Edwina Currie
Encyclopedia
Edwina Jones
née 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
. By the time Currie lost her seat in 1997, she had begun a new career as a novelist and broadcaster.
, England
to an Orthodox Jewish family and has identified herself as Jewish, although she has stated: "I find religious mumbo jumbo hard to swallow in any faith." A pupil at Liverpool Institute High School for Girls
, Liverpool's Historic Canning area, she studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at St Anne's College, Oxford University where she was taught by Gabriele Taylor
; subsequently, she gained a MA
in economic history
from the London School of Economics
.
lor for Northfield
. In 1983, she stood for parliament as a Conservative Party
candidate, and was elected as the member for South Derbyshire
. Frequently outspoken, she was described as "a virtually permanent fixture on the nation's TV screen saying something outrageous about just about anything" and "the most outspoken and sexually interested woman of her political generation."
In September 1986, she became a Junior Health Minister. Among her comments over the next two years were - despite not being religious - that "good Christian people" don't get AIDS, that old people who couldn't afford their heating bills should wrap up warm in winter, and that northerners
die of "ignorance and chips".
Currie was forced to resign in December 1988 after she issued a warning about salmonella
in British eggs
. The statement that "most of the egg production in this country, sadly, is now affected with salmonella" sparked outrage among farmers and egg producers, and caused egg sales in the country to rapidly decline. Although the statement was widely interpreted as referring to "most eggs produced", in fact it related to the egg production flock; there was indeed evidence that a mid-1980s regulation change had allowed salmonella to get a hold in flocks. There was particular anger in Northern Ireland
where egg production is a significant part of the economy. At the Christmas party of the Industrial Development Board for Northern Ireland that year the featured dish was curried
eggs. To make amends, in 1990, she began the National Egg Awareness Campaign. The controversy gained her the nickname 'Eggwina'. Long after the furore died down, in 2001, it was revealed that a covered up
Whitehall report produced months after Currie's resignation found that there had been a "salmonella epidemic of considerable proportions".
In 1991, she was the first Conservative MP to appear on the BBC topical panel show Have I Got News For You
. Currie appeared again two years later, in a special episode commemorating the release of Margaret Thatcher's memoirs, opposite fellow Liverpudlian (and Liverpool Institute alumnus) Derek Hatton
.
During the 1992 General Election campaign, Currie poured a glass of orange juice
over Labour
's Peter Snape shortly after an edition of the Midlands
based television debate show Central Weekend
had finished airing. Speaking about the incident later, Currie said "I just looked at my orange juice, and looked at this man from which this stream of abuse was emanating, and thought 'I know how to shut you up.' "
Snape subsequently won £15,000 after Currie "falsely suggested in her memoirs that it happened after Snape had been 'drinking vodka in a club with cronies'."
After the 1992 General Election
, she declined a request from prime minister John Major
to take up a position as Minister of State for the Home Office
.
In February 1994, she tabled an amendment to the Criminal Justice and Public Order Bill
to lower the age of consent
for male homosexual sexual acts to 16. This amendment was defeated by 307 votes to 280, although a subsequent amendment resulted in the reduction of the homosexual age of consent from 21 to 18; final equalisation
was achieved in 2000. Currie voted in favour of the Death penalty for murder in 1983, but against it in 1994.
In June 1994, she contested the European Parliament seat of Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes
, but lost the seat to Labour's Eryl McNally
by 94,837 votes to 61,628 votes.
Currie lost her parliamentary seat in the 1997 General Election
. For five years (1998–2003), she hosted a late-evening talk show on BBC Radio Five Live
, Late Night Currie.
Ray Currie in Barnstaple
; they had two children and divorced in 1997. During this marriage Edwina Currie had the four-year affair with John Major
, later Prime Minister, which she revealed in 2002. On 24 May 2001, in Southwark
, she married retired detective
John Jones whom she had met when he was a guest on her radio programme in 1999. Currie currently lives in Chinley
, Derbyshire.
, presenting the television programme Currie Night until 2003. Since then, she has appeared in a string of reality television
programmes, such as Wife Swap
in which she and her second husband John swapped places with John McCririck
and his wife, Jenny. She has also appeared in the reality cooking show Hell's Kitchen
with celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay
, and Celebrity Stars in Their Eyes, both in 2006. Currie was interviewed about the rise of Thatcherism
for the 2006 BBC TV documentary series Tory! Tory! Tory!
