View source for David Mellor

{{Short description|British broadcaster and politician}}
{{Other people|David Mellor}}
{{Distinguish|David Meller}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name                = David Mellor
| honorific-suffix    = [[King's Counsel|KC]]
| office              = [[Secretary of State for National Heritage]]
| primeminister       = [[John Major]]
| term_start          = 11 April 1992
| term_end            = 22 September 1992
| predecessor         = ''Office established''
| successor           = [[Peter Brooke, Baron Brooke of Sutton Mandeville|Peter Brooke]]
| office1             = [[Chief Secretary to the Treasury]]
| primeminister1      = John Major
| term_start1         = 28 November 1990
| term_end1           = 11 April 1992
| predecessor1        = [[Norman Lamont]]
| successor1          = [[Michael Portillo]]
| office2             = [[Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Arts and Heritage|Minister for the Arts]]
| primeminister2      = [[Margaret Thatcher]]
| term_start2         = 26 July 1990
| term_end2           = 28 November 1990
| predecessor2        = [[Richard Luce, Baron Luce|Richard Luce]]
| successor2          = [[Tim Renton]]
| office3             = [[Minister of State for Home Affairs (United Kingdom)|Minister of State for Home Affairs]]
| primeminister3      = Margaret Thatcher
| term_start3         = 27 October 1989
| term_end3           = 26 July 1990
| predecessor3        = [[John Patten, Baron Patten|John Patten]]
| successor3          = [[Angela Rumbold]]
| office4             = [[Secretary of State for Health and Social Care|Minister of State for Health]]
| primeminister4      = Margaret Thatcher
| term_start4         = 25 July 1988
| term_end4           = 27 October 1989
| predecessor4        = [[Tony Newton, Baron Newton of Braintree|Tony Newton]]
| successor4          = [[Anthony Trafford]]
| office5             = [[Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (United Kingdom)|Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs]]
| primeminister5      = Margaret Thatcher
| term_start5         = 13 June 1987
| term_end5           = 25 July 1988
| predecessor5        = [[Tim Renton]]
| successor5          = [[William Waldegrave, Baron Waldegrave of North Hill|William Waldegrave]]
| office6             = [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] <br /> for [[Putney (UK Parliament constituency)|Putney]]
| predecessor6        = [[Hugh Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Putney|Hugh Jenkins]]
| successor6          = [[Tony Colman (politician)|Tony Colman]]
| term_start6         = 3 May 1979
| term_end6           = 8 April 1997
| birth_date          = {{birth date and age|1949|3|12|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Wareham, Dorset]], England
| death_date          = 
| death_place         = 
| party               = None
| otherparty          = [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] (until 2003)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/breakfast_with_frost/3017747.stm |title=BBC: Breakfast with Frost |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=11 May 2003 |access-date=12 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/breakfast_with_frost/3018205.stm |title=Breakfast with Frost: Extract From Paper Review, David Mellor |publisher=BBC News |date=11 May 2003 |access-date=12 July 2014}}</ref>
| spouse              = {{marriage|Judith Mellor|1974|1995|reason=div}}
| partner             = [[Penelope Lyttelton, Viscountess Cobham]]
| children            = 2
| profession          = [[Barrister]] – not practising
| alma_mater          = [[Christ's College, Cambridge]]
| image               = David-2023.jpg
| caption             = David Mellor in 2023
}}

'''David John Mellor''' (born 12 March 1949){{cn|date=May 2025}} is a British broadcaster, barrister, and former politician. As a member of the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]], he served in the [[Cabinet of the United Kingdom|Cabinet]] of [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|Prime Minister]] [[John Major]] as [[Chief Secretary to the Treasury]] (1990–1992) and [[Secretary of State for National Heritage]] (April–September 1992), before resigning in 1992. He was the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|Member of Parliament]] (MP) for [[Putney (UK Parliament constituency)|Putney]] from 1979 to 1997.

