
Ann Widdecombe was born on 4th October 1947 in Bath, Somerset. The daughter of James Murray Widdecombe CB/OBE and Mrs. Rita Widdecombe. Her father's occupation was Head of Naval Supplies & Transport, Ministry of Defence.
Ann was educated at the Royal Naval School Singapore, La Sainte Union Convent Bath, Birmingham University (BA Hons Latin) and Oxford University (BA Hons Politics, Philosophy and Economics) LMH MA 1976.
She worked in marketing at Unilever from 1973 to 1975 and was Senior Administrator at London University from 1975 to 1987.
Since 1987 she has been member of Parliament for Maidstone which became Maidstone and The Weald in 1997
Political Biography
Secretary (1971) and Treasurer (1972) of The Oxford Union
Committee Member of Oxford University Conservative Association
Runnymeade District Councillor 1976-1978
Candidate for Burnley 1979, she halved Labour majority
Candidate for Plymouth Devonport 1983 against Dr. David Owen.
Elected Member of Parliament for Maidstone 1987.
1990 Appointed PPS to Tristan Garroll-Jones Minister at the Foreign Office
November 1990 appointed Under Secretary of State for Social Security in
John Major's first administration where she specialised in pensions
Under Secretary of State Department of Employment 1993.
Minister of State Department of Employment 1994.
Minister of State Home Office 1995 with responsibility for prisons and immigration.
1997 Member of Standards and Privileges Committee of the House of Commons.
1998 Shadow Health Secretary.
1999 Shadow Home Secretary.
2001 Announced intention to retire from Shadow Front Bench at the same time as deciding not to stand for the Leadership of the Party.
October 2007 Announced her intention to retire at the next General Election
The Rt. Hon. Ann Widdecombe, who has been a Member of Parliament for 20 years, first for Maidstone and latterly for Maidstone and the Weald has confirmed that she will not be seeking re-election.
Miss Widdecombe has made it clear for some time that if this Parliament were to run a normal length she would not wish to seek re-election. ‘I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have made the last 20 years so rewarding and especially the Officers and Members of Maidstone Conservative Association’.
In January 2008, Mrs Helen Grant was selected as the Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Maidstone and the Weald.
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Talk of the Town: people are flocking to hear debates with top speakers1st March 2010Talks and lectures by interesting people on a wide range of topics are becoming hugely popular. Forget, dusty lecturers coughing through their notes for hours, people are flocking to hear speakers such as Luke Johnson, Ruby Wax, Stephen Fry, Ann Widdecombe and Robert Winston at events organised by the Louise T Blouin Foundation, Intelligence Squared, the Royal Geographical Society, the Tate and the ICA. Trained concert pianist, Condoleezza Rice, performs for The Queen4th December 2008Amid her many talents Condoleezza Rice is also a trained concert pianist. She originally planned a career in music and enrolled at university to study the subject, before switching to political science.
The outgoing American Secretary of State fulfilled a dream by giving a recital to her majesty...
George Bush is the latest recruit to the US motivational speaker circuit26th October 2009George Bush is the United State's newest and most controversial motivational speaker. He will deliver the headline keynote speech for the Get Motivated seminar in Texas today, alongside former Secretary of State Colin Powell, former Mayor of New York Rudy Guiliani and Microsoft's President, Rick Belluzzo Obama builds up White House team 6th November 2008Barack Obama has started forming his administration by asking Rahm Emanuel, a former adviser to President Clinton, to be his chief-of-staff. Mayor for Birmingham 29th October 2007Among prominent figures so far touted for an elected mayor in Birmingham are Karen Brady, the managing director of Birmingham City Football Club, and Sir Digby Jones
Who will be the next speaker?17th June 2009Next monday, MPs will vote in a secret ballot to choose a successor to current speaker Michael Martin who will step down on saturday in light of the expenses scandal. With the candidate husting having taken place on monday on front of television cameras for the first time ever, the competition is really hotting up. Tory MP John Bercow, is the bookmakers' favourite to be chosen as the new speaker on monday. Boris to run for Mayor16th July 2007Conservative MP Boris Johnson has entered the race to become Mayor of London against Ken Livingstone Ann Widdecombe Reviews
Ann Widdecombe has spoken and appeared at a number of recent corporate events. Please find some client speaker testimonials and reviews for Ann Widdecombe for a number of these events and conferences. If you would like some additional information as to how to book Ann Widdecombe for your corporate event, then please contact one of the Speakers Corner booking agents on +44 (0) 208 365 3200 or email info@speakerscorner.co.uk
"Ann was a complete success. She arrived early, mixed well, spoke brilliantly and relevantly to this audience and then stopped afterwards to mingle with all the other guests. First class!"
Englemere Limited
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