. She won Celebrity Mastermind
on 23 June 2004, specialising in the life of Marie Curie
. She also won All Star Family Fortunes on 3 January 2009. She appeared in Channel 4's Come Dine With Me
in February 2009 where she finished third. She made a second appearance on the show during Channel 4's "Alternative Election Night" coverage, with Rod Liddle
, Brian Paddick
and Derek Hatton
as her competitors. She also appeared in James May's Show James May's Toy Stories
where she helped him build a bridge made entirely out of Meccano
in Liverpool
.
, near to the area where ancestors of hers lived, for Marie Curie Cancer Care
.
In 2005 in her role as a patron of the British Heart Foundation she championed a campaign to raise awareness of the effect of heart disease on women.
In May 2007 the patient charity MRSA Action UK announced Edwina Currie as their patron.
Edwina Currie was quoted by the media championing the campaign against hospital superbugs.
In October 2011, Edwina Currie took part in EurVoice- an event supported by the European Youth Parliament United Kingdom.
In November 2011 she accepted the position of President of the Tideswell
Male voice Choir
.
between 1984 and 1988 while both were married to other people. The affair started while she was a backbencher
and Major was the government whip in Margaret Thatcher
's government. After Major's promotion to Chief Secretary to the Treasury
the relationship ended, but the two remained friends. Currie apparently ceased the affair when it became dangerous and impractical owing to the presence of bodyguards who had to be avoided.
After publication, John Major made a statement saying that he was ashamed of the affair and had privately revealed the matter to his wife. Currie admitted to having been in love with him for years after the end of the affair, and that he had been "the love of her life". However, only weeks after revealing the affair, she publicly criticised Major accusing him of sexism and racism and of being "one of the less competent prime ministers".
The admission came after years of denial of any affair while in office and a successful libel action against playwright David Hare
, who had said a sexually voracious murderer played by Charlotte Rampling
in his film Paris by Night (1988) was an "Edwina Currie-like" figure. Currie had also produced several novels with explicitly erotic content - and political background - such as A Parliamentary Affair. Following publication of her diaries Express Newspapers
lawyers re-examined documents in a libel case to see if there was anything in the diaries which would allow them to reopen the case and recoup damages. In March 2000, Currie had been awarded £30,000 against them following a 1997 article entited "How Edwina is now the vilest lady in Britain".
In October 1985 Currie had spoken harshly of Sara Keays
, who had had an affair with Cecil Parkinson
, calling her a "right cow" for writing about the affair and her consequent pregnancy and, she claimed, ruining Parkinson's career. She had gone on to say, "I feel very, very sorry for Cecil and his family. Most of my thoughts on Sara Keays are unprintable." In 1993, one of the key campaign slogans of John Major's time as Prime Minister, 'Back to Basics
', had been widely seen as a call for a return to traditional values in sexual morality as well as in education, law and order.
. On 10 September 2011 it was announced she would be dancing with Vincent Simone
. She was the first dancer to be eliminated from the competition on 9 October 2011.
and two other celebrities to release a cover version of the Wham hit song, "Wake Me Up (Before You Go Go)".
Her daughter, Debbie, had previously released a single.
née Cohen is a former British 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,...
. First elected as a Conservative Party
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...
MP in 1983, she was a Junior Health Minister for two years, before resigning in 1988 over the controversy over salmonella
Salmonella
Salmonella is a genus of rod-shaped, Gram-negative, non-spore-forming, predominantly motile enterobacteria with diameters around 0.7 to 1.5 µm, lengths from 2 to 5 µm, and flagella which grade in all directions . They are chemoorganotrophs, obtaining their energy from oxidation and reduction...
in eggs
Egg (food)
Eggs are laid by females of many different species, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish, and have probably been eaten by mankind for millennia. Bird and reptile eggs consist of a protective eggshell, albumen , and vitellus , contained within various thin membranes...
. By the time Currie lost her seat in 1997, she had begun a new career as a novelist and broadcaster.
