Patience Wheatcroft, Baroness Wheatcroft

The Baroness Wheatcroft
Personal details
Born	28 September 1951
Political party	Conservative
Alma mater	University of Birmingham

Patience Jane Wheatcroft, Baroness Wheatcroft (born 28 September 1951), is a British journalist and politician, who was editor-in-chief of The Wall Street Journal Europe.^[1] She left this role upon becoming a peer.^[2][3]

She previously served as editor of the Sunday Telegraph newspaper. She resigned from this post in September 2007 after eighteen months in the job and temporarily moved out of journalism.^[4]

Career

Wheatcroft was educated at Birmingham University (LLB, Law, 1972).^[5] Wheatcroft and her husband, Tony Salter, launched the specialist trade magazine Retail Week in 1988, and Wheatcroft served as its consultant editor until 1992.^[6]

Wheatcroft has worked on several national newspapers including The Daily Mail, The Sunday Times and The Daily Telegraph. After serving as Deputy City Editor of the Mail on Sunday, Wheatcroft was appointed Business & City Editor of The Times in 1997, and then as editor of the Sunday Telegraph in March 2006.

In 2001 she won the Wincott Senior Journalist of the Year Award, and in 2003 was London Press Club Business Journalist of the Year.

On 4 September 2007 she resigned as editor of The Sunday Telegraph being replaced by Ian MacGregor, who until then had been deputy editor of the Daily Telegraph. Reports stated that Wheatcroft was under pressure to integrate the Sunday paper's reporters with the daily newspaper's 24/7 operation.^[7]

Appointments

From 1 January 2008 until 2009, Wheatcroft served as a non-executive director of Barclays plc.^[8]

From 27 February 2008 until 2009, Wheatcroft served as a non-executive director of Shaftesbury plc,^[9] a UK REIT with assets in central London.

On 8 May 2008 she was appointed head of the newly created Forensic Audit Panel by the incoming Mayor of London, Boris Johnson. The panel is tasked with monitoring and investigating financial management at the London Development Agency and the Greater London Authority.^[10]

On 30 July 2010, The Prime Minister appointed her to the board of the British Museum.^[11]

On 22 December 2010 Wheatcroft was created a life peer as Baroness Wheatcroft, of Blackheath in the London Borough of Greenwich.^[12] She sits in the House of Lords as a Conservative, having been a lifelong supporter of the party.^[13][14]

In October 2014, Wheatcroft became a non-executive board member of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.

Private life

Wheatcroft is married with three children. Her publisher husband Tony was a Conservative councillor working in the London boroughs of Woolwich and Lewisham.^[15]

References

1. "Patience Wheatcroft to head Wall Street Journal Europe", Press Gazette, 17 June 2009.
2. "Patience Wheatcroft to leave Wall Street Journal"
3. WSJ Europe brings in Tracy Corrigan for editor role
4. "Wheatcroft quits journalism", The Guardian, 13 December 2007.
5. http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/birmingham
6. Dominic Ponsford and Zoe Smith "Will Telegraph Group find that Patience is a virtue?", Press Gazette, 10 March 2006. Retrieved 17 December 2008.
7. Jemima Kiss "Wheatcroft quits Sunday Telegraph", The Guardian, 4 September 2007.
8. Biography of Patience Wheatcroft on Barclays.com Retrieved 23 June 2008
9. Announcement of Patience Wheatcroft's appointment from Hemscott Retrieved 27 November 2008
10. "Mayor of London announces new Forensic Audit Panel to investigate GLA and LDA". Greater London Authority. 2008-05-08. Retrieved 2008-05-07.
11. "Patience Wheatcroft appointed to the board of the British Museum". Number 10. 2010-07-30. Retrieved 2012-02-17.
12. The London Gazette: no. 59644. p. 24689. 24 December 2010.
13. "Latest Peerages announced". Number 10. 2010-11-19. Retrieved 2012-02-17.
14. "New Members of the Lords announced - News from Parliament - UK Parliament". Parliament.uk. 2010-11-19. Retrieved 2012-02-17.
15. "The Media Guardian 100 – 87 Patience Wheatcroft". The Guardian. 17 July 2006. Retrieved 2007-09-30.