John Whittingdale, newly appointed Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, is one of the more devout followers of Margaret Thatcher. As a young man he worked in her office, and was inside Number 10 Downing Street at the time of her political assassination in November 1990. He has always been clear that he owes his career to the former prime minister.
Whittingdale is also close to Rupert Murdoch. As chairman of the Culture, Media and Sport back bench committee, he would mingle with Murdoch’s News International henchmen to an extent which raised eyebrows. If Whittingdale was subsequently embarrassed by the revelations of criminality inside the News International empire, he never showed it.
