Edward Leigh

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Edward Julian Egerton Leigh (born 20 July 1950) is a politician in the United Kingdom. He is Conservative Member of Parliament for Gainsborough in Lincolnshire, and was first elected in 1983. He has served as Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee since 2001.

He was educated at The Oratory School, the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle (a French school in London) and University College, Durham where he read History and was president of the Durham Union Society. Before entering politics, he practised arbitration and criminal law for Goldsmiths Chambers as a member of the Inner Temple. He was a member of Richmond Borough Council and then the Greater London Council from 1974 until 1981. He is the son of Sir Neville Leigh, one-time Clerk to the Privy Council. He is married with six children, marrying Mary Goodman in September 1984.

Early on the morning of Margaret Thatcher's resignation Leigh and another MP, Michael Brown, visited 10 Downing Street in a desperate hope in trying persuade Thatcher to fight on to another ballot and not to resign. They had been waiting for some time when Charles Powell told them that she couldn't see them and had decided to resign. The cabinet saw them as there was a cabinet meeting that morning. Brown and Leigh were led by Powell out of number 10 and into Whitehall, with tears in their eyes. However, in the leadership challenge, Leigh voted for Michael Heseltine because he said Heseltine had "stabbed" Thatcher in the front and not the back unlike other MP's.

Leigh served as a minister in John Major's government but was sacked in May 1993 due to his opposition to the Maastricht Treaty. He served under Michael Heseltine and pushed hard for Privatisation of the Post Office, which never happened. Leigh worked in the campaign team of John Redwood during the 1995 leadership contest.

Edward Leigh is a Roman Catholic and is known for his opposition to abortion, contraception and genetic research and for his anti-gay stance. In 2003, together with Ann Widdecombe he proposed an amendment opposing repeal of Section 28 of the Local Government Act, which banned the "promotion" of homosexuality. In 2005, just before the General Election, when told that he came bottom of a ranking system based on gay rights, Leigh answered: "I had to giggle as I read the accompanying letter, which informed me that I came last equal with 0% ... I wear it as a badge of honour - the gay vote is not big in Lincolnshire. I was even thinking of mentioning it in my election address." Leigh is also the President of the socially conservative Cornerstone Group [1] and Vice President of the Catholic Union of Great Britain.