Edwina Currie facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Edwina Currie
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Currie in 2009
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| Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health | |
| In office 10 September 1986 – 16 December 1988 |
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| Prime Minister | Margaret Thatcher |
| Preceded by | John Major |
| Succeeded by | Roger Freeman |
| Member of Parliament for South Derbyshire |
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| In office 9 June 1983 – 8 April 1997 |
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| 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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| Children | 2 |
| Residences | Whaley Bridge, Derbyshire, England |
| Alma mater | |
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.
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.
Currie remains an outspoken public figure, with a reputation for being "highly opinionated," and currently earns her living as an author and media personality.
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Early life
Currie was born in south Liverpool to an Orthodox Jewish family, who "disowned her when she married a non-Jewish accountant". She herself is not particularly religious, stating in a February 2000 interview that she found "religious mumbo jumbo hard to swallow in any faith". She went to the Liverpool Institute High School for Girls in Blackburne House, in the Canning area of Liverpool, where she was Deputy Head Girl.
Currie studied Philosophy, politics and economics at St Anne's College, Oxford, where she was taught by Gabriele Taylor. Subsequently, she gained an MA in economic history from the London School of Economics.
Political career
From 1975 until 1986, she was a Birmingham City Councillor for Northfield. In 1983, she stood for parliament as a Conservative Party candidate, and was elected as the member for South Derbyshire. Frequently outspoken, she was described as "a virtually permanent fixture on the nation's TV screen saying something outrageous about just about anything."
In September 1986, she became a Junior Health Minister. Among her comments over the next two years were—despite her not being religious—that "good Christian people" don't get AIDS, that old people who could not afford their heating bills should wrap up warm in winter and that northerners die of "ignorance and chips".
Post-ministerial career as an MP
In 1991, Currie became the first Conservative MP to appear on the BBC topical panel show Have I Got News for You. She appeared again two years later, in a special episode commemorating the release of Margaret Thatcher's memoirs, opposite fellow Liverpudlian (and Liverpool Institute alumnus) Derek Hatton.
During the 1992 general election campaign, Currie poured a glass of orange juice over Labour's Peter Snape shortly after an edition of the Midlands-based television debate show Central Weekend had finished airing.
After the 1992 general election, she declined a request from Prime Minister John Major to take up a position as Minister of State for the Home Office.
In February 1994, Currie voted against the death penalty for murder, having previously voted and spoken in favour of it in July 1983; she had also supported it in June 1988 and December 1990.
In June 1994, she contested the European Parliament seat of Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes, but lost the seat to Labour's Eryl McNally by 94,837 votes to 61,628 votes. Currie was MP for South Derbyshire for 14 years; however, along with many other Tory MPs, she lost her parliamentary seat in the 1997 general election.
After Parliament
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Currie attempted to be selected as a Conservative candidate for the European Parliament election of 1999, but was unsuccessful.
After nearly a quarter of a century away from politics, it was announced in February 2021 that Currie would contest her home ward of Whaley Bridge on Derbyshire County Council at that year's local elections. She was challenging the incumbent, Ruth George of the Labour Party. The race was notable for pitting two former MPs against one another in an election for a council seat. On 7 May, it was announced that Currie had failed in her bid to win the marginal seat, receiving only 1,878 votes to George's 2,544.
In 2022, Currie described the prime minister, Liz Truss, as "charmless, graceless, brainless, and useless".
Other work
Novels
Currie has written six novels: A Parliamentary Affair (1994), A Woman's Place (1996), She's Leaving Home (1997), The Ambassador (1999), Chasing Men (2000) and This Honourable House (2001). She has also written four works of non-fiction: Life Lines (1989), What Women Want (1990), Three Line Quips (1992) and Diaries 1987–92 (2002).
