Craig Whittaker
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Craig Whittaker MP |
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Whittaker at the 2010 Conservative Party Conference
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Member of Parliament for Calder Valley |
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Assumed office 6 May 2010 |
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| Preceded by | Christine McCafferty |
| Majority | 4,427 (8.3%) |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Craig Whittaker 30 August 1962 Radcliffe, Lancashire, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Political party | Conservative |
| Spouse(s) | Elaine Wilkinson |
| Children | 3 |
| Religion | Mormon |
Craig Whittaker (born 30 August 1962) is a British Conservative Party politician. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Calder Valley since the 2010 General Election. Craig was re-elected at the General Election in 2015 increasing both his vote and his share of the vote significantly.
He fulfills a variety of roles in Parliament and currently serves as the Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to Karen Bradley, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport. In addition to this, he continues to be an active constituency MP, tabling Parliamentary Questions on behalf of his constituents and speaking in Parliament on issues of local concern.
Craig was born in 1962 in Radcliffe, Lancashire. He emigrated to Australia at the age of five with his parents. In 1984, Craig came back to live in England and settled in Yorkshire.
Craig was a Retail General Manager for a Blue Chip high street retailer and was involved in Retail Management from leaving high school in Australia, after completing his Higher School Certificate. He was the Branch Manager at Wilkinsons for six years and then became the Retail General Manager for PC World for an eleven year period until 2009. Craig uses his experience of the retail industry to assist businesses throughout the Calder Valley and has worked with hundreds of businesses during his time as an MP. Since Craig became the MP for Calder Valley, unemployment in the area has reduced to just 1.8% and hundreds of new businesses have been created as the local economy has improved significantly since the financial crash of 2008. Craig lives in Rastrick, Calderdale.
In 2003, Craig was elected to Calderdale Council for the Brighouse Ward, gaining the seat from the Labour Party after a hard fought campaign.
He stood down from the Council in 2004 when his term as a Councillor ended. In 2007, Craig was once again elected to Calderdale Council, this time for the neighbouring ward of Rastrick, securing 1336 votes for the Conservatives and increasing the Party’s majority. During this period, Whittaker served as the Cabinet Member for Children & Young People.
During Craig’s time on the Cabinet, the Conservative-run Council invested heavily in a number of projects across Calderdale and delivered new Swimming Pools for Sowerby Bridge and Brighouse.
Craig has lived in a number of different places across the Calder Valley, and during his time living in Heptonstall he served on the Parish Council from 1998-2003. He is a former Conservative Party agent, and managed the 2005 General Election campaign of Liz Truss in the Calder Valley. Craig is also a former Chair of the Calder Valley Conservative Party.
Craig was selected to be the Conservative Party’s candidate for Calder Valley in March 2007. In May 2010 he was duly elected as the MP for constituency being the first Conservative to win the seat for 18 years. Craig secured a 3.6% increase in the Conservative vote and won 8 of the 9 wards across the constituency polling 20, 397 votes.
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