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Delia Ann Smith (born 18 June 1941) is an English
cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (profession), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * C ...
and television presenter, known for teaching basic
cookery Cooking, also known as cookery or professionally as the culinary arts, is the art, science and craft of using heat to make food more palatable, digestible, nutritious, or safe. Cooking techniques and ingredients vary widely, from grilling ...
skills in a direct style. One of the best-known celebrity chefs in
British popular culture The culture of the United Kingdom is influenced by its History of the United Kingdom, combined nations' history, its interaction with the cultures of Europe, the individual diverse cultures of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and ...
, Smith has influenced viewers to become more culinarily adventurous. She is also notable for her role as Honorary Life President (with her husband
Michael Wynn-Jones Michael Wynn Jones (born September 1941) is a Welsh writer, editor and publisher. He is an honorary life president of Norwich City with his wife, the former television cook Delia Smith, and was previously the Joint Majority Shareholder of the cl ...
) of
Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...
, where she was previously the Joint Majority Shareholder alongside Wynn-Jones from 1998 to 2024.


Early life

Born to Harold Bartlett Smith (1920–1999), an English RAF
radio operator A radio operator (also, formerly, a wireless operator in British and Commonwealth English) is a person who is responsible for the operations of a radio system and the technicalities in broadcasting. The profession of radio operator has become l ...
and tool salesman, and a Welsh mother, Etty Jones Lewis (1919–2020), in
Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in north-west Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'', and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settleme ...
,
Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...
, her parents divorced when she was 15 years old and her brother was aged 7. Smith attended
Bexleyheath School Bexleyheath Academy is a mixed secondary school state school in Bexleyheath, in the London Borough of Bexley. Students typically join the school in year 7 or enter into the sixth form. History The school was formed as a result of the merger in ...
, leaving at the age of 16 without any qualifications. Her first job was as a hairdresser; she also worked as a shop assistant and in a travel agency.


