Anthony Michael "Tony" Whittaker (4 May 1932 – 1 April 2016) was a British

solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...

and politician, best known as the co-founder and first leader of

PEOPLE The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...

, forerunner of the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

. Born in

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

, Whittaker was educated at

Warwick School Warwick School is a British Public school (United Kingdom), public school (independent school (UK), independent boarding school, boarding and Day school, day school) for boys, in the market town of Warwick, in Warwickshire, England. Known as ...

and the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

. He completed

National Service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

with the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

, then worked as a solicitor in

Kenilworth Kenilworth ( ) is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Warwick (district), Warwick District of Warwickshire, England, southwest of Coventry and north of both Warwick and Leamington Spa. Situated at the centre of t ...

, where he joined the Conservative Party and was elected to the local council. In 1971, Whittaker married his second wife, Lesley Hill. The two founded their own solicitors' practice back in Coventry. The following year, Lesley accessed a write up in ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' (stylized in all caps) is an American men's Lifestyle journalism, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, available both online and in print. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, funded in part by a $ ...

'' of "a candid conversation with the outspoken population biologist" Dr. Paul Ehrlich. Inspired by the content of this interview, Tony, Lesley, and their friends Michael Benfield and Freda Sanders, organised a meeting which founded PEOPLE. Whittaker served as the party's chair, and was

election agent An election agent is the person legally responsible for the conduct of a candidate's political campaign and to whom election material is sent by those running the election. The term is most used in elections in the United Kingdom, as well as some ...

for Lesley's candidacies in the

February February is the second month of the year in the Julian calendar, Julian and Gregorian calendars. The month has 28 days in common years and 29 in leap years, with the February 29, 29th day being called the ''leap day''. February is the third a ...

and October 1974 UK general elections. Within the party, Whittaker championed the idea of a

basic income Universal basic income (UBI) is a social welfare proposal in which all citizens of a given population regularly receive a minimum income in the form of an unconditional transfer payment, i.e., without a means test or need to perform Work (hu ...

and zero growth, and was a vocal opponent of

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

. Concerned that people did not associate the party name with its ideals, Whittaker championed the party's renaming as the

Ecology Party The Green Party, also known as the Green Party UK, was a Green political party in the United Kingdom. Prior to 1985; it was called the Ecology Party; before that, it was also named PEOPLE. In 1990, it separated into three regional political ...

in 1975. However, by this point, the couple felt that the party was unlikely to achieve its ideals. They moved to

Exmoor Exmoor () is loosely defined as an area of hilly open moorland in west Somerset and north Devon in South West England. It is named after the River Exe, the source of which is situated in the centre of the area, two miles north-west of Simons ...

to pursue self-sufficiency and reduced their involvement. At the 1979 general election, Whittaker stood for the Ecology Party in

North Devon North Devon is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Devon, England. Its council is based just outside Barnstaple, the district's largest town. The district also includes the towns of Ilfracombe, Lynton and Lynmouth and Sout ...

, a seat held by former leader of the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

Jeremy Thorpe John Jeremy Thorpe (29 April 1929 – 4 December 2014) was a British politician who served as the Member of Parliament for North Devon from 1959 to 1979 and as leader of the Liberal Party from 1967 to 1976. In May 1979 he was tried at the Old ...

. He took fourth place with 1.2% of the vote, and gained much publicity for the party. The couple then decided to withdraw from the party, although Tony continued to attend many party conferences, and to support local party candidates.

Green Party of England and Wales The Green Party of England and Wales (GPEW; ), often known simply as the Green Party or the Greens, is a Green politics, green, Left-wing politics, left-wing political party in England and Wales. Since October 2021, Carla Denyer and Adrian Ram ...

,
Anthony (Tony) Michael Whittaker - an appreciation
, 7 April 2016 In later years, Whittaker became manager of the post office in Hennock, and spent his spare time sailing his

yacht A yacht () is a sail- or marine propulsion, motor-propelled watercraft made for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a ...

and developing computer programmes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whittaker, Tony 1932 births 2016 deaths Alumni of the University of Birmingham Conservative Party (UK) councillors Councillors in Warwickshire English environmentalists English solicitors Green Party politicians (UK) People educated at Warwick School Politicians from Coventry 20th-century English lawyers British political party founders