Retired politician Sir Nicholas Winterton will be giving an insight into Westminster life at a charity lunch in Wilmslow next month.
The former Conservative MP for Macclesfield is the guest speaker at the annual lunch and Christmas Fayre of the Wilmslow Support Group for East Cheshire Hospice at the Deanswater Hotel on Thursday, 9th November.
Sir Nicholas will be discussing The Wintertons Unmuzzled, a book written by his daughter Sarah Winterton which charts the political life of her parents.
Mum Ann was the MP for Congleton, making the Wintertons the Conservatives' first husband and wife team at Westminster. They were also the longest serving couple in the history of the House of Commons with a combined service of 66 years.
Their colourful careers covered four prime ministers, two recessions and various scandals.
Ned Spencer, who has recently set up the Wilmslow Support Group of East Cheshire Hospice,"The Wilmslow Support Group has been working for about 12 months now to raise money for East Cheshire Hospice.
"Events have included a Bridge Drive, a sponsored walk and a male voice choir concert!
"Our next event is a lunch and Christmas Fayre. We are delighted that Sir Nicholas Winterton has agreed to be our guest speaker. Tickets are nearly all sold – so be quick!"
Coffee will be served from 11am followed by lunch at 12.30pm.
Tickets are £25 and all proceeds go to East Cheshire Hospice. To book tickets email [email protected], phone Ruth Stones on 07929 907382 or Lisa Ball at the Hospice on 01625 664993.
Photo: From left, Wilmslow Support Group organiser Chris Manley, Lisa Ball, Sir Nicholas Winterton and Sandy Ferguson from WSG.
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The Wintertons have been investigated by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner and he concluded that they misused their MPs' expenses to pay rent for a flat that they had already bought outright. Once the mortgage had been fully repaid, the Wintertons transferred the ownership of the flat into a family trust. Since 2002 they had paid the rent to their trust for living in the flat from their MPs' expenditure. The Committee accepted that the Wintertons had "at no stage attempted to conceal their arrangements". Winterton said of his expenses "I try to tackle matters of expenses in a responsible way, I don't spend any more money than is absolutely necessary". This was at odds with his party's leader, David Cameron, who branded them as "indefensible".[3][4][5] On 25 May 2009 it was announced that both the Wintertons would stand down as MPs at the next general election.[6]
Winterton came in for criticism when he was accused of slapping Labour MP Natascha Engel's bottom. When asked if the accusation was true, Winterton replied: "I'm quite a normal person. Will I slap a colleague on the back, Will I slap a colleague in friendship? The answer is – it is certainly possible."[7]
On 18 February 2010 during a BBC Radio 5 Live interview he defended MPs travelling first class by saying that people who travelled in standard class on trains were a "totally different type of people."[8] Commenting to a BBC reporter, a Conservative spokesman stated that these remarks "...do not in any way represent the views of [...] the Conservative Party."[8].
One had hoped that we were rid of them, for reasons outlined above.