Early life
Currie was born in South LiverpoolLiverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
to an Orthodox Jewish family and has identified herself as Jewish, although she has stated: "I find religious mumbo jumbo hard to swallow in any faith." A pupil at Liverpool Institute High School for Girls
Liverpool Institute High School for Girls
Liverpool Institute High School for Girls, Blackburne Place, Liverpool, England, was a girls' grammar school that was established in 1874 and closed in 1984. It was situated to the north-east of Liverpool Cathedral in the area close to the University of Liverpool, off Catherine Street .-History:The...
, Liverpool's Historic Canning area, she studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at St Anne's College, Oxford University where she was taught by Gabriele Taylor
Gabriele Taylor
Gabriele Taylor is a philosopher and university teacher. She was Fellow and Tutor in Philosophy at St Anne's College, Oxford until her retirement in 1996. Since then she has continued work as a Senior Research Fellow of the College, pursuing her own particular interests in ethics.- Early life and...
; subsequently, she gained a MA
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
in economic history
Economic history
Economic history is the study of economies or economic phenomena in the past. Analysis in economic history is undertaken using a combination of historical methods, statistical methods and by applying economic theory to historical situations and institutions...
from the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
.
Member of Parliament
From 1975 until 1986, she was a Birmingham City CouncilBirmingham City Council
The Birmingham City Council is the body responsible for the governance of the City of Birmingham in England, which has been a metropolitan district since 1974. It is the most populated local authority in the United Kingdom with, following a reorganisation of boundaries in June 2004, 120 Birmingham...
lor for Northfield
Northfield, West Midlands
Northfield is a residential area on the southern outskirts of metropolitan Birmingham, England and near the boundary with Worcestershire. It is also a council constituency, managed by its own district committee...
. In 1983, she stood for parliament as a Conservative Party
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...
candidate, and was elected as the member for South Derbyshire
South Derbyshire (UK Parliament constituency)
-Elections in the 2000s:-Elections in the 1990s:"-Elections in the 1980s:-Elections in the 1940s:-References:...
. Frequently outspoken, she was described as "a virtually permanent fixture on the nation's TV screen saying something outrageous about just about anything" and "the most outspoken and sexually interested woman of her political generation."
In September 1986, she became a Junior Health Minister. Among her comments over the next two years were - despite not being religious - that "good Christian people" don't get AIDS, that old people who couldn't afford their heating bills should wrap up warm in winter, and that northerners
Northern England
Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North or the North Country, is a cultural region of England. It is not an official government region, but rather an informal amalgamation of counties. The southern extent of the region is roughly the River Trent, while the North is bordered...
die of "ignorance and chips".
Currie was forced to resign in December 1988 after she issued a warning about salmonella
Salmonella
Salmonella is a genus of rod-shaped, Gram-negative, non-spore-forming, predominantly motile enterobacteria with diameters around 0.7 to 1.5 µm, lengths from 2 to 5 µm, and flagella which grade in all directions . They are chemoorganotrophs, obtaining their energy from oxidation and reduction...
in British eggs
Egg (food)
Eggs are laid by females of many different species, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish, and have probably been eaten by mankind for millennia. Bird and reptile eggs consist of a protective eggshell, albumen , and vitellus , contained within various thin membranes...
. The statement that "most of the egg production in this country, sadly, is now affected with salmonella" sparked outrage among farmers and egg producers, and caused egg sales in the country to rapidly decline. Although the statement was widely interpreted as referring to "most eggs produced", in fact it related to the egg production flock; there was indeed evidence that a mid-1980s regulation change had allowed salmonella to get a hold in flocks. There was particular anger in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
where egg production is a significant part of the economy. At the Christmas party of the Industrial Development Board for Northern Ireland that year the featured dish was curried
Curry
Curry is a generic description used throughout Western culture to describe a variety of dishes from Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Thai or other Southeast Asian cuisines...
eggs. To make amends, in 1990, she began the National Egg Awareness Campaign. The controversy gained her the nickname 'Eggwina'. Long after the furore died down, in 2001, it was revealed that a covered up
Cover-up
A cover-up is an attempt, whether successful or not, to conceal evidence of wrong-doing, error, incompetence or other embarrassing information...
