Edward Leigh

Who is Edward Leigh?

Sir Edward Julian Egerton Leigh MP is a British Conservative politician. He has represented Gainsborough, Lincolnshire in the House of Commons as its Member of Parliament since 1997, and for its predecessor constituency of Gainsborough and Horncastle between 1983 and 1997. He served as Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee for 10 years between 2001 and 2010, investigating government waste and seeking value for money in government expenditure. Under his leadership, the Public Accounts Committee was responsible for saving the taxpayer over £4 billion. Sir Edward stepped down at the end of the parliamentary session in 2010 as it is customary for a member of the opposition party to hold this post.

Leigh was knighted in the 2013 Birthday Honours for public and political service, and was previously dubbed "the Viscount" in the Commons, in allusion to his landed gentry background.

Leigh later gained a reputation owing to his opposition to abortion and controversial genetic research, and for his defence of Section 28, which made Local Authorities not allowed to "promote the teaching in any maintained-school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship".