Edwina Currie
Edwina Currie (née Cohen; born 13 October 1946) is a British writer, broadcaster and former politician, serving as Conservative Party Member of Parliament for South Derbyshire from 1983 until 1997. She was a Junior Health Minister for two years, resigning in 1988 during the salmonella-in-eggs controversy.
Edwina Currie | |
|---|---|
Currie in 2009 | |
| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health | |
| In office 10 September 1986 – 16 December 1988 | |
| Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher |
| Preceded by | John Major |
| Succeeded by | Roger Freeman |
| Member of Parliament for South Derbyshire | |
| In office 9 June 1983 – 8 April 1997 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency established |
| Succeeded by | Mark Todd |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Edwina Cohen 13 October 1946 Liverpool, England |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouses |
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| Domestic partner | John Major (1984–1988) |
| Children | 2 |
| Residence(s) | Whaley Bridge, Derbyshire, England |
| Alma mater |
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By the time Currie lost her seat as an MP in 1997, she had begun a new career as a novelist and broadcaster. She is the author of six novels, and has also written four works of non-fiction. In September 2002, the publication of Currie's Diaries (1987–92) caused a sensation, as they revealed a four-year affair with colleague (and later Prime Minister) John Major between 1984 and 1988. Currie's record as Junior Health Minister was heavily scrutinised in the 2010s, and to a lesser extent at the time, for her close relationship with Jimmy Savile; she hired Savile as chairman of Broadmoor Psychiatric Hospital, where it is now known he molested and raped mentally unstable patients. Currie previously expressed her "full confidence" in him.
Currie remains an outspoken public figure, with a reputation for being "highly opinionated," and currently earns her living as an author and media personality.