Cookery career

In 1962 at age 21, she started work in a small restaurant in
Paddington Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough of the County of London, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station, designed b ...
, washing dishes before moving on to waitressing, then helping with the cooking. She started reading English cookery books in the
Reading Room Reading room may refer to: * Reference library * British Museum Reading Room The British Museum Reading Room, situated in the centre of the Great Court of the British Museum, used to be the main reading room of the British Library. In 1997, ...
at the
British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
, trying out the recipes on a
Harley Street Harley Street is a street in Marylebone, Central London, named after Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer.Daily Mirror The ''Daily Mirror'' is a British national daily Tabloid journalism, tabloid newspaper. Founded in 1903, it is part of Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), which is owned by parent company Reach plc. From 1985 to 1987, and from 1997 to 2002, the tit ...
's'' newly launched magazine. Their deputy editor was
Michael Wynn-Jones Michael Wynn Jones (born September 1941) is a Welsh writer, editor and publisher. He is an honorary life president of Norwich City with his wife, the former television cook Delia Smith, and was previously the Joint Majority Shareholder of the cl ...
, whom she later married. Her first piece featured
kipper A kipper is a whole herring, a small, oily fish, that has been split in a butterfly fashion from tail to head along the dorsal ridge, gutted, salted or pickled, and cold-smoked over smouldering wood chips (typically oak). In the United Kin ...
pâté Pâté ( , , ) is a forcemeat. Originally, the dish was cooked in a pastry case; in more recent times it is more usually cooked without pastry in a terrine. Various ingredients are used, which may include meat from pork, poultry, fish or bee ...
, beef in beer and
cheesecake Cheesecake is a dessert made with a soft fresh cheese (typically cottage cheese, cream cheese, quark or ricotta), eggs, and sugar. It may have a crust or base made from crushed cookies (or digestive biscuits), graham crackers, pastry, ...
. She baked the cake that was used on the cover of
The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...
' album ''
Let It Bleed ''Let It Bleed'' is the eighth studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones, released on 28 November 1969 by London Records in the United States and on 5 December 1969 by Decca Records in the United Kingdom. Released during the ba ...
'', which she later recalled was in response to a request that was for "a gaudy cake" that had to look "really horrible." In 1972 Smith started a column in the ''
Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free newspaper, free of charge in London, Engl ...
''. She later defected to the rival '' Evening News'', but she returned to ''the Standard'' when that newspaper bought out ''the News''. She wrote for both for 12 years; later she wrote a column for the ''
Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...
'' until 1986. Smith's first television appearances came in the early 1970s, as resident cook on
BBC East BBC East is one of BBC's English Regions covering Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire and parts of Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire (including the City of Milton Keynes). It is headquartered in The Forum ...
's regional magazine programme '' Look East'', shown on
BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...
across
East Anglia East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...
. Following this, she was offered her own cookery television show, ''Family Fare'' which ran between 1973 and 1975. Smith became a recognisable figure amongst young people in the 1970s and early 1980s when she was an occasional guest on the BBC's Saturday morning children's programme '' Multicoloured Swap Shop'', giving basic cooking demonstrations. In Taiwan, Smith was compared to Taiwanese chef
Fu Pei-mei Fu Pei-mei (; 1 October 1931 – 16 September 2004) was a Taiwanese waishengren chef. She wrote over 30 cookbooks on Chinese cuisine, and produced and hosted cooking programs on Taiwan Television and Japan's NHK. In 2012, she was posthumously awa ...
, and she was called the "Fu Pei-mei of England". Her 1995 book ''Delia Smith's The Winter Collection'' sold 2 million copies in hardback, becoming the fifth biggest-selling book of the 1990s. In 2003 Smith announced her retirement from television. However, she returned for an eponymous six-part series airing on the BBC in Spring 2008. The accompanying book, an update of her 1971 best-seller ''How to Cheat at Cooking'', was published in February 2008, again becoming a best-seller. In 2010 she appeared in a five-episode series, ''Delia through the Decades'', with each episode exploring a new decade of her cooking. Also in 2010, Smith and
Heston Blumenthal Heston Marc Blumenthal (; born 27 May 1966) is an English celebrity chef, TV personality and food writer. His restaurants include the Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire, a three- Michelin-star restaurant that was named the world's best by the Worl ...
were signed up to appear in a series of 40 commercials on British television for the supermarket chain
Waitrose Waitrose Limited, trading as Waitrose & Partners, is a British supermarket chain, founded in 1904 as Waite, Rose & Taylor, later shortened to Waitrose. In 1937, it was acquired by the John Lewis Partnership, the UK's largest employee-owned b ...
. In February 2013 she announced that she had retired from television cookery programmes, and would concentrate on offering her recipes online. Smith has twice been the guest for
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...
's ''
Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight audio recordin ...
'': first on 5 June 1982, when her choices included "
The Sound of Silence "The Sound of Silence" (originally "The Sounds of Silence") is a song by the American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, written by Paul Simon. The duo's studio audition of the song led to a record deal with Columbia Records, and the original ac ...
" by
Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter known for his solo work and his collaborations with Art Garfunkel. He and Garfunkel, whom he met in elementary school in 1953, came to prominence in the 1960s as Sim ...
and " Llef" by Rhos Male Voice Choir, and again on Christmas Eve 2023, when her choices included "
This Woman's Work "This Woman's Work" is a song written and performed by English singer-songwriter Kate Bush. It was initially featured on the soundtrack of the American film '' She's Having a Baby'' (1988). The song was released as the second single from her ...
" by
Kate Bush Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and dancer. Bush began writing songs at age 11. She was signed to EMI Records after David Gilmour of Pink Floyd helped produce a demo tape. In 1978, at the ...
and "
Happy Happiness is a complex and multifaceted emotion that encompasses a range of positive feelings, from contentment to intense joy. It is often associated with positive life experiences, such as achieving goals, spending time with loved ones, ...
" by
Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973), also known mononymously as Pharrell, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, and fashion designer. He first became known as one half of the music production duo ...
.


The "Delia effect"

It has been claimed that Smith's television series ''Delia's How to Cook'' led to a 10% rise in
egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the ...
sales in Britain and her use of ingredients such as frozen mash and tinned minced beef and onions, or utensils such as an
omelette An omelette (sometimes omelet in American English; see spelling differences) is a dish made from eggs (usually chicken eggs), fried with butter or oil in a frying pan. It is a common practice for an omelette to include fillings such as chiv ...
pan, could cause sell-outs overnight. This phenomenon, dubbed the "Delia effect", was most recently seen in 2008, after her book '' How to Cheat at Cooking'' was published. Her fame (and her relatively uncommon name) has meant that her first name has become sufficient to identify her to the public and the "Delia effect" has become a commonly used phrase to describe a run on a previously poor-selling product as a result of a high-profile recommendation.


Business interests

From 1993 to 1998 Smith worked as a consultant for
Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is a British supermarket and the second-largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company was the largest UK r ...
. In May 1993 she and her husband
Michael Wynn-Jones Michael Wynn Jones (born September 1941) is a Welsh writer, editor and publisher. He is an honorary life president of Norwich City with his wife, the former television cook Delia Smith, and was previously the Joint Majority Shareholder of the cl ...
launched New Crane Publishing to publish Sainsbury's Magazine; the company also published several of Smith's books for
BBC Worldwide BBC Worldwide Ltd. was the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the BBC, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in January 1995. The company monetised BBC brands, selling BBC and other British programming for broadcas ...
. Although Smith and Wynn-Jones sold New Crane Publishing in 2005, Smith continues to be a consultant for Seven Publishing which now publishes the magazine.


