Edwina Currie

Edwina Currie (born 13 October 1946 in Liverpool in a Jewish family) is a former British Member of Parliament. A pupil at The Belvedere School and Liverpool Institute High School for Girls, she studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at St Anne's College, Oxford University; subsequently, she took a Master's degree in economic history at the London School of Economics. From 1975 to 1986 she served as a Birmingham City Councillor. In 1983 she stood for parliament as a member of the Conservative Party, and was elected as the member for South Derbyshire.

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13 October - 1946 - Liverpool - Jewish - Member of Parliament - The Belvedere School - Liverpool Institute High School for Girls - Philosophy, Politics and Economics - St Anne's College - Oxford University - Master's degree - Economic history - London School of Economics - 1975 - 1986 - Birmingham - 1983 - Conservative Party - South Derbyshire

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In 1986, she became a Junior Health Minister, but was forced to resign in 1988 after she issued a warning about salmonella in British eggs that was criticised for being hysterical and over-cautious. In the 1997 general election she lost her parliamentary seat. For five years (1998–2003) she hosted a successful late-evening talk show on BBC Radio Five Live.

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1986 - 1988 - Salmonella - Egg - 1997 - 1998 - 2003 - BBC Radio Five Live

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She is the author of 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).

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1994 - 1996 - 1997 - 1999 - 2000 - 2001 - 1989 - 1992 - Diaries 1987–92 - 2002

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Her diaries caused a sensation, since they revealed she had had a four-year affair with John Major, who was later Prime Minister, starting in 1984 and ending in 1988. During a live television interview on RTÉ's The Late Late Show in 2002 she famously slipped up when, discussing her recent marriage, she referred to her new husband as "John Major", a mistake which made international headlines and which is regularly shown on TV stations worldwide as a notorious faux pas. Also starred in Hell's Kitchen on ITV.

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John Major - Prime Minister - 1984 - 1988 - RTÉ - The Late Late Show - 2002 - Faux pas - Hell's Kitchen - ITV

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