Whitehall report produced months after Currie's resignation found that there had been a "salmonella epidemic of considerable proportions".
In 1991, she was the first Conservative MP to appear on the BBC topical panel show Have I Got News For You
Have I Got News for You
Have I Got News for You is a British television panel show produced by Hat Trick Productions for the BBC. It is based loosely on the BBC Radio 4 show The News Quiz, and has been broadcast since 1990, currently the BBC's longest-ever running television panel show...
. Currie appeared again two years later, in a special episode commemorating the release of Margaret Thatcher's memoirs, opposite fellow Liverpudlian (and Liverpool Institute alumnus) Derek Hatton
Derek Hatton
Derek 'Degsy' Hatton is a broadcaster, businessman and after-dinner speaker. He won celebrity status as a local politician in Liverpool during the 1980s, where he was deputy leader of the city council, and a supporter of the Trotskyist Militant Tendency.-Early life:He attended Liverpool Institute...
.
During the 1992 General Election campaign, Currie poured a glass of orange juice
Orange juice
Orange juice is a popular beverage made from oranges. It is made by extraction from the fresh fruit, by desiccation and subsequent reconstitution of dried juice, or by concentration of the juice and the subsequent addition of water to the concentrate...
over 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...
's Peter Snape shortly after an edition of the Midlands
English Midlands
The Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...
based television debate show Central Weekend
Central Weekend
Central Weekend is a British television debate show which ran from 1986 to 2001. Known for the confrontational nature of its studio audience and topics, it was presented for many years by Nicky Campbell...
had finished airing. Speaking about the incident later, Currie said "I just looked at my orange juice, and looked at this man from which this stream of abuse was emanating, and thought 'I know how to shut you up.' "
Snape subsequently won £15,000 after Currie "falsely suggested in her memoirs that it happened after Snape had been 'drinking vodka in a club with cronies'."
After the 1992 General Election
United Kingdom general election, 1992
The United Kingdom general election of 1992 was held on 9 April 1992, and was the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party. This election result was one of the biggest surprises in 20th Century politics, as polling leading up to the day of the election showed Labour under leader Neil...
, she declined a request from prime minister John Major
John Major
Sir John Major, is a British Conservative politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990–1997...
to take up a position as Minister of State for the Home Office
Home Secretary
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
.
In February 1994, she tabled an amendment to the Criminal Justice and Public Order Bill
Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994
The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It introduced a number of changes to the existing law, most notably in the restriction and reduction of existing rights and in greater penalties for certain "anti-social" behaviours...
to lower the age of consent
Age of consent
While the phrase age of consent typically does not appear in legal statutes, when used in relation to sexual activity, the age of consent is the minimum age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to sexual acts. The European Union calls it the legal age for sexual...
for male homosexual sexual acts to 16. This amendment was defeated by 307 votes to 280, although a subsequent amendment resulted in the reduction of the homosexual age of consent from 21 to 18; final equalisation
Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000
The Sexual Offences Act 2000 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It changed the age of consent for male homosexual sexual activities from 18 to that for heterosexual and lesbian sexual activities at 16, or 17 in Northern Ireland...
was achieved in 2000. Currie voted in favour of the Death penalty for murder in 1983, but against it in 1994.
In June 1994, she contested the European Parliament seat of Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes
Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes (European Parliament constituency)
Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes was a constituency of the European Parliament located in the United Kingdom, electing one Member of the European Parliament by the first-past-the-post electoral system...
, but lost the seat to Labour's Eryl McNally
Eryl McNally
Eryl Margaret McNally, , is a former Labour Member of the European Parliament from the East of England United Kingdom.-Personal life:...
by 94,837 votes to 61,628 votes.
Currie lost her parliamentary seat in the 1997 General 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...
. For five years (1998–2003), she hosted a late-evening talk show 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...
, Late Night Currie.
Personal life
In 1972, Edwina Cohen married accountantAccountant
An accountant is a practitioner of accountancy or accounting , which is the measurement, disclosure or provision of assurance about financial information that helps managers, investors, tax authorities and others make decisions about allocating resources.The Big Four auditors are the largest...
