Editing Ed Vaizey (section)

==Political career==
Vaizey first stood for [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Parliament]] at the [[1997 United Kingdom general election|1997 general election]], when he was the Conservative Party candidate for [[Bristol East]]. In the [[2001 United Kingdom general election|2001 general election]], he acted as an [[election aide]] to [[Iain Duncan Smith]]. He unsuccessfully stood at the [[2002 United Kingdom local elections|2002 local elections]] for the [[Safe seat|safe]] Labour [[Wards of the United Kingdom|ward]] of Harrow Road (based around [[Harrow Road|the area of that name]]) in the [[City of Westminster]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Local Elections Archive Project — Harrow Road Ward|url=https://www.andrewteale.me.uk/leap/ward/374/#2005-07-21|access-date=2021-05-15|website=www.andrewteale.me.uk}}</ref>

He is regarded as a moderniser within the Conservative Party, contributing in both policy and image terms. He was a speechwriter for [[Michael Howard]], the then [[leader of the Conservative Party (UK)|Leader of the Conservative Party]], until December 2004, and editor of the ''Blue Books'' series which looked into new approaches to [[Conservative Party (UK)#Policies|Conservative policy]] in areas such as health and transport.

Vaizey was one of [[Michael Howard]]'s inner circle of advisers and a member of a group of [[Young Conservatives (UK)|Young Conservatives]] somewhat disparagingly referred to as the "[[Notting Hill Set]]" along with [[David Cameron]]—elected party leader in December 2005—[[George Osborne]], [[Michael Gove]], [[Nicholas Boles]] and [[Rachel Whetstone]]. Like Gove and Boles, he is a [[fellow]] of the [[Henry Jackson Society]], and also a vice-chairman of [[List of organisations associated with the Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Friends of Poland]].<ref>[http://www.cfofp.co.uk/whoweare.php Conservative Friends of Poland website] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103110641/http://www.cfofp.co.uk/whoweare.php |date=3 November 2012 }}</ref>

===Member of Parliament===
In 2002, Vaizey was selected by Wantage Conservative Association to be its candidate for the [[2005 United Kingdom general election|2005 general election]] to succeed the sitting MP, [[Robert Jackson (Wantage MP)|Robert Jackson]], who subsequently [[crossed the floor]] to Labour. Vaizey won a two-thirds majority in the final ballot of members and was elected as MP in that election, receiving 22,394 votes. His majority was 8,017 over the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]]; this represented 43% of the voters and a 1.9% swing from the Liberal Democrats to the Conservatives.

When first elected to the House of Commons, Vaizey became a member of the Standing Committee on the Consumer Credit Bill. Before being appointed to the [[Opposition frontbench]] he was a member of the Modernisation and Environmental Audit Select Committees and was Deputy Chairman of the Conservative's Globalisation and Global Poverty Policy Group.

In November 2006, Vaizey was appointed to the Conservative [[Official Opposition frontbench|frontbench]] as a Shadow Minister for Culture, overseeing Arts and Broadcasting policy.

In 2009, Ed Vaizey was reported to have claimed expenses for high-end furniture initially delivered to his London home, but intended for his constituency residence in Wantage. He later repaid the costs, acknowledging that some items were of higher quality than necessary, and stated he had not made similar claims before or since.<ref name="Hope">{{cite news |last=Hope |first=Christopher |date=18 May 2009 |title=Ed Vaizey had £2,000 furniture delivered to 'wrong address' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mps-expenses/5340043/Ed-Vaizey-had-2000-furniture-delivered-to-wrong-address-MPs-expenses.html |work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]] |access-date=8 August 2009}}</ref>

In the [[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010 general election]] he received a vote of 29,284, which was 52% of the votes cast, winning an increased majority of 13,457. While the Conservative Party was in negotiations with the Lib Dems in the days after 6 May 2010, Vaizey was appearing regularly on television putting forward the Conservative viewpoint. In the [[2015 United Kingdom general election|2015 general election]] Vaizey increased his majority to 21,749. In the [[2017 United Kingdom general election|2017 general election]] Vaizey's majority was reduced but his share of the vote increased to 54.2%.