Since leaving Parliament, Mellor has worked as a newspaper columnist, a radio presenter,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/media/news/a374183/sony-radio-academy-awards-2012-winners-and-nominees-in-full.html |title=Sony Radio Academy Awards 2012: Winners and nominees in full |work=Digital Spy |date=15 May 2012 |access-date=12 July 2014}}</ref> and an [[after-dinner speaker]]. He also served as Chairman of the government's '[[Association football|Football]] Task Force'.

==Education and early career==
Born in [[Wareham, Dorset|Wareham]], [[Dorset]], in 1949, Mellor was educated at [[Swanage Grammar School]],<ref name="e917">{{cite web | title=David Mellor: from lawyer to MP to 'football pundit' | website=telegraph.co.uk | date=10 June 2010 | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/7816112/David-Mellor-a-profile.html | access-date=15 January 2025 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> and [[Christ's College, Cambridge|Christ's College]], [[University of Cambridge|Cambridge]], during which time he was chairman of the [[Cambridge University Conservative Association]]<ref name=":0">{{cite web | url=http://www.cuca.org.uk/alumni-club/former-chairmen/ | title=Former Chairmen | work=Cambridge University Conservative Association | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080821045942/http://www.cuca.org.uk/alumni-club/former-chairmen/ | archive-date=21 August 2008 }}</ref> and a contestant on ''[[University Challenge]]''. After briefly working for [[Jeffrey Archer]] (at the time a [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]]) while studying for his bar exams, Mellor was [[called to the bar]] in 1972. He ceased to practise in 1979 upon being elected as an MP, and he remains "non-practising".{{cn|date=March 2021}} He was appointed [[Queen's Counsel]] in 1987.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/50922/page/6476/data.pdf |title=The London Gazette}}</ref>

==Parliamentary career==
After contesting [[West Bromwich East]] in the [[October 1974 United Kingdom general election|general election in October 1974]], Mellor became the MP for [[Putney (UK Parliament constituency)|Putney]] in the general election of 1979, and held the seat until 1997.

===Government minister===
Mellor was made Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the [[Department of Energy (United Kingdom)|Department of Energy]] in 1981.

In 1983, Mellor was appointed as a minister in the [[Home Office]]<ref>''The Daily Telegraph'', 10 June</ref>{{full|date=March 2021}} where he was involved in several pieces of legislation, including the [[Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984]] and the [[Prosecution of Offences Act 1985]] (which established the [[Crown Prosecution Service]]). He was also involved with legislation enabling the re-investigation of miscarriages of justice, and with the [[Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986]].{{cn|date=March 2021}}

In 1987, Mellor was moved to the [[Foreign and Commonwealth Office]] by Thatcher, and was made responsible for the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and the Soviet Union (before the [[revolutions of 1989]]).{{cn|date=March 2021}} At this point he made an [[After Dark (TV series)#David Mellor.2C David Yallop and .22The Mafia.22|extended appearance]] on the [[Channel 4]] discussion programme ''[[After Dark (TV programme)|After Dark]]'' speaking about the [[Mafia]].

Mellor was briefly [[Minister of State for Health (UK)|Minister of State for Health]] in 1988–1989, during the [[Third Thatcher ministry]]. In this position, he was convinced by [[Graham Fraser (otolaryngologist)|Graham Fraser]] to launch a national [[cochlear implants]] programme for people suffering from severe [[hearing loss]].<ref name=":Hazell">{{Cite web |last=Hazell |first=Jonathan |date=1994-02-23 |title=Obituary: Graham Fraser |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-graham-fraser-1395843.html |access-date=2023-09-04 |website=The Independent |language=en}}</ref>

He was made a [[Privy Council (United Kingdom)|Privy Counsellor]] in 1990 by Thatcher, shortly before she resigned as Prime Minister.{{cn|date=March 2021}}

