Bill Wiggin

William David Wiggin (born 4 June 1966) is a British Conservative Party politician, Member of Parliament and Shadow Minister for Agriculture & Fisheries. He has held the seat of Leominster since the 2001 election.

Early life

Wiggin was born in London in 1966.^[1] He attended Eton and later read Economics at the University of Wales, Bangor, gaining a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in 1988.^{[2][dead link]} He also served in the Royal Welch Fusiliers in the TA, being a platoon commander for Holyhead, Bangor and Caernarfon.

Following this, Wiggin worked as a Trader in Foreign Exchange Options for UBS from 1991-3, then was an Associate Director of Kleinwort Benson from 1994-8, then as a manager in the Foreign Exchange department of Commerzbank from 1998.^{[3][dead link]}

Political career

Wiggin was selected as the Conservative candidate for Burnley for the 1997 election. He came second to Peter Pike, who recorded a 17,062 majority over him.^[4] Returning to his roots, he was selected as the Conservative Party candidate in the safe seat of Leominster in April 1999, replacing Peter Temple-Morris, who had defected to the Labour Party. He won his seat in 2001 with a 10,367 majority over his Liberal Democrat opponent.

Initially a backbencher, he became a member of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs select committee in 2002. During 2003, Michael Howard appointed him to the position of Shadow Minister for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Shadow Secretary of State for Wales.

In January 2009, Wiggin became a whip.^[5]

He was re-elected at the 2005 general election with a 2.4% swing in his favour. In the reshuffle following the election, he was moved to Shadow Minister of Agriculture & Fisheries, where he has remained.

Wiggin has voted against a blanket ban on smoking in pubs and restaurants, the 2004 Hunting Bill, and some sections of the Prevention of Terrorism bills.

During parish council elections in Leominster during September 2009, Wiggin complained to the Returning Officer about the leaflets of a candidate who was standing to protest at Wiggin's parliamentary expenses. The candidate, Jim Miller, was disqualified by the returning officer, who was also the chief executive of the Tory-run Herefordshire County Council. This left the Conservative candidate unopposed. According to The Telegraph, the candidate was disqualified "over a technicality that previously had been resolved."^[6]

Expenses claims

The Telegraph reported during the disclosure of MP's expenses that Wiggin had wrongly claimed more than £11,000 for mortgage interest.^[5] Wiggin replied "I have not claimed any money that I should not have," but admitted wrongly filled in application forms, writing his constituency address instead of his London home, until the problem was noticed in 2006. ^[7]

Also between 2004 and 2006, Wiggin "usually claimed" just under the maximum claimable without a receipt for per month for council tax, utilities and phone costs. For utilities and telephone bills, Wiggin claimed £5,760 a year. The council tax bill was £2,520 more than the highest council tax band.^[8] Jim Miller, who was disqualified from standing in Parish Council elections after an intervention by Wiggin, complained to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, writing "There are people in our constituency who have been taken to court for failing to pay council tax sums smaller than the sums Mr Wiggin has wrongly claimed."^[8]

Personal life

Wiggin is the son of Jerry Wiggin, former MP for Weston-super-Mare. He married his wife Camilla (Milly) in July 1999 and they have three children; Rosie, Jack and Toby. They live near Ledbury, Herefordshire.

Bibliography

• A Better Agenda for the Environment published by Exposure Publishing, an imprint of Diggory Press ISBN 1846850673

References

External links

• Bill Wiggin MP homepage
• TheyWorkForYou.com - Bill Wiggin
• The Public Whip Bill Wiggin voting record
• BBC Politics page
• Open Directory Project - Bill Wiggin directory category