Ian William Wrigglesworth, Baron Wrigglesworth

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Ian Wrigglesworth

Ian William Wrigglesworth, Baron Wrigglesworth (* 8. December 1939 in Stockton-on-Tees ) is a British politician of the Liberal Democrats , Life Peer and treasurer of his party.

life and career

He was born in Stockton-on-Tees, grew up in Norton-on-Tees and attended Stockton Grammar School, Stockton-Billingham Technical College and the University of St Mark & ​​St John .

Before he became an MP, he worked for the National Giro Bank . He began his professional career in Middlesbrough with Midland Bank . He was chairman of the CBI in the Northern Region and was the founding chairman of the Northern Business Forum . Until 2002 he was Deputy Chairman of the Governors of the University of Teesside (previously Middlesbrough Polytechnic).

Until February 2012, Wrigglesworth was Deputy Chairman ( Deputy Chairman ) of the Michael Heseltine- led Regional Growth Fund Advisory Panel of the government, which should examine offers. He is the Chief Executive of a company in Gateshead and was Chairman of the Port of Tyne until August 2012. From 1995 to January 2009 he was Executive Chairman of UK Land Estates and prior to that Executive Deputy Chairman of Livingston Group and Executive Director of its associate Fairfield Industries . From 1996 to 2000 he was chairman of the public relations firm, Prima Europe, and then chairman of its successor, GPC, after Prima was acquired by Omnicom . He has also been the non-executive director of a number of other private and public companies.

Wrigglesworth was the founding chairman of the NewcastleGateshead Initiative , the private / public sector partnership responsible for the targeting of Newcastle and Gateshead and their candidacy as European Capital of Culture in 2008, but defeated Liverpool. From 2005 to 2009 he was chairman of the Baltic Center for Contemporary Art in Gateshead. Under his chairmanship, the finances were restructured and the current suppliers were selected. He has come under fire for his role in appointing the controversial director Peter Doroshenko and his testimony that employees' displeasure with the director was "a storm in a teacup". A number of controversial exhibitions took place during this period. After Doroshenko's departure, Wrigglesworth was responsible for appointing the current director, Godfrey Wordsdale. Negotiations with Northumbria University have started, resulting in the current partnership between the two institutions.

Political career

From 1974 to 1981 Wrigglesworth was a Labor MP for the Thornaby constituency in Teesside . He was one of the founding members of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1981 and was a member of that party for the constituency of Stockton South from 1983 to 1987 . In 1987 he lost his mandate, losing 774 votes to Tim Devlin .

Shortly after being elected to parliament, Wrigglesworth was a founding member of the Manifesto Group and, along with John Cartwright, helped found the Campaign for Labor Victory, led by Bill Rodgers . From 1974 to 1979 he was Parliamentary Private Secretary des Home Secretary , the Rt Hon Roy Jenkins , and when Labor returned to the opposition in 1979, he was appointed Shadow Secretary of the Civil Service by James Callaghan . Still, Wrigglesworth became increasingly dissatisfied with the left leaning and belonged to a group that considered leaving in 1979 and 1980. In 1981 he became one of the founding members of the Social Democratic Party and, together with Mike Thomas, organized its founding in March 1981. In the 1983 general election , only six representatives of the SDP returned to the lower house. He himself just won his constituency.

After the merger of the SDP and the Liberal Party , he became the first President of the Liberal Democrats in 1988 and was Chairman of the Liberal Democrat Trustees until February 2012 when he became Treasurer. He stayed in office for two years. In 1991 he became a Knight Bachelor and, although he was active in Northeast entrepreneurship, he retained his affiliation with the party. At his party's 2012 Spring Conference, held at The Sage Gateshead , it was announced that Sir Ian had assumed the office of Treasurer.

In December 2011 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Music from Northumbria University and in October 2012 an Honorary Doctorate in Business Administration from Northumbria University.

In August 2013, his appointment to the House of Lords was announced. and on September 5, 2013, he became life peer as Baron Wrigglesworth , of Norton on Tees in the County of Durham.

family

He is married to Tricia, who is a Health Visitor . They have two sons and a daughter together.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. News on Journallive.co.uk
  2. London Gazette . No. 52543, HMSO, London, 28 May 1991, p. 8208 ( PDF , English).
  3. Working Peerages announced Gov.uk
  4. London Gazette . No. 60621, HMSO, London, 9 September 2013, p. 17761 ( PDF , English).
  5. London Gazette . No. 60637, HMSO, London, 24 September 2013, p. 18815 ( PDF , English).
predecessor Office successor
Adrian Slade (as President of the Liberal Party) and John Cartwright (as President of the SDP) President of the Liberal Democrats
1988–1990
Charles Kennedy
Richard Duncalf Treasurer of the Liberal Democrats
since 2012