Ray Currie in Barnstaple
Barnstaple
Barnstaple is a town and civil parish in the local government district of North Devon in the county of Devon, England, UK. It lies west southwest of Bristol, north of Plymouth and northwest of the county town of Exeter. The old spelling Barnstable is now obsolete.It is the main town of the...
; they had two children and divorced in 1997. During this marriage Edwina Currie had the four-year affair with John Major
John Major
Sir John Major, is a British Conservative politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990–1997...
, later Prime Minister, which she revealed in 2002. On 24 May 2001, in Southwark
Southwark
Southwark is a district of south London, England, and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Southwark. Situated east of Charing Cross, it forms one of the oldest parts of London and fronts the River Thames to the north...
, she married retired detective
Detective
A detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes"...
John Jones whom she had met when he was a guest on her radio programme in 1999. Currie currently lives in Chinley
Chinley
Chinley is a rural village in High Peak Borough, situated on the western edge of the Peak District National Park in Derbyshire, England, with a population of around 2000. Before the railway, the area was economically dominated by agriculture and quarrying. Three textile mills were established in...
, Derbyshire.
Author
Currie is the author of six novels: A Parliamentary Affair (1994), A Woman's Place (1996) She's Leaving Home (1997), The Ambassador (1999), Chasing Men (2000) and This Honourable House (2001). She has also written four works of non-fiction: Life Lines (1989), What Women Want (1990), Three Line Quips (1992) and Diaries 1987–92 (2002). She remains an outspoken public figure, with a reputation for being "highly opinionated", and currently earns her living as an author and media personality.Media
From the time she lost her seat in 1997, Currie has maintained a presence in the media. For five years an eponymous phone-in programme ran on BBC Radio Five Live, Late Night Currie. In 2002 she moved to HTVHTV
HTV, now legally known as ITV Wales & West, is the ITV contractor for Wales and the West of England, which operated from studios in Cardiff and Bristol. The company provided commercial television for the dual-region 'Wales and West' franchise, which it won from TWW in 1968...
, presenting the television programme Currie Night until 2003. Since then, she has appeared in a string of reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
programmes, such as Wife Swap
Wife Swap
Wife Swap is a reality television program, originally produced by UK independent television production company RDF Media and created by Stephen Lambert. It was first broadcast in 2003 on the UK's Channel 4. Since 2004, a US version has also been broadcast on the ABC network...
in which she and her second husband John swapped places with John McCririck
John McCririck
John McCririck is an English television horse racing pundit. He is notable not only for his racing opinions but also for his old-fashioned style of dress and mannerisms...
and his wife, Jenny. She has also appeared in the reality cooking show Hell's Kitchen
Hell's Kitchen (UK TV series)
Hell's Kitchen was a British cookery reality show aired on ITV which featured prospective chefs competing with each other for a final prize. Four series had been aired since 2004, three presented by Angus Deayton and the latest by Claudia Winkleman....
with celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay
Gordon Ramsay
Gordon James Ramsay, OBE is a Scottish chef, television personality and restaurateur. He has been awarded 13 Michelin stars....
, and Celebrity Stars in Their Eyes, both in 2006. Currie was interviewed about the rise of Thatcherism
Thatcherism
Thatcherism describes the conviction politics, economic and social policy, and political style of the British Conservative politician Margaret Thatcher, who was leader of her party from 1975 to 1990...
for the 2006 BBC TV documentary series Tory! Tory! Tory!
Tory! Tory! Tory!
Tory! Tory! Tory! is a 2006 BBC television documentary series on the history of the people and ideas that formed Thatcherism told through the eyes of those on the New Right.-Production:...
. She won Celebrity Mastermind
Celebrity Mastermind
Celebrity Mastermind is a British television quiz show broadcast by BBC television. The show is a spin-off of the long running quiz show Mastermind, with the exception that all the contestants are celebrities. As with the main show, John Humphrys is the host and question-master...
on 23 June 2004, specialising in the life of Marie Curie
Marie Curie
Marie Skłodowska-Curie was a physicist and chemist famous for her pioneering research on radioactivity. She was the first person honored with two Nobel Prizes—in physics and chemistry...
