Charles Goodson-Wickes, DL (born 7 November 1945) is a company director, business consultant and consulting physician. From 1987 to 1997 he was the British Conservative

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

. He served in The Life Guards in the British Army, attaining the rank of

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

, and served in the

First Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

. He was the principal for two occupational health practices, advising

Barclays Bank Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...

, Rio Tinto and other multi-national companies from 1980 to 1994. He was a consulting physician for

BUPA Bupa , legally British United Provident Association Limited, is an international health insurance and healthcare group with over 38 million customers worldwide. Bupa's origins and global headquarters are in the United Kingdom. Its main countrie ...

from 1976 to 1986. He was the founder chairman of the Countryside Alliance. He is the great-grandson of Sir Frank Fox,

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(1874-1960).

Education

Goodson-Wickes was educated at Charterhouse, St Bartholomew's Hospital and

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

. He is qualified both as a

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

(1970) and as a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

(called to the Bar in 1972).

Political career

A lifelong member of the Conservative Party, Goodson-Wickes was elected to the House of Commons in 1987 representing

, having previously unsuccessfully contested Islington Central in 1979. While an MP he served as

Parliamentary Private Secretary A Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) is a Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom who acts as an unpaid assistant to a minister or shadow minister. They are selected from backbench MPs as the 'eyes and ears' of the minister in the H ...

in the Departments of the Treasury, Environment and Transport. Goodson-Wickes lost his Wimbledon seat to Labour in the 1997 landslide win. He was an adviser on Public Appointments, V-C of Defence Ctte, and an Industry and Parliament Trust fellow. After Parliament, he served as V-Chm CFCC (Conservative Foreign and Commonwealth Council) 1997–2011.

Military career

Goodson-Wickes was a parachute-trained British Army officer and served as surgeon captain (medical officer) in The Life Guards, serving in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

(1973–1977). In 1977 he was appointed as Silver Stick medical officer, Household Cavalry. He remained a member of Regular Army Reserve of Officers (RARO) until 2000. He re-enlisted in 1991 as a

to serve in the

with HQ 7th Armoured Brigade, seeing action in the advance from

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

through

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

to the liberation of

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

. He was the first sitting member of the House of Commons to see active service in the armed forces since World War II.

Business career

Goodson-Wickes has served as director of two

FTSE 250 The FTSE 250 Index ( "Footsie") is a capitalisation-weighted index consisting of the 101st to the 350th largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange. Promotions and demotions to and from the index occur quarterly in March, June, Septemb ...

companies: Nestor Healthcare Group Plc (1993–1999) and Gyrus Group Plc (1997–2007) and other companies. He is currently the chief executive of consultancy company Medarc Ltd and the chairman of the board of directors Thomas Greg and Sons Ltd, security printers operating in North and South America, India, China and the Philippines.

Charity and public service

Goodson-Wickes was founder chairman (1997–1999) and is now patron of the Countryside Alliance. Previously he was chairman of British Field Sports Society (1994–97) and negotiated the merger with the Countryside Business Group and the Countryside Movement. He was chairman of the Rural Trust from 1999, until absorbed into the Prince's Countryside Fund in 2014. From 1998 to 2007 Goodson-Wickes was chief executive of th
London Playing Fields Foundation
(chairman 1997–1998) and a member of the London Sports Board (2000–2003). He is vice president of the Great Bustard Group (since 2008) which is re-introducing the great bustard to

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

. He is vice president (since 1990) of the Ex-Servicemen's Mental Welfare Society, better known as

Combat Stress Combat stress reaction (CSR) is acute behavioral disorganization as a direct result of the trauma of war. Also known as "combat fatigue", "battle fatigue", or "battle neurosis", it has some overlap with the diagnosis of acute stress reaction used ...

. He was the director general of Canning House (2010–12), the London-based foundation dedicated to the promotion of diplomatic, political, commercial and cultural relations between the UK, Latin America and Iberia. He is a

Freeman of the City of London The Freedom of the City of London started around 1237 as the status of a 'free man' or 'citizen', protected by the charter of the City of London and not under the jurisdiction of a feudal lord. In the Middle Ages, this developed into a freedom or ...

(2014) and has been a Deputy Lieutenant for Greater London since 1999. He was appointed as the Representative Deputy Lieutenant for the London Borough of

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

in 2011.

References

*''Times Guide to the House of Commons'',

Times Newspapers Limited News Corp UK & Ireland Limited (trading as News UK, formerly News International and NI Group) is a British newspaper publisher, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the American mass media conglomerate News Corp. It is the current publisher o ...

, 1997 {{DEFAULTSORT:Goodson-Wickes, Charles 1945 births Living people Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 Deputy Lieutenants of Greater London People educated at Charterhouse School