Benjamin Peter James Bradshaw (born 30 August 1960) is a British Labour politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Exeter since 1997, and served in the Cabinet as Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. He previously worked as a BBC Radio reporter.

Early life and career in journalism[link]

Bradshaw is the son of an Anglican vicar at Norwich Cathedral. Bradshaw was educated at Thorpe Grammar School (now the Thorpe St Andrew High School) near Norwich, followed by the University of Sussex where he read German. He also attended the University of Freiburg in the town of Freiburg im Breisgau in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.

In 1982/83 Bradshaw taught English at the Technikum, a school of technology in Winterthur (Switzerland). He became a reporter with the Exeter Express and Echo in 1984 and was appointed as a reporter with the Eastern Daily Press in Norwich in 1985. In 1986 he joined the BBC as reporter with BBC Radio Devon. In 1989 he became the award winning Berlin correspondent with BBC Radio and was serving in the city at the time of the fall of the Berlin Wall. He became a reporter in 1991 with BBC Radio's The World At One programme, where he stayed until his election to Westminster. He won the Sony News Reporter Award in 1993.

Parliamentary career[link]

Bradshaw was selected to contest the marginal parliamentary seat of Exeter at the 1997 general election after the first choice candidate, John Lloyd, was deselected by the local Labour party on instructions from Labour HQ. He had given evidence against John Harris, who was convicted of planting a bomb at a Johannesburg station, killing one and injuring others. Harris was executed on 1 April 1965. Mr Lloyd, a South African citizen at the time, was, like Harris, a member of the African Resistance Movement.

The sitting Conservative MP, John Hannam had retired and the Conservatives chose Adrian Rogers to be their candidate. This created a very interesting election campaign, Bradshaw an openly gay man, and Rogers a leading member of the religious right. The campaign was vitriolic and bitter with allegations of homophobia and sin. The result, however was not close, and Bradshaw was elected as the Labour MP for Exeter with a majority of 11,705. He made his maiden speech on 4 July 1997. He was the second openly gay man elected to the UK Parliament.

In Parliament Bradshaw introduced the Pesticides Act in 1998,^[1] which gave more powers to inspectors. He became a Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Minister of State at the Department of Health John Denham in 2000. After the 2001 general election Bradshaw entered Tony Blair's government as the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Only days after being appointed to the Foreign Office he had to answer questions following the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. On March 6, 2002, while answering Parliamentary Questions, Bradshaw accused George Galloway of "being not just an apologist but a mouthpiece for the Iraqi regime over many years". Galloway responded by accusing Bradshaw of being a liar, though after a suspension of the Commons sitting, both men withdrew their comments.^[2]

Bradshaw became the Deputy to the Leader of the House of Commons Robin Cook in 2002, and was an Under Secretary of State at the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2003 until 2006, when he was made a Minister of State at the same department. During this period, he was sent to Brussels to negotiate changes to the Common Fisheries Policy on behalf of the British in-shore fishing fleet. When questioned, on Newsnight Scotland, by Gordon Brewer, as to the progress of these negotiations, he was unwilling/unable to answer questions relating to his brief, such as the size of the Scottish inshore fishing fleet, or the catch quotas relating to particular species. On 28 June 2007 he was moved to become a Minister of State in the Department of Health and was also given the responsibility of being Minister for the South West.

Health minister[link]

Bradshaw has been the subject of a good deal of controversy as a Minister for Health. His responses to questioning on Radio 4 about the shortfall in NHS dentistry leading to patients unable to access NHS dentists and even resorting to treating themselves was to claim that those needing urgent treatment should go to see their GP,^[3] prompting the British Medical Association to observe that a General Practitioner was no substitute for a qualified dentist.^[4]

He also claimed that GPs were operating "gentlemen's agreements" to ensure patients didn't move between surgeries, claims dismissed as "absolute nonsense" by doctors' leaders.^[5]

On the subject of the National Programme for IT, a scheme dogged by cost overruns, failing public confidence, delays, and doubts over its benefit to patients,^[6][7] he commented: "Our use of computer technology in the NHS is becoming the envy of the world. It is saving lives, saving time and saving money. If you talk to health and IT experts anywhere in the world they point to Britain as example of computer technology being used successfully to improve health services to the public."^[8]

He has also been criticised for defending^[9] car parking fees at NHS hospitals at a time when Wales was removing parking fees.^[10] The BMA called such charges "a tax on the sick",^[10] and questioned the legitimacy of trusts making up to £248,000 a month in parking fees.^[11] Bradshaw's claims that such charges were necessary to pay for patient care were dismissed by a shadow health spokesman, who commented that it did "not add up" for the government to make such claims in the light of an NHS surplus of £1.8bn.^[12]

