Giles Shaw

Who was Giles Shaw?

Sir John Giles Dunkerley Shaw, known as Giles Shaw, was a British Conservative Party politician.

Shaw was born in York, the son of an engineer. He was educated at Sedbergh School and St. John's College, Cambridge, joining the Conservative association and becoming President of the Cambridge Union for Michaelmas term, 1954.

On returning to York, he became an executive of the confectionery firm Rowntree Mackintosh, rising to advertising manager, then marketing director. He was an advertising manager and chairman of the Conservative Divisional Executive.

Shaw contested Kingston upon Hull West in 1966. He was Member of Parliament for Pudsey from 1974 until he retired in 1997.

He held a number of ministerial posts during the Thatcher administration: Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Northern Ireland Office; Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department of Environment; Parliamentary Under- Secretary, Department of Energy; Minister of State, Home Office; Minister of State, Department of Trade and Industry

He was also elected treasurer of the 1922 Committee in 1988, the Speaker's Panel of Chairmen and later became Chairman of the Science and Technology Committee. He was Chairman of Governors at Sedbergh School from 1992 to 1997.