Edward Vaizey
Encyclopedia
Edward Henry Butler Vaizey (born 5 June 1968) is the Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries in the UK, a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
post with responsibilities in both the Department for Culture, Media and Sport
(DCMS) and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
(BIS).
He was elected Conservative
Member of Parliament
for the constituency of Wantage
in the 2005 general election
, and was re-elected in the 2010 general election.
He is a trained barrister, and regular columnist and commentator.
, a life peer
, and Marina Vaizey
, a well-known art historian. As the son of a peer he has the title "The Honourable
Edward Vaizey". Vaizey spent part of his childhood growing up in Berkshire
. He was educated at St Paul's School and Merton College, Oxford
, where he rose to the rank of Librarian (Vice President) of the Oxford Union
and took a BA in History, achieving a 2.1
. After leaving Oxford, Vaizey worked for the Conservative politicians Kenneth Clarke
and Michael Howard
as an adviser on employment and education issues. He trained and practised as a barrister for several years, specialising in family law and child care cases.
, when he was the candidate for Bristol East
. In the 2001 UK general election
, he acted as an election aide to Iain Duncan Smith
. He stood in the 2002 local elections in the safe Labour
ward of Harrow Road in the City of Westminster
.
He is seen as a moderniser in the Conservative Party, contributing in both policy and image terms. He was a speechwriter for Michael Howard
, leader of the Conservative Party until December 2005, and the editor of the Blue Books series, which looked at new approaches to Conservative policy in areas such as health and transport. He was one of Michael Howard's inner circle of advisers and a member of a group of young Conservatives sometimes disparagingly referred to as the "Notting Hill
set", along with David Cameron
— elected leader of the party in December 2005 — George Osborne
, Michael Gove
, Nicholas Boles
and Rachel Whetstone
. Like Gove and Boles, he is a signatory of the Henry Jackson Society
. He is also a Vice-Chairman of Conservative Friends of Poland.
Conservative Association as its candidate for the 2005 election
, to succeed the sitting MP, Robert Jackson
, who subsequently defected to Labour. Vaizey won a two-thirds majority on the final ballot of members. He was elected as Member of Parliament
in that election, with 22,394 votes. His majority was 8,017 over the Liberal Democrats
. This represented 43% of the voters and a 1.9% swing from the Liberal Democrats to the Conservatives.
When first elected to Parliament, Vaizey was a member of the Standing Committee on the Consumer Credit Bill. Before going on the front bench he was a member of the Modernisation and Environmental Audit Select Committees and was Deputy Chairman of the Conservative's Globalisation and Global Poverty Policy Group.
In November 2006, he was appointed to the Conservative front bench as a Shadow Minister for Culture, looking after arts and broadcasting policy.
In the 2010 election he received a vote of 29,284, which was 52% of the votes cast, gaining him an increased majority. While many senior members of the Conservative Party were in negotiations with the Lib Dems in the days after 6 May 2010, Mr. Vaizey appeared regularly on telelvision to be questioned as a representative of the views of the Conservative Parliamentary Party at that time.
When these claims became public, Mr Vaizey said that he had repaid the cost of the Oka furniture and the antique chair which he had bought with taxpayers' money: "I accept that the £300 armchair was an antique item and therefore that claim should not have been made. I also accept that the Oka items could be deemed as being of higher quality than necessary. I have paid back both these claims. I have not claimed for any other furniture bought for my constituency home at any time before or since." Vaizey has described himself to be "relatively affluent".
In November 2011, it was reported that Mr Vaizey had submitted expenses claims of 8p for a 350 yard car journey and 16p for a 700 yard journey.
since 1998, and contributes articles to the Sunday Times
news review. He has also written for The Times
and the Daily Telegraph and written editorials for the Evening Standard
. Vaizey is also a regular broadcaster, appearing on Fi Glover
's and Edwina Currie
's shows on BBC Radio Five Live
, as a regular panellist on five’s The Wright Stuff
with Matthew Wright, BBC Radio 4
's Despatch Box and Westminster Hour, and occasionally as a presenter of People and Politics on the BBC World Service.
On 24 September 2010 Ed Vaizey was named Number 10 in The 2010 Guardian Film Power 100 list.
Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
A Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the government of the United Kingdom, junior to both a Minister of State and a Secretary of State....
post with responsibilities in both the Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is a department of the United Kingdom government, with responsibility for culture and sport in England, and some aspects of the media throughout the whole UK, such as broadcasting and internet....
(DCMS) and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is a ministerial department of the United Kingdom Government created on 5 June 2009 by the merger of the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform .-Ministers:The BIS...
(BIS).
He was elected Conservative
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...
Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for the constituency of Wantage
Wantage (UK Parliament constituency)
-Elections in the 1990s:- Notes and references :...
in 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....
, and was re-elected in the 2010 general election.
He is a trained barrister, and regular columnist and commentator.