Football

In the 2023 episode of Desert Island Discs, hosted by Lauren Lavern, Smith said her husband
Michael Wynn-Jones Michael Wynn Jones (born September 1941) is a Welsh writer, editor and publisher. He is an honorary life president of Norwich City with his wife, the former television cook Delia Smith, and was previously the Joint Majority Shareholder of the cl ...
introduced her to the "beautiful" game of
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
. Smith has developed other business interests outside of her culinary ventures, notably a majority shareholding of 53% in the football team
Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...
, with her husband. Both Smith and Wynn-Jones were season ticket holders at Norwich and were invited to invest in the club, which had fallen on hard times. She has had a significant impact on improving matchday catering standards and food revenues, only stepping back from day to day responsibilities on reaching the age of 70. In February 2005, Smith attracted attention during the half-time break of a home match against
Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...
. At the time Norwich were fighting an ultimately unsuccessful battle against relegation from the
Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...
, and to rally the crowd, Smith grabbed the microphone from the club announcer on the pitch and said: "A message for the best football supporters in the world: we need a 12th man here. Where are you? Where are you? Let's be 'avin' you! Come on!" Norwich lost the match 3–2. Smith denied suggestions in the media that she had been drunk while delivering the speech though she did concede that "maybe in the heat of the moment I didn't choose the best words". In 2008, it was reported that Smith had rejected an offer from Norfolk-born billionaire Peter Cullum, who wished to invest £20 million in the club, but wanted Smith and the other shareholders to relinquish their holdings. Both Smith and Cullum denied this offer had been made, with Smith telling the football club's AGM that she and her husband would be "very happy to stand aside" as majority shareholders if someone came along with an offer to buy them out. In August 2011, Smith announced that, anticipating her 70th birthday, she was stepping down from her catering role at Norwich City's
Carrow Road Carrow Road is a association football, football stadium in Norwich, Norfolk, England, and is the home of EFL Championship club Norwich City F.C., Norwich City. The stadium is east of the city, near Norwich railway station and the River Wensum. ...
football ground: "It is now time for a fresh approach and a younger team who, I am confident, will take the business even further." Smith & Wynn-Jones's twenty-eight years of involvement with Norwich City came to an end on 23 October 2024, when the club's other shareholders approved a deal that allowed Norfolk Holdings, a business group lead by the American businessman
Mark Attanasio Mark L. Attanasio (born September 29, 1957) is an American businessman who is currently the principal owner of the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team and the majority shareholder of English football club Norwich City FC. As of 2023, he is worth an ...
that previously purchased a 40.4% stake in the club in April 2024, to increase their stake in the club to 85% and take majority control, with Smith and Wynn-Jones's shares decreasing to 10%. As part of the deal, Smith and Wynn-Jones also agreed to stand down from their roles as club directors and become honorary life presidents of the club.


Honours and awards

Already an
Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(OBE), Smith was appointed
Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...
(CBE) in the
2009 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours 2009 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as ...
, "in recognition of ... ercontribution to television cookery and recipe writing". In 1996, Smith was awarded an honorary degree by the
University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...
, a fellowship from St Mary's University College (a college of the
University of Surrey The University of Surrey is a public research university in Guildford, Surrey, England. The university received its Royal Charter, royal charter in 1966, along with a Plate glass university, number of other institutions following recommendations ...
) and a Fellowship from the
Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...
. In 1999 she received an honorary degree from the
University of East Anglia The University of East Anglia (UEA) is a Public university, public research university in Norwich, England. Established in 1963 on a campus university, campus west of the city centre, the university has four faculties and twenty-six schools of ...
and in 2000, a fellowship from
Liverpool John Moores University Liverpool John Moores University (abbreviated LJMU) is a public university, public research university in the city of Liverpool, England. The university can trace its origins to the Liverpool Mechanics' School of Arts, established in 1823. This ...
. In 2012 Smith was among the British cultural icons selected by artist Sir Peter Blake to appear in a new version of his most famous artwork – the Beatles' ''
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' (often referred to simply as ''Sgt. Pepper'') is the eighth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. Released on 26May 1967, ''Sgt. Pepper'' is regarded by musicologists as an early concept ...
'' album cover – to celebrate the British cultural figures of the last six decades. She was appointed
Member of the Order of the Companions of Honour The Order of the Companions of Honour is an order of the Commonwealth realms. It was founded on 4 June 1917 by King George V as a reward for outstanding achievements. It was founded on the same date as the Order of the British Empire. The orde ...
(CH) in the
2017 Birthday Honours The 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours were awarded a ...
for services to cookery.