Vaizey was one of the [[2019 suspension of rebel Conservative MPs|group of 21 MPs]] who had the [[Whip (politics)|Conservative Whip]] removed in September 2019, sitting as an [[independent politician]] until having the whip restored on 29 October 2019. On 6 November 2019 Vaizey announced his decision not to stand for re-election in the [[2019 United Kingdom general election|2019 general election]].<ref>{{Cite tweet|last=Vaizey|first=Ed|date=6 November 2019|title=After much reflection I have decided not to stand at the next election.|number=1192012923985641472|access-date=6 November 2019|user=edvaizey}}</ref>

=== Ministerial career ===
In 2010, Vaizey was appointed as [[Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries]] with responsibilities in the [[Department for Culture, Media and Sport|Departments for Culture, Media and Sport]] and [[Department for Business, Innovation and Skills|for Business, Innovation and Skills]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Ed Vaizey|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/people/ed-vaizey|work=GOV.UK}}</ref> Vaizey was the longest serving Minister of Culture since the post was created in 1964, serving a total of 2,255 days, exceeding the total set by the first incumbent, [[Jennie Lee, Baroness Lee of Asheridge|Jennie Lee]], by 186 days.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Snow|first1=Georgia|title=Ed Vaizey becomes UK's longest serving arts minister|url=https://www.thestage.co.uk/news/2016/ed-vaizey-becomes-uks-longest-serving-arts-minister/|website=thestage.co.uk|access-date=28 December 2017|date=12 January 2016}}</ref><ref name="Telegraphletter">{{cite news|title=Letters: Saluting Ed Vaizey, a true friend to the creative industries|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/2016/07/20/letters-saluting-ed-vaizey-a-true-friend-to-the-creative-industr/|work=The Telegraph|access-date=28 December 2017|date=21 July 2016}}</ref> In 2013 the professional association for librarians, [[Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals|CILIP]], passed a motion of no confidence in his tenure of the post at its AGM.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-09-22 |title=The library profession says "We have no confidence in you, Mr Vaizey" |url=https://www.publiclibrariesnews.com/2013/09/the-library-profession-says-we-have-no-confidence-in-you-mr-vaizey.html |access-date=2024-09-08 |website=Public Libraries News}}</ref> 

Upon leaving office, over 150 senior figures from the arts and creative industries wrote to the ''Daily Telegraph'' to express their thanks for his service as Minister for Culture and the Digital Economy.<ref name="Telegraphletter" /> In 2011 he was mistakenly informed that he was to be Trade Minister, a post actually intended for [[Ed Davey]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/ed-vaizey-i-was-once-made-minister-for-trade-for-about-half-an-hour-8180956.html|title=Ed Vaizey: 'I was once made Minister for Trade – for about half an hour'|date=27 September 2012|work=The Independent|last=Burrell|first=Ian|access-date=9 January 2018}}</ref>

Vaizey supported continued membership of the [[European Union]] in the [[2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum|2016 referendum]] and is supportive of the [[European Atomic Energy Community]] (Euratom).<ref>{{Cite news | last = Dixon | first = Anabelle | title = 40 Brexit troublemakers to watch: Ed Vaizey | url = https://www.politico.eu/list/brexit-40-troublemakers-ranking/ed-vaizey/ | work = [[POLITICO]] | date = 9 November 2017 | access-date = 26 August 2018}}</ref>

As a minister, Vaizey upheld the policy of free entry to the [[National Museums of the United Kingdom|UK's national museums]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Hope|first1=Christopher|title=Conservatives rule out museum entry charges after 2015 election|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/10549815/Conservatives-rule-out-museum-entry-charges-after-2015-election.html|work=The Telegraph|access-date=28 December 2017|date=4 January 2014}}</ref>  Towards the end of his tenure, the Treasury introduced [[tax credit]]s for theatre, orchestras and museums.<ref>{{cite web|title=Voting record - Ed Vaizey MP, Wantage|url=https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/11905/ed_vaizey/wantage/votes|work=TheyWorkForYou|publisher=mySociety|access-date=28 December 2017}}</ref>  Vaizey also secured £150 million in capital funding from the Treasury to help reform museum storage.<ref>{{cite web|title=UK government's first white paper in over half a century|url=https://en.artmediaagency.com/tag/ed-vaizey/|website=artmediaagency.com|access-date=28 December 2017|archive-date=28 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171228232002/https://en.artmediaagency.com/tag/ed-vaizey/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