Mellor was briefly [[Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Arts and Heritage|Minister for the Arts]] in 1990 before entering [[John Major]]'s new Cabinet as [[Chief Secretary to the Treasury]] in November of that year. He was interviewed in December 1991 on the TV programme ''Hard News'' following the establishment of the Calcutt Review inquiring into Press Standards. Mellor said during the interview that "the press – the popular press – is drinking in the last chance saloon"<ref>quoted in Roy Greenslade Press Gang: How Newspapers Make Profits From Propaganda, London: Macmillan, 2003 [2004], p. 539, n. 21, p. 739; ''Hard News'', Channel 4, 21 December 1989, ''The Times'', 22 December 1989, p. 5</ref> and called for curbs on the "sacred cow" of press freedom to curb their more extreme activities.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sirc.org/articles/last_chance_saloon.html |title=Closing time at the Last-Chance Saloon |publisher=Sirc.org |access-date=12 July 2014}}</ref>

Following the [[1992 United Kingdom general election|1992 general election]] Mellor remained a Cabinet Minister as [[Secretary of State for National Heritage]] in the newly created Department of National Heritage (now the Department for Culture, Media and Sport), during which period he was occasionally referred to as the "Minister for Fun" after comments he made to the waiting press on leaving 10 Downing Street on his appointment.{{cn|date=March 2021}}

===Resignation===
In July 1992 Mellor's former mistress, actress [[Antonia de Sancha]], sold her "kiss and tell" story of Mellor's extra-marital affair with her for £35,000. Their telephone conversations had been secretly recorded by de Sancha's landlord, an activity which at the time was legal in England.<ref>{{cite news|author=Keren David |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/antonia-de-sancha-i-am-the-real-victim--in-her-first-interview-on-the-david-mellor-scandal-antonia-de-sancha-spoke-to-keren-david-1535036.html |title=Antonia de Sancha: 'I am the real victim' |work=[[The Independent]] |date=24 July 1992 |access-date=12 July 2014}}</ref> ''[[The Sun (United Kingdom)|The Sun]]'', relying on material supplied by the publicist [[Max Clifford]], made a number of untrue claims about the relationship, that de Sancha later admitted.<ref>{{cite news|author=Euan Ferguson |url=https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2002/nov/03/features.review17 |title=Antonia de Sancha on moving forwards and emotional hangovers |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=2 November 2002 |access-date=12 July 2014}}</ref> This was subsequently confirmed by David Mellor in 2011 at the [[Leveson Inquiry]] into Press Behaviour.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.levesoninquiry.org.uk/witness/david-mellor/ |title=Transcript of the Hearing Tuesday 26 June 2012 Afternoon: David Mellor, Jillian Anne Brady, Norman Lamb MP |publisher=The Leveson Inquiry |access-date=12 July 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140306230515/http://www.levesoninquiry.org.uk/witness/david-mellor/ | archive-date=2014-03-06 | url-status=unfit }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/24/newsid_2529000/2529115.stm |title=BBC ON THIS DAY 1992: Mellor resigns over sex scandal |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=24 September 1975 |access-date=12 July 2014}}</ref>

The Prime Minister [[John Major]] supported Mellor, but the media maintained their interest. A libel case brought by Mona Bauwens against ''[[Sunday People|The People]]'', which came to the [[High Court of Justice|High Court]] in September 1992, led to the revelation that Mellor had accepted the gift of a month-long holiday in Marbella from Bauwens for his family, which took place in August 1990.<ref>{{cite news |first=Stephen |last=Ward |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/mellor-family-guests-of-plo-mans-daughter-1551574.html |title=Mellor family guests of PLO man's daughter |work=The Independent |date=15 September 1992}}</ref> Mellor's connection to Bauwens, the daughter of [[Jaweed al-Ghussein]], the finance director of the [[PLO]]<ref>{{cite news |first=Anton |last=La Guardia |url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/aberdeen/mona-bauwens-to-seek-retrial-as-libel-action-ends-in-hung-jury-mona-bauwens-to-seek-retrial-1.792547 |title=Mona Bauwens to seek retrial as libel action ends in 'hung' jury |newspaper=[[The Herald (Glasgow)|The Herald]] |location=Glasgow |date=23 September 1992}}</ref> (formally the Palestine National Fund),<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/palestinianauthority/1405730/I-want-to-get-rid-of-Arafat.html?mobile=basic |title='I want to get rid of Arafat'<!--quotation marks in original--> |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=28 August 2002}}</ref> maintained the pressure on him. Mellor resigned on 24 September 1992.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/september/24/newsid_2529000/2529115.stm |title=1992: Mellor resigns over sex scandal |publisher=BBC News |date=24 September 1992}}</ref>

