Group officers
John Whittingdale MP - Chair
John Whittingdale was educated at Winchester College and University College, London, and graduated with a degree in economics. He has been Member of Parliament for Maldon since 1992.
In 1984 John was appointed Special Adviser to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, and served three years consecutively. He then went to work at NM Rothschild Merchant Bank in the City before returning to government work in 1989, being appointed Political Secretary to the then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. He was awarded an OBE when she left office.
In 1992, John was elected Member of Parliament for South Colchester and Maldon, changing to Maldon and East Chelmsford in 1997. He became an Opposition Whip, and was appointed a front bench Treasury spokesman in 1998. In 1999 he became Parliamentary Private Secretary to the then Leader of the Opposition, William Hague.
In July 2002 John became Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. Following a year covering the Agriculture portfolio, he returned as Shadow Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport in September 2004, leaving the post after the election in 2005. In July 2005 he 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.
http://www.johnwhittingdale.org.uk/
Rt Hon Dr Denis MacShane MP - Vice Chair
Denis MacShane was born in Glasgow and educated at Birkbeck, University of London and Merton College, Oxford. After getting his MA he later completed his PhD at the University of London.
He worked for the BBC for 8 years after leaving university, and became an activist for the National Union of Journalists, later assuming the role of president of the Union. Denis worked in political affairs and wrote books on the steel industry and global political issues and was first chairman of the Steel Group of MPs in the House of Commons.
He has been an MP for Rotherham since 1994 and worked as Parliamentary Private Secretary to a number of ministers in the 1997-2001 Parliament. In 2002 he was appointed Minister of State for Europe and he was appointed member of the Privy Council in 2005.
Denis regularly writes columns for The Guardian and has appeared on several television shows to discuss European affairs.
http://www.denismacshane.com/
Jim Dowd MP - Treasurer
Jim Dowd was born in Bad Eilsen, Germany and studied at Dalmain, Sedgehill and London Nautical Schools. He has been Member of Parliament for Lewisham West since 1992, and was re-elected for Lewisham West and Penge in May 2010.
Before entering Parliament, Jim worked as an electronics engineer for Plessey/GPT and as a petrol station manager. He was a Councillor for the London Borough of Lewisham from 1974 to 1994, and was Mayor of Lewisham in 1992. Jim is also a former Opposition Whip with responsibility for London.
Jim lists his main political interests as Health, Education, Transport, the Economy, Industry and Animal Welfare.
His affiliations include being a member of the Co-operative Party, Co-operative Wholesale Society, Amicus, GMB, League Against Cruel Sports, WWF, IFAW, RSPB, NSPCC, Oxfam and Bromley Labour Club.
Jim is also a member of Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East. His interests include music, theatre and reading.
http://www.jimdowd.org.uk/
The Baroness Rendell of Babergh - Secretary
Ruth Rendell was born in London in 1930, and was educated at Loughton County High School, Essex. She is Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and has received many awards for her work, including the Crime Writers' Association Cartier Diamond Dagger (lifetime achievement award), and the Sunday Times Award for Literary Excellence.
The crime novelist is the author of a series of novels featuring Detective Chief Inspector Wexford, set in Kingsmarkham, a fictional English town. The first of these stories was published in 1964, From Doon with Death, and is also her first novel. She also writes novels under the pseudonym Barbara Vine.
She has published two books of collected short stories in 1987 and 2008, and many of her novels and short stories have been successfully adapted for television.
Ruth Rendell was awarded a CBE in 1996. A Life Peerage was conferred on her in 1997 as Baroness Rendell of Babergh.