Group officers
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/
Hon Ed Vaizey MP - Secretary
The current Shadow Minister for Culture, Ed Vaizey was educated at Merton College, Oxford, where he read History. Upon leaving university he worked for the Conservative Party for two years before training as a barrister specialising in family law and child welfare.
Ed left law in 1996 to set up his own PR firm, which he did until he became chief speech writer to then Conservative party leader Michael Howard.
He is a well known political commentator on the Conservative Party Press. His other political interests include the arts, architecture, science and technology and the environment. Ed writes regularly for The Guardian and The Sunday Times, he has also written for The Times, The Daily Telegraph and The Evening Standard, and is a regular broadcaster on radio and television.
Ed first stood for Parliament in the 1997 General Election and has been a Member for Wantage & Didcot since the May 2005 General Election. In November 2006 he was appointed Shadow Culture Minister. He was also a member of the Standing Committee on the Consumer Credit Bill and is currently a member of the Modernisation and Environmental Audit Select Committees.
He is a member of several all-party groups and is involved in the Conservative's Globalisation and Global Poverty Policy Group where he is Deputy Chairman.
www.vaizey.com