===Defeat at 1997 general election===
Mellor contested the [[1997 United Kingdom general election|1997 general election]], but was defeated by the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]]'s [[Tony Colman (politician)|Tony Colman]] as one of the most notable Tory casualties as Labour won by a landslide to end nearly 20 years of Conservative government. The election night was memorable for Mellor's bad-tempered showdown with the [[Referendum Party]] founder Sir [[James Goldsmith]]: Mellor was taunted by Goldsmith and Michael Yardley, the Spokesperson for the Sportsman's Alliance<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PrcpbuhIm0 |title= David Mellor Loses Seat (1997) |via=[[YouTube]] |access-date= 30 April 2018}}{{cbignore}}{{Dead Youtube links|date=February 2022}}</ref> (who gave him a slow hand clap and shouted "Out! Out! Out!") during Mellor's concession speech. Mellor retorted:

{{quote|... and Sir James&nbsp;... has got nothing to be smug about, and I would like to say that 1,500 votes is a derisory total. We have shown tonight that the Referendum Party is dead in the water, and Sir James can get off back to Mexico knowing your attempt to buy the British political system has failed!<!-- IF this were allowed....
<ref>[[https://youtu.be/yOznjgSt5K8?t=9m33s]]</ref>
-->
}}

==After Parliament==
Mellor was chairman of the incoming Labour government's 'Football Task Force' from August 1997 until its dissolution in 1999. Among the recommendations accepted by the Labour government and introduced into law was the criminalisation of racial abuse by an individual spectator, as distinct from a group.

Mellor has also pursued a career in journalism, and has written columns for six national newspapers including the ''[[Evening Standard]]'', ''[[The Guardian]]'' and ''[[Sunday People|The People]]'', often on current affairs, but also his specialist interests of sport and the arts. He regularly presented football-related programmes on [[BBC Radio 5 Live|BBC Radio 5]] until 2001, and classical music programmes on [[BBC Radio 2]] and [[BBC Radio 3]] for six years.

Since 2000, Mellor has also been a radio presenter at [[Classic FM (UK)|Classic FM]].<ref name=radio>{{cite web|url=http://davidmellorconsultancy.co.uk/About_David_Mellor.html|title=About|publisher=davidmellorconsultancy.co.uk|access-date=21 May 2022}}</ref> He is an opera and classical music critic for the newspaper ''[[The Mail on Sunday]]''. He is a regular contributor to the radio station [[LBC]], on which he previously co-hosted a Saturday morning politics and current affairs discussion programme for eight years with former London Mayor [[Ken Livingstone]]. This continued until 2016, when Livingstone was sacked and Mellor's contract was not renewed.<ref>{{cite news |last=Johnston |first=Chris |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/may/28/ken-livingstone-dropped-from-his-lbc-radio-show |title=Ken Livingstone radio show is dropped by LBC |work=The Guardian |date=28 May 2016 |access-date=28 May 2016}}</ref>

