Ben Bradshaw
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Sir Benjamin Peter James Bradshaw (born 30 August 1960) is a British politician who served as
Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport The secretary of state for culture, media and sport, also referred to as the culture secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for strategy and po ...
from 2009 to 2010. A member of the Labour Party, he served as Member of Parliament (MP) for
Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...
from
1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...
to
2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...
. Before entering politics he worked as a
BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...
reporter.


Early life and career in journalism

Bradshaw is the son of an
Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...
priest and former canon of Norwich Cathedral, Peter Bradshaw, and his wife Daphne Murphy. Bradshaw was educated at Thorpe Grammar School, followed by the
University of Sussex The University of Sussex is a public university, public research university, research university located in Falmer, East Sussex, England. It lies mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. Its large campus site is surrounded by the ...
where he read for a degree in German. He also attended the
University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially ), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The university was founded in 1 ...
in Germany while an undergraduate. Between 1982 and 1983, Bradshaw taught English at the Technikum, a school of technology in
Winterthur Winterthur (; ) is a city in the canton of Zurich in northern Switzerland. With over 120,000 residents, it is the country's List of cities in Switzerland, sixth-largest city by population, as well as its ninth-largest agglomeration with about 14 ...
in the Zurich canton of Switzerland. Bradshaw became a
reporter A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...
with the
Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...
'' Express & Echo'' in 1984 and subsequently joined the ''
Eastern Daily Press The ''Eastern Daily Press'' (''EDP'') is a regional newspaper covering Norfolk, northern parts of Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to ...
'' in
Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...
as a reporter in 1985. In 1986 he joined the staff of BBC Radio Devon and became the
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
correspondent for
BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. The service provides national radio stations cove ...
in 1989 and was working in the city when the Berlin Wall fell. In 1991, he became a reporter with BBC Radio's '' The World at One'', contributing to the programme until his election to
Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...
. He won the
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News News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different Media (communication), media: word of mouth, printing, Mail, postal systems, broadcasting, Telecommunications, electronic communication, or through the te ...
Reporter Award in 1993.


Parliamentary career


Election and first term as an MP

Bradshaw was selected to contest the marginal parliamentary seat of Exeter at the 1997 general election after the first choice candidate was deselected by the local Labour party on instructions from Labour party headquarters. The sitting
Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
MP, John Hannam, had retired and the Conservatives chose Adrian Rogers to be their candidate. While Bradshaw is openly gay, Rogers is a leading member of the religious right. During the campaign there were allegations of
homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...
and
sin In religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law or a law of the deities. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered ...
. The result, however, was not close, and Bradshaw was elected as the Labour MP for Exeter with a majority of 11,705. He made his maiden speech in the House of Commons on 4 July 1997. He was the second British MP who was openly gay at the time of first election, 21 minutes after Stephen Twigg. In the Commons, Bradshaw introduced the
Pesticide Pesticides are substances that are used to control pests. They include herbicides, insecticides, nematicides, fungicides, and many others (see table). The most common of these are herbicides, which account for approximately 50% of all p ...
s Act in 1998, which gave more powers to inspectors. He became a Parliamentary Private Secretary to the
Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...
at the Department of Health John Denham in 2000.


Initial ministerial posts

Following the 2001 general election Bradshaw entered
Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...
's government as the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Only days after being appointed to the Foreign Office, he had to answer questions following the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. On 6 March 2002, while answering Parliamentary Questions, Bradshaw accused George Galloway of "being not just an apologist but a mouthpiece for the Iraqi regime over many years". Galloway responded by accusing Bradshaw of being a liar, though after a suspension of the Commons sitting, both men withdrew their comments. Bradshaw became the Deputy to the
Leader of the House of Commons The Leader of the House of Commons is a minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom whose main role is organising government business in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons. The Leader is always a memb ...
Robin Cook in 2002, and was an Under Secretary of State at the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from 2003 until 2006, when he was made a
Minister of State Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...
at the same department. During this period, he was sent to Brussels to negotiate changes to the Common Fisheries Policy on behalf of the British in-shore fishing fleet. In 2003, Bradshaw supported the government's stance on
Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
and voted for the 2003 invasion of Iraq. In 2005, Bradshaw supported the detention of terror suspects without trial and voted for the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005.


