15 Facts About Ian Wrigglesworth

Ian William Wrigglesworth, Baron Wrigglesworth was born on 8 December 1939 and is a Liberal Democrat peer.

Ian Wrigglesworth served as President of the Liberal Democrats from 1989 to 1990.

Between 1974 and 1981, Wrigglesworth was Labour and Co-operative Member of Parliament for Thornaby.

However, Ian Wrigglesworth became increasingly disillusioned by the leftward direction the Labour Party was taking and became part of the nucleus of Labour MPs who contemplated leaving the party in 1979 and 1980.

In 1981, Ian Wrigglesworth became one of the founding members of the Social Democratic Party, and with Mike Thomas organised the launch of the new party in March of that year.

Ian Wrigglesworth was one of only six SDP Members of Parliament to be returned to the House of Commons in the 1983 general election, when he narrowly won the newly created constituency of Stockton South by 102 votes following the revelation that his Conservative opponent had once been a member of the National Front.

Ian Wrigglesworth was knighted in 1991 and, although he has been active in the business community in the North East since that time, he has retained his involvement with the Liberal Democrats.

Ian Wrigglesworth was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music by the University of Northumbria in December 2011 and an Honorary Doctorate of Business Administration by the University of Teesside in October 2012.

Ian Wrigglesworth was chairman of the Liberal Democrat Trustees until February 2012.

Until February 2012, Ian Wrigglesworth was deputy chairman of the Government's Regional Growth Fund Advisory Panel, which was chaired by Lord Heseltine and appointed by the government to consider bids.

Ian Wrigglesworth is chairman of a Durham-based property company and was chairman of the Port of Tyne until August 2012.

Ian Wrigglesworth has been a non-executive director of a number of other private and public companies.

Ian Wrigglesworth's role was criticised for appointing controversial director Peter Doroshenko and stating that staff unrest against the director was a "storm in a teacup".

Ian Wrigglesworth is a former chairman of the Northern Region CBI and was founder chairman of the Northern Business Forum.

Ian Wrigglesworth is married to Tricia, who was a health visitor, and has two sons and a daughter.