His plan to introduce private management of some NHS trusts was also heavily criticised. The BMA called it a step towards privatising the NHS, Dr. Jonathan Fielden observed that there was no evidence private management was better than public sector management, commenting "How many of us have seen our Trusts bring in the management consultants, paying through the nose, only to get a half baked solution and one that the real talent in the NHS could have delivered for less?", Professor Allyson Pollock, head of the Centre for International Public Health Policy at the University of Edinburgh, said: "Bringing private management in will simply accelerate the process of privatisation of services which will have catastrophic effects for the patients and the public at large. It will mean less care for everyone, and more money for profits and shareholders.", while Nigel Edwards of the NHS Confederation, said the government had tried drafting in private sector management unsuccessfully before - at the Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield in 2003: "What it revealed is that the reason that hospitals tend to fail is often much more complicated and much more difficult than just poor management."^[13]

It was claimed in May 2009 that he exploited the MPs' expenses system by claiming the entire interest bill on a property he shares with his partner in west London.^[14] Bradshaw has said claims made about his expenses were factually wrong.^[15]

In 2009 he won "Politician of the Year" at the annual Stonewall Awards.^[16]

Culture Secretary[link]

On 5 June 2009 he was appointed Secretary of State for Culture Media and Sport.^[17] He held this position until the United Kingdom general election, 2010 and served as Shadow Culture Secretary until the Labour Party (UK) Shadow Cabinet election, 2010.

On 7 October 2010 the Labour Party announced that he had failed to be elected to one of the 19 available places in the Shadow Cabinet of newly elected leader Ed Miliband.^[18]

Personal life[link]

When first elected in 1997, Ben Bradshaw was one of the first MPs to be openly gay at the time of election, along with Stephen Twigg. On 24 June 2006, he and his partner Neal Dalgleish, who is a BBC producer,^[19] registered a civil partnership. He was one of the first MPs to do so, and he was the first Cabinet Minister to be in a civil partnership.^[20] His brother is Jonathan Bradshaw, CBE, Professor of Social Policy at the University of York.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ben Bradshaw

• Ben Bradshaw MP official constituency website
• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
• Current session contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Electoral history and profile at The Guardian
• Voting record at PublicWhip.org
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou.com
• Profile at Westminster Parliamentary Record
• Profile at BBC News Democracy Live
• Articles authored at Journalisted
• Pesticides Act 1998

v t e Brown Cabinet Cabinet Members Lord Adonis • Bob Ainsworth • Douglas Alexander • Baroness Ashton • Ed Balls • Hilary Benn • Hazel Blears • Ben Bradshaw • Gordon Brown • Des Browne • Liam Byrne • Andy Burnham • Yvette Cooper • Alistair Darling • John Denham • Peter Hain • Harriet Harman • Geoff Hoon • John Hutton • Alan Johnson • Tessa Jowell • Ruth Kelly • Lord Mandelson • David Miliband • Ed Miliband • Jim Murphy • Paul Murphy • James Purnell • Baroness Royall • Jacqui Smith • Jack Straw • Shaun Woodward Also Attended Meetings Margaret Beckett • Nick Brown • Lord Drayson • Caroline Flint • Lord Grocott • John Healey • Jim Knight • Lord Malloch-Brown • Pat McFadden • Tony McNulty • Baroness Scotland Attended While on Agenda Beverley Hughes • Sadiq Khan • Dawn Primarolo • Rosie Winterton

v t e Secretaries of State for Culture of the United Kingdom Secretary of State for National Heritage (1992-1997) Mellor · Brooke · Dorrell · Bottomley Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (1997-2010) Smith · Jowell · Purnell · Burnham · Bradshaw Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport (2010-present) Hunt

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Adam Boulton
Adam Boulton in March 2008
Born	(1959-02-15) 15 February 1959 (age 53) Reading, Berkshire
Education	Oxford University Johns Hopkins University
Occupation	Journalist
Notable credit(s)	Political Editor Sky News
Spouse	Anji Hunter

Thomas Adam Babbington Boulton (born 15 February 1959 in Reading, Berkshire) is political editor of the British television channel Sky News, a post he has held since being asked to establish the politics team for the launch of the channel in 1989.

Early life[link]

Boulton's father was a doctor but rather than follow him into the medical profession young Adam had an ambition to go into broadcasting. He attended Tower House Preparatory School in south-west London and Westminster School where he took A-levels in English, mathematics, physics and chemistry^[1] He then studied at the University of Oxford and Johns Hopkins University where he gained degrees in English and International Relations.^[2][3][4]

Career[link]

Before joining Sky News, Boulton worked as a journalist in the parliamentary "lobby". He was then political editor for TV-am, where his colleague was Kay Burley who later joined Sky News. It was during the 1987 general election that he was punched by Denis Healey after Anne Diamond asked Healey about his wife using private healthcare; the incident was witnessed by gossip columnist Nigel Dempster.^[5]

Boulton presents Boulton & Co from 1pm to 2pm Monday to Friday on the channel and also maintains a blog on the Sky News website. While he does not have a regular weekday show of his own, he does frequently appear during the week to report on breaking political stories. He has interviewed every British Prime Minister from Gordon Brown back to Sir Alec Douglas-Home, international stars and influential figures. On 15 June 2008 he became the first British television reporter to conduct a joint interview of U.S. President George W. Bush and his wife Laura.