Health minister

On 28 June 2007, he was moved to become a Minister of State in the Department of Health and, in addition, was given the Minister for the South West portfolio. Bradshaw was the subject of controversy while Minister for Health. His responses to questioning on Radio 4 about the shortfall in NHS dentistry leading to patients being unable to access NHS dentists and even resorting to treating themselves was to claim that those needing urgent treatment should go to see their GP, which prompted the British Medical Association to observe that a
general practitioner A general practitioner (GP) is a doctor who is a Consultant (medicine), consultant in general practice. GPs have distinct expertise and experience in providing whole person medical care, whilst managing the complexity, uncertainty and risk ass ...
was no substitute for a qualified dentist. Bradshaw also claimed that GPs were operating "gentlemen's agreements" to ensure patients didn't move between surgeries, claims dismissed as "absolute nonsense" by doctors' leaders. On the subject of the National Programme for IT, a scheme dogged by cost overruns, delays, and doubts over its benefit to patients, he commented: "Our use of computer technology in the NHS is becoming the envy of the world. It is saving lives, saving time and saving money. If you talk to health and IT experts anywhere in the world they point to Britain as example of computer technology being used successfully to improve health services to the public." He was also criticised for defending car parking fees at NHS hospitals at a time when Wales was removing parking fees. The BMA called such charges "a tax on the sick", and questioned the legitimacy of trusts making up to £248,000 a month in parking fees. Bradshaw's claims that such charges were necessary to pay for patient care were dismissed by a shadow health spokesman, who commented that it did "not add up" for the government to make such claims in the light of an NHS surplus of £1.8bn. His plan to introduce private management of some NHS trusts was also heavily criticised. The BMA called it a step towards privatising the NHS. Dr. Jonathan Fielden observed that there was no evidence private management was better than public sector management. Professor Allyson Pollock, head of the Centre for International Public Health Policy at the
University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...
, said: "Bringing private management in will simply accelerate the process of privatisation of services which will have catastrophic effects for the patients and the public at large. It will mean less care for everyone, and more money for profits and shareholders". Nigel Edwards, of the
NHS Confederation The NHS Confederation, formerly the National Association of Health Authorities and Trusts, is a membership body for organisations that commission and provide National Health Service services founded in 1990. The predecessor organisation was calle ...
, said the government had tried drafting in private sector management before, at the Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield in 2003, which was not successful. He commented: "What it revealed is that the reason that hospitals tend to fail is often much more complicated and much more difficult than just poor management".


Expenses and period as Culture Secretary

It was claimed in May 2009 that he exploited the MPs' expenses system by claiming the entire interest bill on a property he shares with his partner in west London. Bradshaw has said claims made about his expenses were factually wrong. On 5 June 2009 he was appointed Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. He held this position until the 2010 general election and served as Shadow Culture Secretary until the 2010 Labour Party Shadow Cabinet election.


