Thomas Stuttaford

Stuttaford at a Health Hotel session during the 2009 Conservative Party Conference.

Irving Thomas Stuttaford, MD OBE, (born 4 May 1931) is a British doctor, author, medical columnist of The Times and former Conservative Member of Parliament. In 2002 he retired as Senior Medical Advisor for Barclays Bank.

Early life

Stuttaford was educated at Gresham's School^[1] and Brasenose College, Oxford.

Personal life

Married to Pamela Christine Ropner on 1 June 1957, the couple had three sons: Andrew Irving Ropner Stuttaford (born 22 March 1958), Thomas Richard Ropner Stuttaford (b. 25 January 1961) and Hugo John Ropner Stuttaford (born 12 February 1964).

Pamela Stuttaford died on 4 July 2013.

Career

Politics

From 1970–74 Stuttaford was the MP for Norwich South. In two subsequent elections he was selected as the conservative candidate in the Isle of Ely to oppose Clement Freud who had won the seat in a by-election in 1973 after the death of Sir Harry Legge-Bourke. Freud later increased his majority in the first 1974 election. Dr. Stuttaford lost his Norwich South seat to John Garrett in the first general election of 1974, and was selected to oppose Freud for the second general election, and fought him again in 1979. In both elections Freud's majority was reduced but although in this election Dr. Stuttaford received the highest number of Conservative votes ever recorded in the constituency, the collapse of the Labour vote ensured that Freud was again returned.

Medical journalism

Dr Thomas Stuttaford, formerly The Times medical correspondent and later its medical columnist, worked for The Times from 1982 until January 2009. Stuttaford continues to write a regular monthly column for The Oldie and is a frequent contributor to Healthspan, an online retailer of vitamin supplements,^[2] and occasionally to other national newspapers and journals. He has been accused by Dr Ben Goldacre in The Guardian of using an article in The Times to promote energy replacement pills that appear to have nothing more than a placebo effect.^[3] He has been parodied in the satirical magazine Private Eye as 'Dr Thomas Utterfraud'.

Books

• To Your Good Health!: The Wise Drinker's Guide, Faber and Faber Ltd, 1997, ISBN 0-571-19095-2
• The Harvard Medical School Family Health Guide: UK Edition (Editor), Cassell reference, 2003, ISBN 0-304-35719-7
• What's up Doc? Understanding your Common Symptoms: Health Matters, Little Books, 2003, ISBN 1-904435-02-5
• Stress and How to Avoid It, Little Books, 2004, ISBN 1-904435-09-2

References

1. I Will Plant Me a Tree: an Illustrated History of Gresham's School by S.G.G. Benson and Martin Crossley Evans (James & James, London, 2002)
2. Healthspan – About Us
3. Ben Goldacre, "Pep, zing, oomph, energy. You won't find them here", The Guardian, 15 March 2008

External links

• Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Thomas Stuttaford
• The Times column
• Peter Allan Sichel Memorial Lecture given by Stuttaford to the Wine and Spirit Education Trust
• Critical review of To Your Good Health! on the Institute of Alcohol Studies website
• Somewhat disputed article regarding mental and sexual health
• The Oldie Magazine