Writer, Broadcaster, Politician, Celebrity Speaker
Winner, Celebrity Mastermind – twice!!
Edwina
Currie was born in Liverpool, UK in 1946 and went to the same school
as Beatles George Harrison and Sir Paul McCartney. Much of her education
was spent in the Cavern Club listening to their music. She won a
scholarship to Oxford University to read Chemistry; surrounded by
Nobel prize winners, she switched to Philosophy, Politics and Economics.
Also present (1968) was William Jefferson Clinton, hiding behind
a beard. She took her Master's degree in economic history at the
London School of Economics, an experience which turned her into
a life-long Conservative.
Edwina
has had three successful careers - so far! After a decade of public
office in the city of Birmingham, she stood for Parliament in 1983
and represented a Midlands seat for 14 years. She became one of the
nation's best known MPs and served in Margaret Thatcher's government
1986-88, in the Department of Health. She became famous for her campaigns
on heart disease, women's cancer screening and the promotion of healthy
lifestyles. She was also involved in the first AIDS campaign in the
UK that saved many lives. She was voted "Speaker of the Year 1990"
and awarded "Campaigner of the Year 1994" in the Spectator Parliamentarian
Awards. She resigned over food safety (salmonella) in December 1988,
and turned down John Major's request to return to government in 1992.
In all she has published eleven books. She started with non-fiction, then turned to novels which were instant best-sellers in the UK. Her "Diaries 1987-1992" were published in 2002 to excellent reviews. "Diaries Volume II 1992-1997" appeared in 2012. One commentator said, "The two volumes are the best account I know of the experience of being a woman in British politics: it's the personal dimension as much as the political that makes them such a valuable record. In fifty years' time, students will be reading them and (one hopes) shaking their heads in bewilderment at such a strange world." (Alwyn W Turner).
Career number three started after the General Election in 1997. Edwina lost her seat, but started working for the BBC. Since then she has become a well-known radio and TV presenter and performer. From 1998 to 2003 she presented her own very successful BBC Radio 5 programme, Late Night Currie, with live phone-ins and topical reporting. In 2004 Edwina was in Hell's Kitchen with chef Gordon Ramsay; that year she was also winner of BBC TV's Celebrity Mastermind 2004, which she has since won again – broadcast Jan 5 2019. In 2006 Edwina and her husband John Jones were in Celebrity Wife Swap with Channel 4 racing commentator John McCririck and his wife Jenny, which has been shown many times since. The whole family appeared on All Star Family Fortunes in 2009 winning a substantial sum for charity, while numerous other shows include Cash in the Attic, Bargain Hunt, Eggheads, Weakest Link (twice), Come Dine with Me (twice), Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, Strictly Come Dancing 2011. Recently she and Diane Abbott MP won Celebrity Pointless on BBC1. And in December 2014 she featured in ITV’s “I’m a Celebrity - Get Me Out of Here!”, with a record 11 million viewers; it won the 2015 National Television Award for Most Popular Entertainment programme.
Still in the pipeline, Celebrity The Chase (with Nicky Campbell) and Celebrity Tenibles (with Ann Widdecombe and George Galloway) .. recorded but not shown yet
Doing her best to grow old(er) disgracefully, Edwina appeared in panto as the Wicked Queen in "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" at Northwich in Dec 2015 and Jan 2016. A total of 12,000 people came to the 33 performances.
See pictures...
Celebrity Mastemind 2019 pictures.
She is a frequent contributor to news and current affairs programmes including Sky News, BBC TV’s Newsnight and Question Time, Al Jazeera, BBC Radio 2 (particularly Jeremy Vine), 4 (Woman’s Hour, Any Questions and others) and 5 (Stephen Nolan show and others), World Service, RTE and others
Edwina
has been called "the best communicator the Tories have,"
and "a brash and energetic life force." Her life to date
has been summed up by fellow writer and MP Sir Julian Critchley:
"Edwina Currie has a brass neck, a silver tongue and a golden
pen."
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