In opposition

On 7 October 2010 the Labour Party announced that he had failed to be elected to one of the 19 available places in the first Shadow cabinet of new leader Ed Miliband. In 2011, Bradshaw voted for the NATO-led military intervention in Libya. On 5 February 2013, he voted in favour in the House of Commons Second Reading vote on the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill. Following Labour's defeat in the 2015 general election, and the resignation of both Miliband and deputy leader Harriet Harman, Bradshaw announced his intention on 15 May to stand in the Labour Party deputy leadership election. He later gained the minimum 35 nominations required to stand in the ballot with the other candidates. Bradshaw came last in the election. Bradshaw is a former critic of
Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North (UK Parliament constituency), Islington North since 1983. Now an Independent ...
, whom he accused in a September 2016 article of being a "destructive combination of incompetence, deceit and menace". This comment was after Bradshaw was included on an internal Labour list of MPs, issued by mistake, who were implicated in "abusing" Corbyn and his supporters. He supported
Owen Smith Owen Smith (born 2 May 1970) is a British lobbyist and former Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician. Smith was Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Pontypridd (UK Parliament constituency), Pontypridd from 2 ...
in the failed attempt to replace
Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North (UK Parliament constituency), Islington North since 1983. Now an Independent ...
in the 2016 Labour leadership election. However, Bradshaw later changed his position on Jeremy Corbyn, praising his 2017 election performance. In November 2016, Bradshaw opposed a motion in Parliament for the UK to withdraw support for the
Saudi Arabian–led intervention in Yemen On 26 March 2015, Saudi Arabia, leading a coalition of nine countries from West Asia and North Africa, launched a military intervention in Yemen at the request of Yemeni president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi, who had been ousted from the capital, Sa ...
. George Galloway accused Bradshaw of supporting
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...
's regime where men like Bradshaw "are beheaded." Bradshaw claimed during a Commons debate in December 2016 that it is "highly probable" that the result of the 2016 Brexit referendum was manipulated by
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...
. Bradshaw saw this as fitting a pattern of interfering in the business of other nations after the CIA accused Russian hackers of trying to influence US elections. Bradshaw also maintains that the Russians sent him an e-mail with sophisticated malware and maintains this was a cyberattack. Bradshaw said, "The email came to my gmail account, which is more vulnerable than my parliamentary one. What the sender was claiming was potentially extremely useful and political dynamite. It was drafted in a clever way to make it tempting to open." Bradshaw added, "I was the first MP to raise Russia's role in the Brexit vote in 2016. Ever since I have been asking questions about the Kremlin's subversion of our democracy." On 3 February 2022, Bradshaw announced he would not be standing in the 2024 general election.


Other activities

In 2009, Ben Bradshaw won the Stonewall Politician of the Year Award in 2009 for his work to support equality for lesbian, gay and bisexual people. He was given a score of 100% in favour of lesbian, gay and bisexual equality by Stonewall. Bradshaw was sworn in as a member of the Privy Council in 2009, giving him the right to the honorific prefix "
The Right Honourable ''The Right Honourable'' (abbreviation: The Rt Hon. or variations) is an honorific Style (form of address), style traditionally applied to certain persons and collective bodies in the United Kingdom, the former British Empire, and the Commonwealt ...
". In 2013, Bradshaw is a member of the Henry Jackson Society Advisory Council. In 2024, he was a member of Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East.


Personal life

On 24 June 2006, Bradshaw and his partner Neal Dalgleish, who is a
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
producer, registered a
civil partnership A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, primarily created to provide legal recognition for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage, with ch ...
. He was one of the first MPs to do so, and he was the first Cabinet Minister to be in a civil partnership. Bradshaw has asked the Church of England to clarify whether a member of the Church of England clergy who married a same sex partner would be disciplined or defrocked. Bradshaw's brother is Jonathan Bradshaw,
professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...
emeritus of
social policy Some professionals and universities consider social policy a subset of public policy, while other practitioners characterize social policy and public policy to be two separate, competing approaches for the same public interest (similar to MD a ...
at the
University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...
. Bradshaw was knighted in the 2023 Birthday Honours for political and public service.


See also

* Russian interference in the 2016 Brexit referendum


References


External links


Ben Bradshaw MP
''official constituency website'' * *
Pesticides Act 1998
* , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Bradshaw, Ben 1960 births Living people Alumni of the University of Sussex BBC newsreaders and journalists English Anglicans People from Westminster Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Exeter Labour Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies LGBTQ Anglicans English gay politicians LGBTQ members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom Knights Bachelor Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom UK MPs 1997–2001 UK MPs 2001–2005 UK MPs 2005–2010 UK MPs 2010–2015 UK MPs 2015–2017 UK MPs 2017–2019 UK MPs 2019–2024 21st-century English LGBTQ people New Labour Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East