Royal Albert Hall Council Trustee Appointment
The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has appointed John Whittingdale OBE MP as a Trustee to the Royal Albert Hall Council for a term of 3 years starting on 1 September 2018.
The Rt. Hon John Whittingdale OBE MP has been Member of Parliament for Maldon since 1992. John was educated at Winchester College and University College, London, where he graduated with a degree in economics. Prior to his election, John worked both in Whitehall and the City. Having worked in the Conservative Research Department, he was appointed Special Adviser to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry in 1984, serving three successive Secretaries of State until 1987. He then went to work at NM Rothschild Merchant Bank in the City before returning to Government work in 1989 when he was appointed Political Secretary to the then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. He continued in that role until Margaret Thatcher left office in 1990 and he was awarded the OBE in her resignation honours list.
In 1992, John was elected Member of Parliament for South Colchester and Maldon and in 1997 was elected to represent the constituency of Maldon and East Chelmsford. In July 2005 John was elected Chairman of the House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee. In 2006, John was elected as one of three Parliamentary representatives on the Board of the Conservative Party. He was also elected Vice Chairman of the Conservative Parliamentary Party 1922 Committee. John served as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport from May 2015 until 14 July 2016
John is Vice Chairman of the British Group of the Inter Parliamentary Union. He is a full member of the UK delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe. He is also Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Groups for Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova and Lithuania, Vice Chairman of the APPGs for Hungary and Armenia and Chairman of the All Party Writers Group.
The role is not remunerated. Appointments to the Royal Albert Hall Council are not regulated by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments. Any significant political activity undertaken by an appointee in the last five years must be declared. This is defined as including holding office, public speaking, making a recordable donation, or candidature for election. John declared that he has served as Conservative Member of Parliament for Maldon since 1992.