In June 2010, it was reported in ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/7816120/David-Mellor-ranted-at-10-an-hour-chef-in-row-over-a-noisy-bar.html |title=David Mellor ranted at '£10 an hour' chef in row over a noisy bar|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=10 June 2010 |access-date=26 November 2014}}</ref> and the ''[[Daily Mirror]]''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/tory-david-mellor-taped-calling-227645  |title=Tory David Mellor taped calling chef a 'fat b*****d' in noise rant – hear the audio|work=Daily Mirror|date=10 June 2010 |access-date=26 November 2014}}</ref> that Mellor called a chef a "fat bastard" during a licensing wrangle at the River Lounge restaurant near his home at [[St Katharine Docks]], [[East London]]. The articles claimed Mellor used bad language and told the chef he should "do his £10-an-hour job somewhere else".

In November 2014 ''The Daily Telegraph'' and ''[[The Independent]]'' reported<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/11252235/Ex-cabinet-minister-David-Mellor-regrets-tirade-against-sweaty-stupid-taxi-driver.html |title=Ex-cabinet minister David Mellor 'regrets' tirade against 'sweaty, stupid' taxi driver|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=25 November 2014 |access-date=25 November 2014}}</ref><ref name=Alexander>{{cite web|last1=Alexander|first1=Ella|title=David Mellor 'regrets' angry row with 'sweaty stupid' taxi driver: 'Get a better education before you try being sarcastic with me'|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/david-mellor-regrets-angry-row-with-sweaty-stupid-taxi-driver-get-a-better-education-before-you-try-being-sarcastic-with-me-9881350.html|work=The Independent|access-date=25 November 2014|date=25 November 2014}}</ref> that Mellor had been secretly recorded by a taxi driver, saying "you think that your experiences are anything compared to mine?" In the secret recording of an encounter on 21 November, Mellor and the cab driver argue over which is the better route to their destination. The article alleged that he swore at the driver. Mellor later told the media that he regretted losing his temper but blamed the driver for provoking him.<ref name=Alexander />

==Private life==
Mellor married Judith Hall in Worthing on 20 July 1974. The couple had two sons before divorcing in 1995.<ref name="e917"/> Mellor lives with his partner, [[Penelope Lyttelton, Viscountess Cobham]].<ref>[[Catherine Pepinster]] [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/david-mellor-to-divorce-1439782.html "David Mellor to divorce"], ''The Independent on Sunday'', 6 November 1994</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
* {{Hansard-contribs | mr-david-mellor | David Mellor }}
* {{C-SPAN|22078}}

{{S-start}}
{{s-par|uk}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Hugh Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Putney|Hugh Jenkins]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] for [[Putney (UK Parliament constituency)|Putney]]|years=[[1979 United Kingdom general election|1979]]–[[1997 United Kingdom general election|1997]]}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Tony Colman (politician)|Tony Colman]]}}
|-
{{S-off}}
{{S-bef|before=[[Richard Luce, Baron Luce|Richard Luce]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Minister of State for the Arts]]|years=1990}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Tim Renton]]}}
|-
{{S-bef|before=[[Norman Lamont]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Chief Secretary to the Treasury]]|years=1990–1992}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Michael Portillo]]}}
|-
{{s-new|office}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Secretary of State for National Heritage]]|years=1992}}
{{S-aft|after=[[Peter Brooke, Baron Brooke of Sutton Mandeville|Peter Brooke]]}}
{{S-end}}

{{Secretary of State for Culture}}
{{Chief Secretaries to the Treasury}}
{{Major Ministry}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mellor, David}}
[[Category:1949 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Alumni of Christ's College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:British broadcaster-politicians]]
[[Category:Secretaries of state for national heritage]]
[[Category:Classical music radio presenters]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies]]
[[Category:English radio personalities]]
[[Category:English King's Counsel]]
[[Category:Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1979–1983]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1983–1987]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1987–1992]]
[[Category:UK MPs 1992–1997]]
[[Category:People educated at Swanage Grammar School]]
[[Category:People from Wareham, Dorset]]
[[Category:Chief secretaries to the Treasury]]