Phillip Whitehead (30 May 1937 – 31 December 2005) was a British Labour politician, television producer and writer.

Early life

Born in

Matlock Bath Matlock Bath is a village and civil parish in Derbyshire, England. It lies in the Peak District, south of Matlock on the main A6 road, and approximately halfway between Buxton and Derby. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census wa ...

, Derbyshire, he was adopted by a local family in Rowsley, and attended

Lady Manners School Lady Manners School is an English secondary school located in Bakewell, a market town in the Peak District National Park, Derbyshire. It was founded on 20 May 1636 by Grace, Lady Manners, who lived at Haddon Hall, the current home of Lord and ...

Bakewell Bakewell is a market town and civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England, known also for its local Bakewell pudding. It lies on the River Wye, about 13 miles (21 km) south-west of Sheffield. In the 2011 census, t ...

and

Exeter College, Oxford (Let Exeter Flourish) , old_names = ''Stapeldon Hall'' , named_for = Walter de Stapledon, Bishop of Exeter , established = , sister_college = Emmanuel College, Cambridge , rector = Sir Richard Trainor ...

, where he obtained his BA degree. Whitehead went up to Oxford following in his adoptive parents' footsteps as a Conservative. He was President of the Oxford University Conservative Association and the

Oxford Union The Oxford Union Society, commonly referred to simply as the Oxford Union, is a debating society in the city of Oxford England, whose membership is drawn primarily from the University of Oxford. Founded in 1823, it is one of Britain's oldest ...

in 1961.

Career

Whitehead was an independent documentary producer in the early 1960s and later an editor with the BBC and ITV from 1967 to 1970.

House of Commons

After standing unsuccessfully at West Derbyshire in

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo ...

, he represented Derby North as a Labour MP from 1970 to 1983, when he was defeated by the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Greg Knight The Right Honourable Sir Gregory Knight (born 4 April 1949) is a British politician, author and musician. He has served as the Conservative MP for East Yorkshire since 2001, having previously served as the MP for Derby North from 1983 to 1997 ...

. He tried to win back the seat in 1987 but was beaten once again. Whitehead was a member of several parliamentary committees: * Member,

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold human rights, democracy and the rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it has 46 member states, with a p ...

WEU The Western European Union (WEU; french: Union de l'Europe occidentale, UEO; german: Westeuropäische Union, WEU) was the international organisation and military alliance that succeeded the Western Union (WU) after the 1954 amendment of the 1948 ...

* Member, Annan Committee on the Future of Broadcasting * Member, Commons Select Committee on Home Affairs, which abolished ' sus' * Front Bench Spokesman on Higher Education and the Arts

Back to television

After his defeat at the 1983 general election, Whitehead returned to television as a producer and director. He was also author of several books derived, with the exception of his Fabian essays, from the television series he produced: * ''The Writing On The Wall: Britain in the Seventies'' (London: Michael Joseph, 1985); * ''Dynasty: The Nehrus and the Gandhis'' (1997; with Jad Adams; ) * contributor to ''Changing States'', Fabian Essays, ''Ruling Dimension'' *'' The Windsors—A Dynasty Revealed 1917–2000'' (2000; with Piers Brendon: ; original 1994: ) * ''Stalin, a Time for Judgement'' In 1988 he was MacTaggart Memorial Lecturer at the Edinburgh TV Festival.

European Parliament

He was a Labour

member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

from 1994 to his death, first serving as MEP for Staffordshire East and Derby, and later as one of the members for the

East Midlands The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Leicestershire, Derbyshire, L ...

. On 23 July 2004 he was elected chair of the Parliamentary Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection. He was also member of the European Parliament's African, Caribbean and Pacific Joint Parliamentary Assembly and chair of the European Parliamentary Labour Party. A list of EP committees of which Whitehead was a member: * Member, EP Committee for Environment, Public Health, Consumer Protection * Substitute member, EP Committee for Culture, Youth, Education, Media * Chair, European Parliament Consumer Intergroup * Member, Vice-President, EP delegation for relations with Czech Republic * Member, EP delegation to EU Bulgaria Joint Parliamentary Committee * Member and co-ordinator, EP Committee of Enquiry into BSE * Chair, European Parliamentary Labour Party * Member, EP Committee for Environment, Public Health and Consumer Protection * Substitute member, EP Committee for Culture, Youth, Media and Sport * Member, EP Temporary Committee on

Foot and Mouth Disease Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) or hoof-and-mouth disease (HMD) is an infectious and sometimes fatal viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals, including domestic and wild bovids. The virus causes a high fever lasting two to six days, follow ...

* Member, EP delegation for relations with Czech Republic * Member, Consumer Forum

Intergroup Intergroups are formed of Members of the European Parliament from any political group and any committee, with a view to holding informal exchanges of views on particular subjects and promoting contact between Members and civil society. Intergroups ...

* Chair, Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee * Substitute Member, Environment, Public Health and Food Safety Committee * Member, ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly * Member, European Parliament delegation for relations with Romania Other professional memberships held by Whitehead: * Director, Brook Associates TV production company * Chair of the

Fabian Society The Fabian Society is a British socialist organisation whose purpose is to advance the principles of social democracy and democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist effort in democracies, rather than by revolutionary overthrow. T ...

* Council member and Chair of the Consumers' Association * Chairman of Statesman-Nation Publications

Death

He retained a close association with

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, especially the

area, throughout his life. Whitehead was taken ill on 31 December 2005 and died later that evening in a hospital in Chesterfield from a heart attack aged 68. In recognition of his service to the city The Phillip Whitehead Memorial Library, a public library on Chaddesden Park in Derby, was opened in March 2013.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Whitehead, Phillip 1937 births 2005 deaths Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford BBC television producers Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for constituencies in Derbyshire Emmy Award winners English television producers Labour Party (UK) MEPs Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies MEPs for England 1994–1999 MEPs for England 1999–2004 MEPs for England 2004–2009 National Union of Railwaymen-sponsored MPs People from Derbyshire Dales (district) Politics of Lincolnshire Presidents of the Oxford Union Presidents of the Oxford University Conservative Association UK MPs 1970–1974 UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 Chairs of the Fabian Society