Early life
Vaizey is the son of the late Lord VaizeyJohn Vaizey, Baron Vaizey
John Ernest Vaizey, Baron Vaizey was a British author and economist, specialized in education.-Background and education:Vaizey was the son of Ernest Vernon Vaizey and his wife Lucy Butler Hart...
, a life peer
Life peer
In the United Kingdom, life peers are appointed members of the Peerage whose titles cannot be inherited. Nowadays life peerages, always of baronial rank, are created under the Life Peerages Act 1958 and entitle the holders to seats in the House of Lords, presuming they meet qualifications such as...
, and Marina Vaizey
Marina Vaizey
Marina Alandra Vaizey, Lady Vaizey CBE is an art critic and author based in the United Kingdom.Marina Alandra Vaizey is a broadcaster, exhibition curator and journalist. She was educated at Harvard University and Girton College, Cambridge. She was formerly Art Critic for the Financial Times and...
, a well-known art historian. As the son of a peer he has the title "The Honourable
The Honourable
The prefix The Honourable or The Honorable is a style used before the names of certain classes of persons. It is considered an honorific styling.-International diplomacy:...
Edward Vaizey". Vaizey spent part of his childhood growing up in Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
. He was educated at St Paul's School and Merton College, Oxford
Merton College, Oxford
Merton College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. Its foundation can be traced back to the 1260s when Walter de Merton, chancellor to Henry III and later to Edward I, first drew up statutes for an independent academic community and established endowments to...
, where he rose to the rank of Librarian (Vice President) of the Oxford Union
Oxford Union
The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford, Britain, whose membership is drawn primarily but not exclusively from the University of Oxford...
and took a BA in History, achieving a 2.1
British undergraduate degree classification
The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading scheme for undergraduate degrees in the United Kingdom...
. After leaving Oxford, Vaizey worked for the Conservative politicians Kenneth Clarke
Kenneth Clarke
Kenneth Harry "Ken" Clarke, QC, MP is a British Conservative politician, currently Member of Parliament for Rushcliffe, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice. He was first elected to Parliament in 1970; and appointed a minister in Edward Heath's government, in 1972, and is one of...
and 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...
as an adviser on employment and education issues. He trained and practised as a barrister for several years, specialising in family law and child care cases.
Politics
Vaizey first stood for Parliament at the 1997 general electionUnited 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...
, when he was the candidate for Bristol East
Bristol East (UK Parliament constituency)
Bristol East is a borough 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:...
. In the 2001 UK general 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...
, he acted as an election aide to Iain Duncan Smith
Iain Duncan Smith
George Iain Duncan Smith is a British Conservative politician. He is currently the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and was previously leader of the Conservative Party from September 2001 to October 2003...
. He stood in the 2002 local elections in the safe Labour
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...
ward of Harrow Road in the City of Westminster
City of Westminster
The City of Westminster is a London borough occupying much of the central area of London, England, including most of the West End. It is located to the west of and adjoining the ancient City of London, directly to the east of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and its southern boundary...
.
He is seen as a moderniser in the Conservative Party, contributing in both policy and image terms. He was a speechwriter for 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...
, leader of the Conservative Party until December 2005, and the editor of the Blue Books series, which looked at new approaches to Conservative policy in areas such as health and transport. He was one of Michael Howard's inner circle of advisers and a member of a group of young Conservatives sometimes disparagingly referred to as the "Notting Hill
Notting Hill
Notting Hill is an area in London, England, close to the north-western corner of Kensington Gardens, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea...
set", along with David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
— elected leader of the party in December 2005 — George Osborne
George Osborne
George Gideon Oliver Osborne, MP is a British Conservative politician. He is the Chancellor of the Exchequer of the United Kingdom, a role to which he was appointed in May 2010, and has been the Member of Parliament for Tatton since 2001.Osborne is part of the old Anglo-Irish aristocracy, known in...
, Michael Gove
Michael Gove
Michael Andrew Gove, MP is a British politician, who currently serves as the Secretary of State for Education and as the Conservative Party Member of Parliament for the Surrey Heath constituency. He is also a published author and former journalist.Born in Edinburgh, Gove was raised in Aberdeen...
, Nicholas Boles
Nicholas Boles
Nicholas Edward Coleridge "Nick" Boles is a British Conservative Party politician who is the Member of Parliament for the Grantham and Stamford constituency in Lincolnshire...
and Rachel Whetstone
Rachel Whetstone
Rachel Whetstone was Political Secretary to former Conservative leader, Michael Howard. She is now global head of communications and public policy for search-engine company Google....
. Like Gove and Boles, he is a signatory of the Henry Jackson Society
Henry Jackson Society
The Henry Jackson Society is a non-partisan association. The society's goals include the promotion of "democratic geopolitics". The society is named after after Henry M. Jackson, the late Democratic Senator from Washington State...
