Peter Whittle | |
|---|---|
_(38016814542).jpg) Whittle in 2017 | |
| Leader of theBrexit Alliance in theLondon Assembly | |
| In office 13 December 2018 – 6 May 2021 | |
| Deputy | David Kurten |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished |
| Deputy Leader of theUK Independence Party | |
| In office 28 November 2016 – 18 October 2017 | |
| Leader | Paul Nuttall Steve Crowther (Acting) |
| Preceded by | Paul Nuttall |
| Succeeded by | Margot Parker |
| Leader ofUKIP in theLondon Assembly | |
| In office 6 May 2016 – 22 January 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished |
| Member of the London Assembly | |
| In office 6 May 2016 – 8 May 2021 | |
| UKIP portfolios | |
| 2014–2017 | Culture |
| 2014–2017 | Communities |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1961-01-06)6 January 1961 (age 64) London, England |
| Political party | Independent (2018–present) |
| Other political affiliations |
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| Alma mater | University of Kent |
| Committees | Confirmation Hearings Committee GLA Oversight Committee Police and Crime Committee |
Peter Robin Whittle (born 6 January 1961) is a British politician, author, journalist and broadcaster who served as aMember of the London Assembly from2016 to2021 and as Deputy Leader of theUK Independence Party (UKIP) toPaul Nuttall from 2016 to 2017. He is the founder and director of theNew Culture Forumthink tank and host ofSo What You're Saying Is..., a weekly cultural and political interview show onYouTube.
After a career in media in the United Kingdom and United States, Whittle founded the New Culture Forum in 2006. He joined theUK Independence Party (UKIP) and was the party's candidate for the2016 London mayoral contest, which was held at the same time as hiselection to theLondon Assembly. He served as the party's deputy leader between November 2016 and October 2017 and was a prominent, but unsuccessful, candidate in the2017 UKIP leadership election.
Whittle resigned as UKIP's London Assembly leader in January 2018, followingHenry Bolton's refusal to stand down following a vote of no confidence in his leadership by UKIP's National Executive Committee. He resigned his membership of UKIP in protest atGerard Batten's leadership in December 2018, after which he served as leader of the newBrexit Alliance in the London Assembly and as chairman of the Assembly's audit panel.
Whittle was born in theGeneral Lying-in Hospital inWaterloo, London.[1][unreliable source?] or inPeckham.[2] His family moved across South East London, from Peckham toShooter's Hill orWoolwich. Whittle attendedThe John Roan School,Orpington College and theUniversity of Kent, where he obtained aBA in history and politics.[3][4]
Between 1991 and 2003 Whittle worked as a TV producer and director of arts and factual programmes forITV,Channel 4 andChannel 5 in the United Kingdom, including a prolonged stint at the long-running TV arts seriesThe South Bank Show, as well asUSA Network andFox Broadcasting Company in the United States, living for five years inLos Angeles.[5][verification needed]
As a journalist he was an arts and film critic for national and international publications includingThe Times,The Sunday Times and theLos Angeles Times, as well as a columnist forStandpoint magazine (for which he wrote "Whittle's London").[3][6] Starting with regular contributions as a cultural commentator and critic onBBC Two'sNewsnight Review (laterThe Review Show) in the 2000s, Whittle has made appearances in the broadcast media, on programmes such asQuestion Time andThe Andrew Marr Show onBBC One, andStart the Week,Any Questions? andTheMoral Maze onBBC Radio 4.[7][8][9][10][11][12] He has also appeared onSky News, including a debate on racism in British society chaired by presenter Samantha Washington, opposite commentatorAsh Sarkar.[13]
At the2006 local elections in Greenwich, Whittle unsuccessfully contested the Blackheath Westcombe ward for theConservative Party.[14]
Whittle became UKIP's cultural spokesman in 2013,[15] and stood forEltham at the2015 general election,[4] coming third with 15% of the vote, with a share surpassing both theLiberal Democrats and theGreen Party.[citation needed]
In September 2015, Whittle was selected as the UKIP candidate forMayor of London, as well as topping the party list for election to theLondon Assembly.[2] He was subsequently elected as a London Assembly Member in theAssembly elections of May 2016.[16][17]
