Lord Wakeham

The Rt Hon. the Lord Wakeham DL has been Chancellor Emeritus of Brunel University London since 1998, following 15 years as Chancellor of the University, where he oversaw a period of major expansion and improvement.

A successful accountant and businessman, Lord Wakeham was elected to the House of Commons as Conservative MP for Maldon in Essex in 1974.  During the late 1980s, he served as Leader of the House of Commons, when he was responsible for the televising of Parliament, and served as Energy Secretary from 1989 to 1992, where he drew up plans for the privatisation of electricity supply.  

In 1992 he was created a life peer, taking the title Baron Wakeham, of Maldon in Essex, and served as the Leader of the House of Lords until 1994.  A year later, he became chairman of the Press Complaints Commission, where he tackled the relationship between the tabloid press and the royal family, before retiring in 2001.  He was also a director of Enron from 1994 to 2001.   In 1997 he was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Hampshire. 

Two years later, Lord Wakeham headed a Royal Commission on reform of the House of Lords — the resulting Wakeham Report suggested a mainly-appointed Lords be maintained, with a small elected component.