. She also won All Star Family Fortunes on 3 January 2009. She appeared in Channel 4's Come Dine With Me
Come Dine With Me
Come Dine With Me is a popular Channel 4 television programme shown in the United Kingdom, produced by Granada Television and first broadcast in January 2005. The show has either four or five amateur chefs competing against each other hosting a dinner party for the other contestants...
in February 2009 where she finished third. She made a second appearance on the show during Channel 4's "Alternative Election Night" coverage, with Rod Liddle
Rod Liddle
Roderick E. L. Liddle is an English print, radio, and television journalist.He is an associate editor of The Spectator, and former editor of BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he is the author of Too Beautiful for You , Love Will Destroy Everything , and co-author of The Best of Liddle Britain...
, Brian Paddick
Brian Paddick
Brian Leonard Paddick is a British politician, and was the Liberal Democrat candidate for the London mayoral election, 2008, coming third behind Boris Johnson and Ken Livingstone...
and Derek Hatton
Derek Hatton
Derek 'Degsy' Hatton is a broadcaster, businessman and after-dinner speaker. He won celebrity status as a local politician in Liverpool during the 1980s, where he was deputy leader of the city council, and a supporter of the Trotskyist Militant Tendency.-Early life:He attended Liverpool Institute...
as her competitors. She also appeared in James May's Show James May's Toy Stories
James May's Toy Stories
James May's Toy Stories is a television series presented by James May. The series was commissioned for BBC Two from Plum Pictures. The first episode, "Airfix", was shown on BBC Two at 8:00 pm on Tuesday 27 October 2009....
where she helped him build a bridge made entirely out of Meccano
Meccano
Meccano is a model construction system comprising re-usable metal strips, plates, angle girders, wheels, axles and gears, with nuts and bolts to connect the pieces. It enables the building of working models and mechanical devices....
in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
.
Charity work
In 2004 she took part in a sponsored cycle ride across PolandPoland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, near to the area where ancestors of hers lived, for Marie Curie Cancer Care
Marie Curie Cancer Care
Marie Curie Cancer Care is a charitable organisation in the United Kingdom which provides nursing care, free of charge, to terminally ill people, giving them the chance to choose to be cared for at home...
.
In 2005 in her role as a patron of the British Heart Foundation she championed a campaign to raise awareness of the effect of heart disease on women.
In May 2007 the patient charity MRSA Action UK announced Edwina Currie as their patron.
Edwina Currie was quoted by the media championing the campaign against hospital superbugs.
In October 2011, Edwina Currie took part in EurVoice- an event supported by the European Youth Parliament United Kingdom.
In November 2011 she accepted the position of President of the Tideswell
Tideswell
Tideswell is a village and civil parish in the Peak District of Derbyshire, in England. It lies east of Buxton on the B6049, in a wide dry valley on a limestone plateau, at an altitude of above sea level, and is within the District of Derbyshire Dales...
Male voice Choir
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
.
Affair with John Major
Currie's Diaries (1987–92), published in 2002, caused a sensation, as they revealed a four-year affair with John MajorJohn Major
Sir John Major, is a British Conservative politician, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1990–1997...
between 1984 and 1988 while both were married to other people. The affair started while she was a backbencher
Backbencher
In Westminster parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a Member of Parliament or a legislator who does not hold governmental office and is not a Front Bench spokesperson in the Opposition...
and Major was the government whip in Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
's government. After Major's promotion to Chief Secretary to the Treasury
Chief Secretary to the Treasury
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury is the third most senior ministerial position in HM Treasury, after the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer . In recent years, the office holder has usually been given a junior position in the British Cabinet...
the relationship ended, but the two remained friends. Currie apparently ceased the affair when it became dangerous and impractical owing to the presence of bodyguards who had to be avoided.
After publication, John Major made a statement saying that he was ashamed of the affair and had privately revealed the matter to his wife. Currie admitted to having been in love with him for years after the end of the affair, and that he had been "the love of her life". However, only weeks after revealing the affair, she publicly criticised Major accusing him of sexism and racism and of being "one of the less competent prime ministers".
The admission came after years of denial of any affair while in office and a successful libel action against playwright David Hare
David Hare (dramatist)
Sir David Hare is an English playwright and theatre and film director.-Early life:Hare was born in St Leonards-on-Sea, Hastings, East Sussex, the son of Agnes and Clifford Hare, a sailor. He was educated at Lancing, an independent school in West Sussex, and at Jesus College, Cambridge...