. He is also a Vice-Chairman of Conservative Friends of Poland.
Member of Parliament
In 2002, Vaizey was selected by WantageWantage
Wantage is a market town and civil parish in the Vale of the White Horse, Oxfordshire, England. The town is on Letcombe Brook, about south-west of Abingdon and a similar distance west of Didcot....
Conservative Association as its candidate for the 2005 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....
, to succeed the sitting MP, Robert Jackson
Robert V. Jackson
Robert Victor Jackson is a politician in the United Kingdom. He was a Member of the European Parliament from 1979 to 1984 and Member of Parliament for Wantage from 1983 to 2005, having been elected as a Conservative; however, he joined the Labour Party in 2005.-Early life:He was raised in...
, who subsequently defected to Labour. Vaizey won a two-thirds majority on the final ballot of members. He was elected as Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
in that election, with 22,394 votes. His majority was 8,017 over the Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
. This represented 43% of the voters and a 1.9% swing from the Liberal Democrats to the Conservatives.
When first elected to Parliament, Vaizey was a member of the Standing Committee on the Consumer Credit Bill. Before going on the front bench he was a member of the Modernisation and Environmental Audit Select Committees and was Deputy Chairman of the Conservative's Globalisation and Global Poverty Policy Group.
In November 2006, he was appointed to the Conservative front bench as a Shadow Minister for Culture, looking after arts and broadcasting policy.
In the 2010 election he received a vote of 29,284, which was 52% of the votes cast, gaining him an increased majority. While many senior members of the Conservative Party were in negotiations with the Lib Dems in the days after 6 May 2010, Mr. Vaizey appeared regularly on telelvision to be questioned as a representative of the views of the Conservative Parliamentary Party at that time.
Expense claims
On 18 May 2009 the Daily Telegraph reported that receipts submitted by Vaizey show that he ordered a £467 sofa, a £544 chair, a £280.50 low table and a £671 table in February 2007 from Oka, an upmarket furniture shop. The Commons fees office initially rejected the claim as the receipt said that the furniture was due to be delivered to Vaizey's home address in west London, but was later paid when Vaizey told the fees office that the furniture was intended for his second home in his Wantage constituency. Vaizey told the Daily Telegraph that we (he and his wife) "had it delivered to London because we would be in to collect it and we were driving down with it."When these claims became public, Mr Vaizey said that he had repaid the cost of the Oka furniture and the antique chair which he had bought with taxpayers' money: "I accept that the £300 armchair was an antique item and therefore that claim should not have been made. I also accept that the Oka items could be deemed as being of higher quality than necessary. I have paid back both these claims. I have not claimed for any other furniture bought for my constituency home at any time before or since." Vaizey has described himself to be "relatively affluent".
In November 2011, it was reported that Mr Vaizey had submitted expenses claims of 8p for a 350 yard car journey and 16p for a 700 yard journey.
Media career
He has been a regular commentator on the Conservative Party in the press. He has written regular comment pieces for The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
since 1998, and contributes articles to the Sunday Times
The Sunday Times (UK)
The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper, distributed in the United Kingdom. The Sunday Times is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International, which is in turn owned by News Corporation. Times Newspapers also owns The Times, but the two papers were founded...
news review. He has also written for The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
and the Daily Telegraph and written editorials for the Evening Standard
Evening Standard
The Evening Standard, now styled the London Evening Standard, is a free local daily newspaper, published Monday–Friday in tabloid format in London. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London...
. Vaizey is also a regular broadcaster, appearing on Fi Glover
Fi Glover
Fiona "Fi" Glover is a BBC journalist and presenter and, until March 2011, the host of BBC Radio 4's Saturday Live.-Career:...
's and Edwina Currie
Edwina Currie
Edwina Jonesnée Cohen is a former British Member of Parliament. First elected as a Conservative Party MP in 1983, she was a Junior Health Minister for two years, before resigning in 1988 over the controversy over salmonella in eggs...
's shows on BBC Radio Five Live
BBC Radio Five Live
BBC Radio 5 Live is the BBC's national radio service that specialises in live BBC News, phone-ins, and sports commentaries...
, as a regular panellist on five’s The Wright Stuff
The Wright Stuff
The Wright Stuff is a British television chat show, hosted by Matthew Wright, and currently airing on Channel 5 each weekday morning from 9:15 to 11:10am....
with Matthew Wright, BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
's Despatch Box and Westminster Hour, and occasionally as a presenter of People and Politics on the BBC World Service.
On 24 September 2010 Ed Vaizey was named Number 10 in The 2010 Guardian Film Power 100 list.
External links
- Ed Vaizey MP official constituency website
- Profile at the Conservative Party
- Wantage and Didcot Conservatives
- Video game industry interview with Ed Vaizey, Bruceongames, 27 July 2009
- Art interview with Ed Vaizey, Artforums.co.uk, 15 December 2009