He oversaw the separation of English Heritage into two arms – a regulator, now known as [[Historic England]], and a charity, [[English Heritage]].<ref>{{cite web|title=All change at English heritage|url=http://www.cgms.co.uk/blogpage/All+change+at+English+heritage_282.html|website=cgms.co.uk|access-date=28 December 2017|archive-date=29 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171229052151/http://www.cgms.co.uk/blogpage/All+change+at+English+heritage_282.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>  Vaizey also held responsibility for the creative industries and ensured the continuance of the film tax credits, as well as the introduction of tax credits for video games, television and visual effects.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Stuart|first1=Keith|title=Ed Vaizey – video games are as important to British culture as cinema|url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/jul/15/ed-vaizey-video-games-important-british-culture-cinema|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=28 December 2017|date=15 July 2015}}</ref>  As a result, the film industry became the second highest contributor to growth in the [[service sector]] in 2017, growing by 72.4% since 2014, compared to European growth of 8.5%.  During his tenure, the creative industries grew at three times the rate of the UK economy as a whole.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Sweney|first1=Mark|title=UK film industry on a roll as it helps keep economy growing|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jul/26/uk-film-industry-economy-ons-movie-tv-tax-breaks-pound|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=28 December 2017|date=26 July 2017}}</ref> He was dismissed as a minister by [[Theresa May]] on 14 July 2016, and returned to the backbenches.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Asthana|first1=Anushka|title=MPs will want Theresa May to quit, says former minister Ed Vaizey|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/oct/05/ed-vaizey-suggests-theresa-may-should-resign|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=6 December 2017|date=5 October 2017}}</ref> He was appointed a member of the [[Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council|Privy Council]] in July 2016.

[[File:Internet minister Ed Vaizey MP at Broadband Beyond 2015 Where Next for Britain's Broadband Future?.jpg|thumb|right|Vaizey in 2013]]

=== Peerage ===
It was announced on 31 July 2020 that Vaizey was to be raised to the peerage in the [[2019 Dissolution Honours]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=31 July 2020|title=Dissolution Peerages 2019|url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/905975/Dissolution_Peerages_2019.pdf|access-date=1 August 2020|work=GOV.UK}}</ref> He was created '''Baron Vaizey of Didcot''', ''of Wantage in the County of Oxfordshire'' in the afternoon of 1 September.<ref>{{cite web|title=Lord Vaizey of Didcot |url=https://members.parliament.uk/member/1580/career |work=UK Parliament |access-date=1 September 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/notice/3625900 |access-date=4 September 2020 |title=Crown Office |publisher=The London Gazette}}</ref>

As a peer, Vaizey proposed an amendment (and effective delay) to the 2024–25 [[Tobacco and Vapes Bill]] following his visit to the Swiss research facility of leading heated tobacco company [[Philip Morris International]], which paid for Vaizey's flight and accomodation.<ref name=cansa/> He suggested that more research was needed into comparing the harm to human health from heated tobacco relative to the harm of smoking cigarettes. [[Martin McKee]], professor of European public health at the [[London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine]], suggested that a better comparison would be to compare its harm relative to not smoking at all.<ref name=cansa>{{cite news |last1=Davies |first1=Rob |last2=Chapman |first2=Matthew |title=Tory peer proposed delay on heated tobacco ban after Philip Morris visit |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/jun/01/tory-peer-delay-tobacco-ban-philip-morris-visit-lord-vaizey |access-date=1 June 2025 |work=The Guardian |date=1 June 2025}}</ref>