William Stephen Ian Whitelaw, 1st Viscount Whitelaw, was a British Conservative Party politician who served in a wide number of Cabinet positions, most notably as Home Secretary from 1979 to 1983 and as de facto Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1988. He was Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1991.
Richard Edward Geoffrey Howe, Baron Howe of Aberavon,, known from 1970 to 1992 as Sir Geoffrey Howe, was a British politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1989 to 1990. A member of the Conservative Party, he was Margaret Thatcher's longest-serving Cabinet minister, successively holding the posts of chancellor of the Exchequer, foreign secretary, and finally leader of the House of Commons, deputy prime minister and lord president of the Council. His resignation on 1 November 1990 is widely considered to have precipitated the leadership challenge that led to Thatcher's resignation three weeks later.
Sir Malcolm Leslie Rifkind is a British politician who served in the cabinets of Margaret Thatcher and John Major from 1986 to 1997, and most recently as chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament from 2010 to 2015. He is also known for his advocacy of a pro-European stance within his party's policies.
Leon Brittan, Baron Brittan of Spennithorne, was a British Conservative politician and barrister who served as a European Commissioner from 1989 to 1999. As a member of Parliament from 1974 to 1988, he served several ministerial roles in Margaret Thatcher's government, including Home Secretary from 1983 to 1985.
Stephen James Dorrell is a British Liberal Democrat politician. He served as the Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Loughborough between 1979 and 1997 and then for Charnwood from 1997 to 2015.
Nicholas Walter Lyell, Baron Lyell of Markyate, PC, QC was an English Conservative politician, known for much of his active political career as Sir Nicholas Lyell.
John Birt, Baron Birt is a British television executive and businessman. He is a former Director-General (1992–2000) of the BBC.
Joel Barnett, Baron Barnett, was a Labour Party politician. As Chief Secretary to the Treasury in the late 1970s, he devised the Barnett Formula that allocates public spending in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Richard Andrew Ryder, Baron Ryder of Wensum, is a British Conservative Party politician. A former Member of Parliament (MP) and government minister, he was made a life peer in 1997 and was a member of the House of Lords from 1997 to 2021.
Sir Michael Checkland was Director-General of the BBC from 1987 to 1992, being appointed after the forced resignation of Alasdair Milne.
Alasdair David Gordon Milne was a British television producer and executive. He had a long career at the BBC, where he was eventually promoted to Director-General, and was described by The Independent as "one of the most original and talented programme-makers to emerge during television's formative years".
Sir Charles John Curran was an Irish-born British television executive and Director-General of the BBC from 1969 to 1977.
John Julian Ganzoni, 2nd Baron Belstead, Baron Ganzoni, was a British Conservative politician and peer who served as Leader of the House of Lords under Margaret Thatcher from 1988 to 1990.
Sir Anthony Michael Vaughan Salz is a British solicitor. He sat on the Board of Governors of the BBC from 1 August 2004, after the resignation of the former Vice Chairman, Lord Ryder, and was Acting Chairman in 2006 following the resignation of Michael Grade as BBC Chairman on 28 November 2006, Salz became Acting Chairman, and continued in this position until the BBC Trust succeeded the Governors on 1 January 2007.
The National Enterprise Board (NEB) was a United Kingdom government body. It was set up in 1975 by the Labour government of Harold Wilson, to support the government's interventionist approach to industry. In 1981 the Conservative government of Margaret Thatcher, combined the NEB with the National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) to form the British Technology Group.
The Zircon affair was an incident in 1986 and 1987 caused by the planned broadcast on the BBC of a television programme about the ultimately cancelled Zircon signals intelligence satellite, as part of the six-part Secret Society series. It raised many important issues in the British constitution, particularly concerning parliamentary privilege and "gagging orders".
Marmaduke James Hussey, Baron Hussey of North Bradley, known as Duke Hussey, was Chairman of the Board of Governors of the BBC from 1986 to 1996, serving two terms in that role.
Sir Robert Michael Marshall,, usually known as Michael Marshall, was a British businessman, politician, cricketer and author.
The BBC Trust was the governing body of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) between 2007 and 2017. It was operationally independent of BBC management and external bodies, and its stated aim was to make decisions in the best interests of licence-fee payers. On 12 May 2016, it was announced in the House of Commons that, under the next royal charter, the regulatory functions of the BBC Trust were to be transferred to Ofcom.
Sir Richard Trevor Langford Francis was a British broadcaster and public servant. His BBC career as director included for Panorama before he was promoted to Controller Northern Ireland and subsequently Director News and Current Affairs and, later, Managing Director BBC radio.
