Patience Wheatcroft
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This article is part of the Revolving Door project of Spinwatch. |
Patience Wheatcroft (Baroness Wheatcroft) is a Conservative member of the House of Lords.[1] She was made a life peer in December 2010.[2] She is a former editor of FT.com[3], the Sunday Telegraph and the Wall Street Journal Europe.[4]
In 2014 Wheatcroft was appointed as a member of the fracking industry funded 'independent' Task Force on Shale Gas.
Contents
Controversies
Huawei and phone hacking
In 2011, Wheatcroft was named as a member of the board of Huawei Technologies Co. and was tasked with "advising the company on building a positive reputation". The appointment coincided with parliament investigating whether a Huawei telecom-equipment contract made the UK vulnerable to hacking. In a Lords debate, Wheatcroft stood up for Huawei and spoke of the positive work they are doing, afterwards she said her comments did not break the House of Lords rules because she was "not speaker on their behalf. I was speaking on my own behalf."[5]
Financial revolving door
In 2011 Wheatcroft sat on the joint committee that scrutinised the UK's Draft Financial Services Bill, which introduces a new structure for financial regulation. After this committee disbanded shortly after it reported in 2011, she took up a number of paid roles for financial and lobbying companies. [6]
Fracking task force member
In 2014 Wheatcroft was announced as a member of a new fracking industry funded 'independent' Task Force on Shale Gas. Critics against this appointment pointed to her previous role as a non-executive director of Barclays plc, which has financial interests in shale gas, as well as consultancy work for lobbying firms.
House of Lords committees
Other committees include:
- Finance Bill Sub-Committee Lords 2014-
- Olympic and Paralympic Legacy Committee Lords 2013-13
- Finance Bill Sub-Committee Lords 2012-13
- Constitution Committee (L) Lords 2012-
- Special Public Bill Committee Lords 2012-12
Directorships and advisory roles
Wheatcroft sat on the board of think tank Policy Exchange from June 2012 until November 2013.
Financial sector
Wheatcroft is a non-executive director at wealth management firm St James’s Place plc (since 2012) and at Fiat S.p.A (automobiles)
She was a non-executive director at Barclays in 1 January 2008, it was also reported that she would be earning earning £65,000 for 25 days' work as a non-executive.[7]. Wheatcroft left this role in 30 September 2009 when appointed editor of the Wall Street Journal which precluded her from holding any corporate directorships[8]
Property
Non-executive director at West End property investment group, Shaftesbury plc, March 2008 until 30 September 2009.[8]
Other
Director of Association of Leading Visitor Attractions, since 20 September 2012.[9]
Director of PJW Advisors limited, March 2008.[9]
She sat on the UK advisory board of Huawei Technologies until July 2014.[10]
Lobbying consultancies
Baroness Wheatcroft is a paid 'business consultant (legal services' to lobbyist-law firm DLA Piper, which represents some of the largest financial firms in the world. [2]
She is also a paid member of the advisory board of financial and corporate lobbyists Pelham Bell Pottinger[2], a role she has held since 2012.[11]
She was a task force member of the Henry Jackson Initiative 2012 report 'Towards an Inclusive Capitalism'.
Non-financial interests
- Member, UK-India Round Table[2]
- Visiting Fellow, Centre for Corporate Reputation, Oxford University[2]
- Trustee, British Museum[2]
- Member, Advisory Board, Reuters Institute for Study of Journalism[2]
- Trustee, Policy Exchange, June 2012 until November 2013 [9]
Affiliations
Notes
- ↑ Baroness Wheatcroft, www.parliament.uk, accessed 8 April 2013.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Baroness Wheatcroft, uk.parliament.co.uk, accessed 11 October 2014
- ↑ Katherine Levy WSJ Europe brings in Tracy Corrigan for editor role Media Week, 20 December 2010, accessed 13 October 2014
- ↑ Baroness Patience Wheatcroft, Pelham Bell Pottinger, accessed 8 April 2013.
- ↑ Politics and Business in the House of Lords, Wall Street Journal, 10 November 2014, accessed 10 December 2014
- ↑ add ref
- ↑ Stephen Brook Wheatcroft quits journalism The Guardian, 13 December 2007, accessed 13 October 2014
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Annual report 2009 Shaftesbury, accessed 13 October 2009
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Patience Wheatcroft OpenCorporates, accessed 13 October 2014
- ↑ Register of lords interests Parliament UK, accessed 13 October 2014
- ↑ Melanie Newman House of Bankers: 16% of Lords are paid by City firms The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, 10 July 2012, accessed 9 October 2014