Personal life

Smith was baptised in the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
, and attended a
Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...
Sunday School ] A Sunday school, sometimes known as a Sabbath school, is an educational institution, usually Christianity, Christian in character and intended for children or neophytes. Sunday school classes usually precede a Sunday church service and are u ...
, a Congregationalist Brownie group and later a Church of England youth group. At the age of twenty-two, she converted to
Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
. Her first two short religious books, ''A Feast for Lent'' (1983) and ''A Feast for Advent'' (1983), are readings and reflections for these seasons. In 1988 she wrote a longer book on prayer, ''A Journey into God''. Smith became friends with the Catholic art historian
Sister Wendy Beckett Wendy Mary Beckett (25 February 1930 – 26 December 2018), better known as Sister Wendy, was a British Catholic religious sister and art historian who became known internationally during the 1990s when she presented a series of BBC television ...
, selecting Beckett's book, ''100 Best-loved Paintings,'' in her second appearance on ''
Desert Island Discs ''Desert Island Discs'' is a radio programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4. It was first broadcast on the BBC Forces Programme on 29 January 1942. Each week a guest, called a " castaway" during the programme, is asked to choose eight audio recordin ...
'' broadcast in December 2023, four decades apart from her first invitation, in 1982. In 2012 Smith criticised
atheism Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the Existence of God, existence of Deity, deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the ...
, stating that "militant neo-atheists and devout secularists are busting a gut to drive us eligious peopleoff the radar and try to convince us that we hardly exist."


Publications


Cookery books

* ''How to Cheat at Cooking'' (
Ebury Press Ebury Publishing is a division of Penguin Random House, and is a publisher of general non-fiction books in the UK. Ebury was founded in 1961 as a division of Nat Mags and was originally located on Ebury Street in London. It was sold to Centu ...
, 1971) * ''Family Fare'' (
BBC Books BBC Books (also formerly known as BBC Consumer Publishing and BBC Publishing) is an imprint majority-owned and managed by Penguin Random House through its Ebury Publishing division. The minority shareholder is BBC Studios, the commercial subsidia ...
, 1973) * ''Recipes from Country Inns and Restaurants'' (Ebury Press, 1973) * ''The Evening Standard Cookbook'' (
Thames & Hudson Thames & Hudson (sometimes T&H for brevity) is a publisher of illustrated books in all visually creative categories: art, architecture, design, photography, fashion, film, and the performing arts. It also publishes books on archaeology, history, ...
, 1974) * ''Country Recipes from Look East'' (BBC Books, 1975) * ''More Country Recipes: A Second Collection from Look East'' (1976) * ''Frugal Food'' (1976) (Re-issued in October 2008) * ''Cakes, Bakes & Steaks'' (1977) * ''Delia Smith's Book of Cakes'' (1977) * ''Delia Smith's Cookery Course'' (3 volumes: 1978, 1979 & 1980) * ''One is Fun'' (1986) * ''Complete Illustrated Cookery Course'' (1989) () * ''Delia Smith's Christmas'' (1990) * ''Delia Smith's Summer Collection'' (1993) * ''Delia Smith's Winter Collection'' (1995) (winner of the 1996
British Book of the Year The British Book Awards or Nibbies are literary awards for the best UK writers and their works, administered by ''The Bookseller''. The awards have had several previous names, owners and sponsors since being launched in 1990, including the Na ...
award). * ''Delia's How to Cook—Book 1'' (1998) (based on the television series) * ''Delia's How to Cook—Book 2'' (1999) * ''Delia's How to Cook—Book 3'' (2001) * ''The Delia Collection'' (2003) (several themed volumes) * ''Delia's Kitchen Garden: A Beginners' Guide to Growing and Cooking Fruit and Vegetables'' (2004) * ''The Delia Collection – Puddings'' (2006) * ''Delia's Kitchen Garden'' (February 2007) (BBC Books – ) * '' How to Cheat at Cooking'' (February 2008) (
Ebury Press Ebury Publishing is a division of Penguin Random House, and is a publisher of general non-fiction books in the UK. Ebury was founded in 1961 as a division of Nat Mags and was originally located on Ebury Street in London. It was sold to Centu ...
– ) * ''Delia's Happy Christmas'' (October 2009)


Religious and spiritual works

* ''A Feast for Advent'' (Twenty-Third Publications, 1983) * ''A Feast for Lent'' (Bible Reading Fellowship, 1983) * ''A Journey into Prayer'' (Catholic Truth Society, 1986) * ''A Journey into God'' (
Harper & Row Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins, based in New York City. Founded in New York in 1817 by James Harper and his brother John, the company operated as J. & J. Harper until 1833, when ...
, 1988) * ''You Matter: The Human Solution'' (Mensch Publishing, 2022)


References


External links


Delia Online

BBC biography
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Delia English television chefs English food writers Norwich City F.C. Chairmen and investors of football clubs in England English football chairmen and investors British Book Award winners Converts to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism English Roman Catholics People from Bexleyheath People from Woking 1941 births Living people Commanders of the Order of the British Empire English people of Welsh descent Labour Party (UK) people Members of the Order of the Companions of Honour