Benjamin Whitaker (politician)

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Benjamin Charles George Whitaker (15 September 1934 – 8 June 2014) was a British barrister and Labour Party politician.[1][2][3]

He was the third son of Major-General Sir John Albert Charles Whitaker, 2nd Baronet of Babworth Hall, Retford, Nottinghamshire.[2][2] He was educated at Eton before undergoing a period of National Service as an officer in the Coldstream Guards from 1952-54.[4] [3][5] He subsequently entered New College, Oxford where he obtained a BA in Modern History before being called to the bar at the Inner Temple in 1959.[5]

In 1964 he married Janet Alison Stewart, who was created a life peer in 1999 as Baroness Whitaker, of Beeston in the County of Nottinghamshire. The couple settled in Swiss Cottage in the Metropolitan Borough of Hampstead, London, and had three children.[5] [2] [3]

Career

He practised as a barrister from 1959, and as an extramural lecturer in law for the University of London from 1963.[2] [5] [3]

He was elected at the 1966 general election as Member of Parliament (MP) for the normally Conservative seat of Hampstead. Shortly after his election to the House of Commons he was appointed parliamentary private secretary (PPS) to Anthony Greenwood, Minister of Overseas Development.[6] Later in the year Greenwood was appointed to the post of Minister of Housing and Local Government, and Whitaker continued to serve as PPS in the new department. In 1969 Whitaker was advanced to the rank of parliamentary secretary, or junior minister, in the Department of Overseas Development.[5] [3]

At the 1970 general election, he was defeated by the Conservative Geoffrey Finsberg, who regained the seat for his party with a majority of 474 votes. Following his defeat, Whitaker indicated that he was unlikely to stand for parliament again as he was hoping to take up a research post.[7]

He was active in a number of charities and foundations, particularly relating to global poverty.[2] These included being an executive director of Minority Rights Group International from 1971-88 and of the UK branch of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, and serving on the United Nations Commission on Human Rights for fifteen years.[5] [2] [3] An admirer of George Orwell, Whitaker was a leading member of a memorial trust, which erected a plaque to the writer in Hampstead and sought to have a statue installed at the BBC's Broadcasting House.[8] [9][3]

He was made a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in the New Year's Honours 2000 for "services to Human Rights and to the Voluntary Sector".[10] He died on 8 June 2014 at the age of 79.[11]

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 39916. p. 3987. 17 July 1953.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 WHITAKER, Benjamin Charles George, Who's Who 2012, A & C Black, 2012; online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2011; online edn, Nov 2011, accessed 31 July 2012
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 55710. p. 11. 30 December 1999.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

See also

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Hampstead
1966–1970		 Succeeded by
Geoffrey Finsberg
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