Ed Vaizey

Vaizey was the longest serving Minister of Culture since the post was created in 1964, serving a total of 2,255 days, exceeding the total set by the first incumbent, Jennie Lee, by 186 days.

Upon leaving office, over 150 senior figures from the arts and creative industries wrote to the Daily Telegraph to express their thanks for his service as Minister for Culture and the Digital Economy.

Edward Henry Butler Vaizey, Baron Vaizey of Didcot, (born 5 June 1968) is a British politician, media columnist, political commentator and barrister who was Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries from 2010 to 2016.

Vaizey was born in June 1968 in St Pancras, London.

He is the son of the late John Vaizey, a Labour (later Conservative) life peer, and the art historian Marina Vaizey (The Lady Vaizey CBE ).

His father's family is from South London.

His mother's family, of Polish Jewish descent, is from New York City.

He spent part of his childhood in Berkshire.

He was educated at St Paul's School, London before reading history at Merton College, Oxford.

Elected Librarian of the Oxford Union, he graduated with an upper second class degree.

After leaving university, Vaizey worked for the Conservative MPs Kenneth Clarke and Michael Howard as an adviser on employment and education issues.

He practised as a barrister for several years, in family law and child care.

Vaizey first stood for Parliament at the 1997 general election, when he was the Conservative Party candidate for Bristol East.

In the 2001 general election, he acted as an election aide to Iain Duncan Smith.

He unsuccessfully stood at the 2002 local elections for the safe Labour ward of Harrow Road (based around the area of that name) in the City of Westminster.

He is regarded as a moderniser within the Conservative Party, contributing in both policy and image terms.

In 2002, Vaizey was selected by Wantage Conservative Association to be its candidate for the 2005 general election to succeed the sitting MP, Robert Jackson, who subsequently crossed the floor to Labour.

Vaizey won a two-thirds majority in the final ballot of members and was elected as MP in that election, receiving 22,394 votes.

His majority was 8,017 over the Liberal Democrats; this represented 43% of the voters and a 1.9% swing from the Liberal Democrats to the Conservatives.

When first elected to the House of Commons, Vaizey became a member of the Standing Committee on the Consumer Credit Bill.

Before being appointed to the Opposition frontbench he was a member of the Modernisation and Environmental Audit Select Committees and was Deputy Chairman of the Conservative's Globalisation and Global Poverty Policy Group.

He was a speechwriter for Michael Howard, the then Leader of the Conservative Party, until December 2004, and editor of the Blue Books series which looked into new approaches to Conservative policy in areas such as health and transport.

A member of the Conservative Party, he was Member of Parliament (MP) for Wantage from 2005 to 2019.

Vaizey dated and proposed marriage to businesswoman and current UK MP Esther McVey. He then dated and married Solicitor, Alexandra Mary-Jane Holland b.1970 on the 17 September 2005, in the chapel of the House of Commons.

Michael Gove was his Best Man and the wedding reception was held nearby at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in The Mall, London.

The couple share two children, Joseph and Martha.

Vaizey was one of Michael Howard's inner circle of advisers and a member of a group of Young Conservatives somewhat disparagingly referred to as the "Notting Hill Set" along with David Cameron—elected party leader in December 2005—George Osborne, Michael Gove, Nicholas Boles and Rachel Whetstone.

Like Gove and Boles, he is a fellow of the Henry Jackson Society, and also a vice-chairman of Conservative Friends of Poland.

In November 2006, Vaizey was appointed to the Conservative frontbench as a Shadow Minister for Culture, overseeing Arts and Broadcasting policy.

In the 2010 general election he received a vote of 29,284, which was 52% of the votes cast, winning an increased majority of 13,457.

While the Conservative Party was in negotiations with the Lib Dems in the days after 6 May 2010, Vaizey was appearing regularly on television putting forward the Conservative viewpoint.

In 2010, Vaizey was appointed as Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries.

with responsibilities in the Departments for Culture, Media and Sport and for Business, Innovation and Skills.

In 2011 he was mistakenly informed that he was to be Trade Minister, a post actually intended for Ed Davey.

In the 2015 general election Vaizey increased his majority to 21,749.

Vaizey supported continued membership of the European Union in the 2016 referendum and is supportive of the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom).

As a minister, Vaizey upheld the policy of free entry to the UK's national museums.

In the 2017 general election Vaizey's majority was reduced but his share of the vote increased to 54.2%.

Vaizey was one of the group of 21 MPs who had the Conservative Whip removed in September 2019, sitting as an independent politician until having the whip restored on 29 October 2019.

On 6 November 2019 Vaizey announced his decision not to stand for re-election in the 2019 general election.