, who had said a sexually voracious murderer played by Charlotte Rampling
Charlotte Rampling
Charlotte Rampling, OBE is an English actress. Her career spans four decades in English-language as well as French and Italian cinema.- Early life :...
in his film Paris by Night (1988) was an "Edwina Currie-like" figure. Currie had also produced several novels with explicitly erotic content - and political background - such as A Parliamentary Affair. Following publication of her diaries Express Newspapers
Express Newspapers
Northern & Shell is a British publishing and television group. The holding company name is "Northern and Shell Network Ltd". Launched and founded in December 1974 and currently owned by Richard Desmond, it publishes the Daily Express, Sunday Express, Daily Star and Daily Star Sunday, and the...
lawyers re-examined documents in a libel case to see if there was anything in the diaries which would allow them to reopen the case and recoup damages. In March 2000, Currie had been awarded £30,000 against them following a 1997 article entited "How Edwina is now the vilest lady in Britain".
In October 1985 Currie had spoken harshly of Sara Keays
Sara Keays
Sara Keays is the former mistress and personal secretary of British Conservative politician Cecil Parkinson. Keays' public revelation of her pregnancy and of their twelve-year long affair, when she realised that Parkinson would neither marry her nor help her become an MP, led to his resignation as...
, who had had an affair with Cecil Parkinson
Cecil Parkinson
Cecil Parkinson, Baron Parkinson, PC , is a British Conservative politician and former Cabinet Minister.-Early life:...
, calling her a "right cow" for writing about the affair and her consequent pregnancy and, she claimed, ruining Parkinson's career. She had gone on to say, "I feel very, very sorry for Cecil and his family. Most of my thoughts on Sara Keays are unprintable." In 1993, one of the key campaign slogans of John Major's time as Prime Minister, 'Back to Basics
Back to Basics
Back to Basics may refer to:*Back to Basics , a 1993 UK initiative to relaunch the government of John Major*Back to basics or traditional education, long-established customs in schoolsIn music:*Back to Basics...
', had been widely seen as a call for a return to traditional values in sexual morality as well as in education, law and order.
Strictly Come Dancing
On 6 September 2011 it was announced that Currie would take part in the 2011 series of Strictly Come DancingStrictly Come Dancing (series 9)
The ninth series of Strictly Come Dancing began on 10 September 2011 with a Launch Show, and the live shows started on 30 September and 1 October 2011. The show was broadcast from Wembley Arena on 19 November with all proceeds going to the BBC charity, Children in Need...
. On 10 September 2011 it was announced she would be dancing with Vincent Simone
Vincent Simone
Vincent Simone is a professional dancer born in Italy. He moved to Guildford, Surrey, United Kingdom when he was 17. His professional dancing partner is Flavia Cacace, and they perform under the brand name VincentandFlavia.-Early life:...
. She was the first dancer to be eliminated from the competition on 9 October 2011.
Discography
As part of the 2009 TV Show Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, Currie teamed up with Declan DonnellyDeclan Donnelly
Declan Joseph Oliver "Dec" Donnelly is one half of the English acting and TV presenting duo Ant & Dec, with the other being Anthony McPartlin. He came to prominence in the children's drama series Byker Grove and as one half of the pop music duo PJ & Duncan...
and two other celebrities to release a cover version of the Wham hit song, "Wake Me Up (Before You Go Go)".
Her daughter, Debbie, had previously released a single.
| Year | Single | Chart Positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
|||
| 2009 | Wake Me Up Before You Go Go Wake Me Up Before You Go Go "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" is a song by English pop duo Wham! which was released in 1984 and became their first UK number one hit. It was written and produced by George Michael, one half of the duo... |
64 | Charity Song (Single Only) |
External links
- Official website
- Extracts from her diaries
- Centre for Advancement of Women in Politics: biography
- Major and Currie had four-year affair, BBC News OnlineBBC News OnlineBBC News Online is the website of BBC News, the division of the BBC responsible for newsgathering and production. The website is the most popular news website in the United Kingdom and forms a major part of BBC Online ....
, 28 September 2002