Jonathan Aitken | |
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Chief Secretary to the Treasury | |
In office 20 July 1994 – 5 July 1995 |
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Prime Minister | John Major |
Preceded by | Michael Portillo |
Succeeded by | William Waldegrave |
Minister for Defence Procurement | |
In office 14 April 1992 – 20 July 1994 |
|
Prime Minister | John Major |
Preceded by | Alan Clark |
Succeeded by | Roger Freeman |
Member of Parliament for South Thanet |
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In office 9 June 1983 – 1 May 1997 |
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Preceded by | Constituency established |
Succeeded by | Stephen Ladyman |
Member of Parliament for Thanet East |
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In office 28 February 1974 – 9 June 1983 |
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Preceded by | Constituency established |
Succeeded by | Constituency abolished |
Personal details | |
Born |
Dublin, Ireland |
30 August 1942
Political party |
Conservative (1966–2004) UKIP (2004–present) |
Alma mater | Christ Church, Oxford Wycliffe Hall, Oxford |
Religion | Anglicanism |
Website | Official website |
Jonathan Aitken | |
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Criminal charge | |
Criminal penalty | 18 months imprisonment |
Criminal status | Released |
Jonathan William Patrick Aitken (born 30 August 1942) is a former Conservative Member of Parliament in the United Kingdom for 24 years, and a former British government Cabinet minister. He was convicted of perjury in 1999 and received an 18-month prison sentence, of which he served seven months. He is currently president of Christian Solidarity Worldwide. Aitken was also a member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom.
Aitken's parents were Sir William Traven Aitken, KBE, a former Conservative MP, and the Hon. Penelope Aitken, MBE, JP, daughter of John Maffey, 1st Baron Rugby. Aitken is a great-nephew of newspaper magnate and war-time minister Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook (Lord Beaverbrook). His sister is the actress Maria Aitken and his nephew is the actor Jack Davenport. He is godfather to James Abbott, the son of Labour left-winger Diane Abbott.
In 1979, Aitken married Lolicia Olivera Azucki, a daughter of O. Azucki of Zurich, Switzerland; they divorced in 1998. With his first wife, he had twin daughters and one son,Alexandra and Victoria Aitken, and William Aitken respectively. In 1999, DNA testing confirmed that Petrina Khashoggi, putative daughter of billionaire arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, was Aitken's biological child, the result of an affair with Khashoggi's then-wife Soraya (née Sandra Daly). He married his second wife, the Hon. Elizabeth Harris, daughter of David Rees-Williams, 1st Baron Ogmore, TD, PC, in June 2003.