Media
From the time she lost her seat in 1997, Currie has maintained a presence in the media. From 1998 to 2003, she hosted a late evening talk show on BBC Radio 5 Live, Late Night Currie. In 2002, she moved to HTV, presenting the television programme Currie Night until 2003. Since then, she has appeared in a string of reality television programmes, such as Wife Swap in which she and her second husband John swapped places with John McCririck and his wife, Jenny. Currie appeared on a charity edition of the television quiz show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? on 17 September 2005, partnering Conservative speech-writer and lobbyist Derek Laud. She has also appeared in the reality cooking show Hell's Kitchen with celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay in 2004, and Celebrity Stars in Their Eyes in 2006.
Currie was interviewed about the rise of Thatcherism for the 2006 BBC TV documentary series Tory! Tory! Tory! She was the first woman to win Celebrity Mastermind on 23 June 2004, specialising in the life of Marie Curie. She also won All Star Family Fortunes on 3 January 2009. She appeared in Channel 4's Come Dine with Me in February 2009 where she finished third. She made a second appearance on the show during Channel 4's "Alternative Election Night" coverage, with Rod Liddle, Brian Paddick and Derek Hatton as her competitors. She also appeared in James May's Show James May's Toy Stories where she helped him build a bridge made entirely out of Meccano in Liverpool.
In September 2011, Currie took part in the ninth series of Strictly Come Dancing. She was paired with professional dancer Vincent Simone. On 9 October, she and Simone were the first couple to be eliminated from the competition.
In November 2014, Currie took part in the fourteenth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! entering the jungle on Day 5 of the competition, and finishing in fourth place. In 2020, she trekked the Sultans Trail for BBC Two's Pilgrimage: Road to Istanbul.
Personal life
On 1 July 1972, Edwina married accountant Ray Currie in Barnstaple, Devon. They had two children, Debbie and Susie. Currie and her husband separated in 1997, but did not finalise their divorce until 2001. During that marriage, Currie had a four-year affair with John Major, later Prime Minister, which she revealed in September 2002. Edwina and Ray were the subject of an edition of the BBC's The Other Half documentary series, broadcast in March 1984.
On 24 May 2001, in Southwark, Currie married retired detective John Jones, whom she had met when he was a guest on her radio programme in 1999. Jones died on 1 November 2020.
Currie lives in Whaley Bridge, Derbyshire.
Affair with John Major
Currie's Diaries (1987–92), published in 2002, caused a sensation, as they revealed a four-year affair with John Major between 1984 and 1988, while both were married to other people. The affair started while she was a backbencher and Major was the government whip in Margaret Thatcher's government. After Major's promotion to Chief Secretary to the Treasury, the relationship ended, but the two remained friends. Currie apparently ceased the affair when it became dangerous and impractical owing to the presence of bodyguards who had to be avoided.
After publication, Major made a statement saying that he was ashamed of the affair and had privately revealed the matter to his wife. Currie said she had been in love with him for years after the end of the affair, and that he had been "the love of her life". However, only weeks after revealing the affair, she publicly criticised Major, accusing him of sexism and racism and of being "one of the less competent prime ministers".
Charity and other interests
In September 2004, Currie took part in a sponsored cycle ride across Poland, near to the area where ancestors of hers lived, for Marie Curie Cancer Care.
In June 2005, in her role as a patron of the British Heart Foundation, Currie championed a campaign to raise awareness of the effect of heart disease on women. In May 2007, the patient charity MRSA Action UK announced Currie as their patron. Edwina Currie was quoted by the media championing the campaign against hospital superbugs.
In October 2011, Currie took part in EuroVoice, an event supported by the European Youth Parliament. In November 2011, Currie accepted the position of President of the Tideswell Male Voice Choir.
In February 2013, Currie participated in an Oxford Union debate, saying she opposed feminism.
Discography
As part of the 2009 TV Show Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, Currie teamed up with Declan Donnelly and two other celebrities to release a cover version of the Wham! hit song "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go." Her daughter, Debbie, had previously released a single.
| Year | Single | Chart positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK | |||
| 2009 | "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" | 64 | – |
