David Mellor

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For the industrial designer, see David Mellor (cutler).

David John Mellor QC (born 12 March 1949) is a British Conservative politician and barrister.

Contents 1 Political career 2 Scandal 3 After Parliament 4 See also 5 External links

[edit] Political career

Educated at Swanage Grammar School, he attended Christ's College, Cambridge. He became a barrister in 1972, and a Queens Counsel in 1987. He became the Member of Parliament (MP) for Putney in 1979, and was briefly Arts Minister before becoming Chief Secretary to the Treasury in November 1990 in John Major's first Cabinet. He had been an Home Office Minister previously.

Mellor married Judith on 20 July 1974. He contested West Bromwich East in the General Election that October. He and his wife divorced in 1995.

In 1992 he was made Secretary of State for the newly created Department for National Heritage (during which period he was vernacularly known as "Minister for Fun") but he was forced to resign in September of that year, amid media coverage of an extra-marital affair with actress Antonia de Sancha.

[edit] Scandal

In July 1992, Mellor, then Heritage Secretary in John Major's cabinet, was involved in a kiss-and-tell scandal in which actress Antonia de Sancha sold her story of her affair with Mellor for £30,000. Their conversation had been recorded without his consent, but it turned out it was not illegal as it was not illegal to bug your own property. Max Clifford famously included an unfounded, and almost certainly untrue fact in the story that Mellor had asked her to make love to him whilst he was dressed in his Chelsea F.C. kit. He survived in office after this, though it allowed Fleet Street and the tabloids to round on Mellor, with stories including a free holiday in August 1990 as the guest of a Palestinian Liberation Organisation official's daughter, and another paid for by the ruler of Abu Dhabi. Eventually Mellor was reportedly told after three weeks of revelations that he was becoming an embarrassment to John Major in a phone call from Sir Marcus Fox - chairman of the backbench 1922 Committee.

Mellor resigned on 24 September 1992.

Mellor later suggested that he was hounded out of office, but tabloid editors quickly rejected this. Bill Hagerty, editor of the People said: "This is the first time in ages that David Mellor has done the decent thing." [1]

He contested the 1997 general election, but was defeated by Labour's Tony Colman. However, the election night was more memorable for Mellor's showdown with Referendum Party founder Sir James Goldsmith — Mellor was taunted by Goldsmith and a crowd of other candidates (who gave him a slow hand clap and shouted "Out! Out! Out!") during his speech. Mellor retorted:

"... and Sir James ... you have nothing to be smug about ... I think we have shown tonight that the Referendum Party is dead in the water, and you can get back off to Mexico in the knowledge that your attempt to buy the British political system has failed".

[edit] After Parliament

He was chairman of the incoming Labour government's "Football Task Force" in August 1997 until its dissolution in 1999. He has also pursued a journalism career, and has written for the Evening Standard, The Guardian and The People, usually on sport or the arts. He regularly presented football-related programmes on BBC Radio 5 until 2001, as well as classical music programmes on BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 3. He currently presents If You Like That, You'll Like This and The New CD Show on Classic FM.

Mellor currently lives with his partner, Penelope, Viscountess Cobham, in the Dockmaster's House, a 19th-century listed building at the gateway to the St Katharine Docks, east London. On 30 May 2006 it was reported that Mellor has spoken out against the proposed construction of a 17-storey block of flats in the St Katharine Docks. Mellor said:

"There is no design involved. It would look tawdry down the wrong end of a beach in Torremolinos. This isn't a case of just not wanting it in my backyard. This area is historically significant with listed buildings and it's next to the Tower of London, which is a world heritage site." [2]

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

• Profile at Speakers International

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Hugh Jenkins	Member of Parliament for Putney 1979–1997	Succeeded by Tony Colman
Political offices
Preceded by Norman Lamont	Chief Secretary to the Treasury 1990–1992	Succeeded by Michael Portillo
Preceded by Tim Renton Minister of State for the Arts	Secretary of State for National Heritage 1992	Succeeded by Peter Brooke
Preceded by Richard Luce	Minister of State for the Arts 1990	Succeeded by Tim Renton