients from offices throughout the United Kingdom and Channel Islands. The bank has its headquarters on St George Street in Mayfair, and is supported by seven UK regional and two...
from 1994-8, then as a manager in the Foreign Exchange department of Commerzbank
Commerzbank
Commerzbank AG is the second-largest bank in Germany, after Deutsche Bank, headquartered in Frankfurt am Main.-Activities:Commerzbank is mainly active in commercial bank, retail banking and mortgaging. It suffered reversals in investment banking in early 2000s and scaled back its Securities unit...
from 1998.
Political career
Wiggin was selected as the Conservative candidate for BurnleyBurnley (UK Parliament constituency)
Burnley is a borough constituency centred on the town of Burnley in Lancashire, which is represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....
for the 1997 election
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
. He came second to Peter Pike
Peter Pike
Peter Leslie Pike is a Labour Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was a member of Parliament for Burnley from 1983 until 2005.- External links :...
, who recorded a 17,062 majority over him. Returning to his roots, he was selected as the Conservative Party candidate in the safe seat of Leominster in April 1999, replacing Peter Temple-Morris
Peter Temple-Morris, Baron Temple-Morris
Peter Temple-Morris, Baron Temple-Morris is a British politician. He was elected as the Conservative Member of Parliament for Leominster in 1974.-Early life:...
, who had defected to the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
. He won his seat in 2001 with a 10,367 majority over his Liberal Democrat opponent.
Initially a backbencher, he became a member of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs select committee in 2002. During 2003, Michael Howard
Michael Howard
Michael Howard, Baron Howard of Lympne, CH, QC, PC is a British politician, who served as the Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from November 2003 to December 2005...
appointed him to the position of Shadow Minister for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Shadow Secretary of State for Wales
Secretary of State for Wales
The Secretary of State for Wales is the head of the Wales Office within the British cabinet. He or she is responsible for ensuring Welsh interests are taken into account by the government, representing the government within Wales and overseeing the passing of legislation which is only for Wales...
.
In January 2009, Wiggin became a whip
Whip (politics)
A whip is an official in a political party whose primary purpose is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. Whips are a party's "enforcers", who typically offer inducements and threaten punishments for party members to ensure that they vote according to the official party policy...
.
He was re-elected at the 2005 general election
United Kingdom general election, 2005
The United Kingdom general election of 2005 was held on Thursday, 5 May 2005 to elect 646 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party under Tony Blair won its third consecutive victory, but with a majority of 66, reduced from 160....
with a 2.4% swing in his favour. In the reshuffle following the election, he was moved to Shadow Minister of Agriculture & Fisheries, where he remained until the 2010 general election.
Wiggin has voted against a blanket ban on smoking in pubs and restaurants, the 2004 Hunting Bill, and some sections of the Prevention of Terrorism bills.
Expense claims Investigations
Wiggin was investigated during the disclosure of MP's expenses for wrongly claiming more than £11,000 to cover interest payments after declaring that his Herefordshire property was his “second home”.Also, between 2004 and 2006, Wiggin usually claimed just under £240 a month, the maximum claimable without a receipt per month for council tax, utilities and phone costs. Figures released by Hammersmith and Fulham Council suggested that Wiggin may have received up to £2,520 more than charged in their highest council tax band for a second home at the time.
On 12 October 2010, the Parliamentary Committee on Standards and Privileges found that although evidence showed that it is more likely than not that Mr Wiggin did claim for expenditure he did not incur, in respect both of telephone services and of service and maintenance, Mr Wiggin was within the rules in claiming, as he did, £240 each month towards them from his Additional Costs Allowance.
It was also concluded that Mr Wiggin's muddled failure to designate his main home correctly was unfortunate and unintended and that he had gained nothing and the public purse lost nothing from this mistake.
The rest of Mr Wiggin's breaches were considered serious and it was recommended that Wiggin apologise to the House in writing for wrongly designating his main home from 2004 to 2007. It was also recommended that Mr Wiggin repay the £285 he over-claimed in respect of council tax in 2005-06. It was further recommended that Mr Wiggin apologise to the House for claiming from Parliamentary allowances costs that he did not actually incur and that he repay £4,009, representing half of the sum he was paid from Parliamentary allowances in respect of telephone and communication costs and service and maintenance costs for his second home in financial years 2004-05 and 2005-06.
On 9 March 2011, the BBC reported that the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards had commenced a second investigation into Mr Wiggin's expenses claims, this time for "room hire for constituency surgeries" of £5,000 for three surgeries ".
Personal life
Wiggin is the son of Jerry WigginJerry Wiggin
Sir Alfred William Wiggin, known as Jerry Wiggin, is a British Conservative Party politician.-Education:Born in Worcestershire, in the West of England, Jerry Wiggin was educated at Eton College, an independent school for boys in the town of Eton in Berkshire, in Southern England, followed by...
, former MP for Weston-super-Mare
Weston-super-Mare (UK Parliament constituency)
Weston-super-Mare is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election.-Boundaries:...
.
He is married with three children.
External links
- Bill Wiggin MP homepage