He also presents PMQs, on a Wednesday evening with regular guests to discuss the performance of ministers involved in the House of Commons earlier in the day and more seriously, the legislation and ideas that they present to the house.

He has written for newspapers and magazines including The Times, Sunday Times, Guardian, Spectator, New Statesman and Independent. He has been a guest of programmes such as Newsnight, Bremner, Bird and Fortune and Have I Got News For You.

He is a winner of the Royal Television Society's supreme Judge's Award and was elected 2007 Chairman of the Parliamentary Lobby.

Boulton was based in Washington, D.C. from January 2009, covering the First 100 days of Barack Obama's Presidency of the United States for Sky News.

On 22 April 2010, during the UK General Election campaign, Boulton hosted Sky News' 'Leaders' Debate' live from Bristol, the second in a series of three televised debates between Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg produced, in turn, and on consecutive Thursdays, by ITV News, Sky News and the BBC.

On 10 May 2010, while covering events on the aftermath of the 2010 general election Boulton lost his composure with former 10 Downing Street Director of Communications, Alastair Campbell defending his impartiality in a live on-air interview after Campbell accused Boulton of political bias in favour of the Conservatives. Boulton shouted at Campbell: "Don't tell me what I think".^[6] At the time both Labour and the Conservatives were trying to broker a deal with the Liberal Democrats aimed at forming a coalition government. A similar disagreement occurred later on that evening in an exchange with Ben Bradshaw.^[7] The media regulator Ofcom received several hundred complaints about the Campbell incident from viewers.^[8] During the campaign he had been asked to calm down by Peter Mandelson when he questioned him about possible spending cuts that the Financial Times believed would have to be made following the election.^[9] He was also accused of bias for the way he questioned Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg, it was claimed in contravention of the pre-established rules, during the Leader's debate hosted by Sky News. Ofcom rejected the complaints ^[10] On the 20th January 2011 Boulton once again interviewed Alastair Campbell on Sky News, ahead of Tony Blair's appearance in front of the Iraq Inquiry. Both apologised about the incident and shook hands at the end of the interview.

Personal life[link]

Boulton divorced his first wife after his affair with Tony Blair's spin doctor Anji Hunter became front page tabloid news in 2002.^[11] Both have children from their previous marriages. The couple married at St James's Church, Piccadilly on the 22 July 2006, in a wedding attended by Blair and a number of current and former ministers, including David Blunkett, Tessa Jowell and Peter Hain, as well as Mick Hucknall and BP boss Lord Browne.^[12]

Bibliography[link]

• Tony's Ten Years: Memories of the Blair Administration (2008) Simon & Schuster
• Hung Together: The 2010 Election and the Coalition Government with Joey Jones (2010) Simon & Schuster

References[link]

External links[link]

• Boulton and Co
• Adam Boulton's biography from Sky News
• Images
• Articles By Adam Boulton

v t e Sky News in the United Kingdom British Sky Broadcasting Programmes Sky News Sunrise The Live Desk Sky News Today Boulton & Co Afternoon Live Live at Five Jeff Randall Live News, Sport & Weather Sky News at Ten Sky News Tonight Sky Midnight News CBS Evening News Sky News On The Hour Sky World News Saturday Live Weekend Lunchtime Sky News at Seven Murnaghan Reporters and presenters Main Anna Botting Adam Boulton Colin Brazier Lukwesa Burak Kay Burley Stephen Dixon Lorna Dunkley Charlotte Hawkins Eamonn Holmes Sarah Hewson Gillian Joseph Mark Longhurst Dermot Murnaghan Jeff Randall Samantha Simmonds Martin Stanford Jeremy Thompson Andrew Wilson Business Dharshini David Joel Hills Sport Jacquie Beltrao Rob Curling Jon Desborough Karthi Gnanasegaram Lisa Knights Sarah-Jane Mee Nick Powell Chris Skudder Matt Teale Charlie Thomas Graeme Winch Weather Nazaneen Ghaffar Isobel Lang Denise Nurse Jo Wheeler Other Philippa Hall Anna Jones Ashish Joshi Lisa Knights Sarah-Jane Mee Paula Middlehurst Tim Marshall Gemma Morris Chloe Potter Jayne Secker Matt Smith Category