On 12 October 2016, Whittle announced his intention to stand for UKIP leader inNovember's election called following the resignation ofDiane James after just 18 days; however, he decided to stand for the position of deputy leader instead and was duly successful in this candidature. On 28 November 2016, it was announced that Whittle was the new deputy leader of UKIP, replacingPaul Nuttall, then newly appointed as party leader.[citation needed]
Following the election ofHenry Bolton as leader of UKIP in October 2017, Whittle left the role of deputy leader and was appointed UKIP spokesman for London affairs (the party's leader in the London Assembly).[18] He resigned as London spokesman on 22 January 2018, following Bolton's refusal to stand down after a vote of no confidence in his leadership by UKIP's National Executive Committee.[19]
In December 2018, Whittle resigned from UKIP in protest atGerard Batten's leadership.[20] He then served as an independent member of the London Assembly and leader of the Assembly'sBrexit Alliance group, as well as chairman of the London Assembly's audit panel and a member of its police and crime committee, theGreater London Authority (GLA) oversight committee and confirmation hearings committee.[21] The Brexit Alliance was a GLA grouping of independents and not a registered political party, and it consisted of Whittle andDavid Kurten, who continued to be a member of UKIP until January 2020.[22]
He did not seek re-election at the2021 London Assembly election.
In 2006 Whittle founded theNew Culture Forum (NCF), a think tank whose mission is described as "challenging the cultural orthodoxies dominant in the media, academia, education, and British culture in its widest sense."[23] Speakers at NCF events, including for its annual keynote Smith Lecture, have includedMartin Amis,Dame Vivien Westwood,Jeremy Hunt,Michael Gove,Nigel Farage,Justin Webb,Sir Anthony Seldon,Petroc Trelawny,Ed Vaizey,Melanie Phillips,Brendan O'Neill andOwen Jones. Writers for the New Culture Forum have includedDouglas Murray,Julie Bindel,Ed West and Dennis Sewell.[24]
In 2019 Whittle launched the New Culture Forum channel, aYouTube channel which aims to redress the balance which it claims is currently lacking in the mainstream media. Now one of the UK's most popular conservative/rightwing channels,[citation needed] the NCF channel currently provides three distinct programmes: "So What You're Saying Is...", "NCF CounterCulture" and "NCF Newspeak".[25][26][non-primary source needed]
Hosted by Whittle himself,So What You're Saying Is...is the New Culture Forum's interview programme and is named after[citation needed] a phrase repeatedly uttered byCathy Newman of Britain'sChannel 4 News during a combative interview with psychologist and right-wing influencerJordan Peterson. The interview, regarded by many commentators[who?] as symbolic of a wider problem amongst the mainstream media, became aviral phenomenon, with critics alleging Newman's preconceptions led her to misinterpret Peterson and alter his statements.[27][28]
Covering cultural, social and political topics,So What You're Saying Is... features 30-60 minute discussions with guests from fields such as journalism, academia, politics and activism. Guests and topics have includedPeter Hitchens and SirRoger Scruton onconservatism,Laurence Fox on theReclaim Party,Ann Widdecombe on free speech,Dave Rubin on the culture wars andRobin Aitken on bias at theBBC.[25][26][non-primary source needed]
Whittle later launched "NCF CounterCulture", a cultural and socio-political discussion show. Hosted by Whittle, the weekly programme features a panel composed of a resident panelist (the author and historianRafe Heydel-Mankoo) and 2-3 guest panelists. Guest panelists have includedLionel Shriver,Claire Fox,James Delingpole,Charles Moore andAndrew Klavan.[25][26][non-primary source needed]
The NCF channel's third weekly programme, NCF Newspeak, provides a platform for individuals to personally address the public on a relevant subject of their choosing by means of a short, self-authored speech direct to camera.[25][26][non-primary source needed]
Whittle previously lived in south east London.[29] He is openly gay and was the onlyLGBT candidate selected by any of the parties for the2016 London mayoral election.[30]
As of 2022[update], he lives inWindsor,Berkshire.[31]
In October 2025, he reported that he was diagnosed with stage 4esophageal cancer and as a consequence brought forward his marriage.[32]
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