Mark Littlewood

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Mark Littlewood in 2013

Mark James Littlewood (born 28 April 1972) is a director of Popular Development Partners Limited.

eurosceptic position and advocated voting Leave in the 2016 referendum on Membership of the European Union.[4]

Early life

Littlewood attended

Liberty from June 2001 to April 2004. While on sabbatical, he became the chief spokesperson of the campaign group NO2ID.[6]

Career

Littlewood was appointed head of media for the Liberal Democrats in December 2004. He resigned from the Liberal Democrat position in May 2007, after saying that the introduction of

Question Time
.

Littlewood has spoken extensively against regulation of

Imperial Tobacco and from the cigarette manufacturer Philip Morris International. Littlewood was accused of a "clear conflict of interest" by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Smoking and Health, which stated that he "clearly has a pro-tobacco agenda", while Jean King of Cancer Research UK stated that "for any organisation [such as the IEA] to promote a report saying that plain [cigarette] packaging can't and won't work without making clear that the authors are tobacco industry apologists is unacceptable".[8]

In October 2017, Littlewood was listed as the 45th most influential person on the British right by the broadcaster and former Conservative Party candidate

right-wing figures.[10] He rose to 38th in the 2018 list.[11]

In 2018, Littlewood was recorded telling an undercover reporter that the Institute of Economic Affairs is in the 'Brexit-influencing game', offering potential US donors access to government ministers and civil servant as it raises cash for research to support the free-trade deals demanded by hardline Brexiteers. Littlewood has been further cited by The Guardian to say that he has "absolutely no problem with people who have business interests, us facilitating those"[12] An investigation by Unearthed has come to find out that the IEA has been working with US donors to capitalise on the opportunity presented by Brexit to alter the rules and regulations that determine how products in the UK are being consumed.[13]

Littlewood was reported to have been considered for a peerage in Liz Truss's Resignation Honours,[14][2] but was not included on the list published in December 2023.[15]

Littlewood announced that he was stepping down from his position as Director General of the IEA in August 2023.[16]

As of February 2024, Littlewood was the director of Popular Conservatism, a faction within the Conservative Party.[17]

References

  1. ^ Companies House (26 October 2023). "POPULAR DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS LIMITED Company number 15237684".
  2. ^ a b Hannan, Daniel (2024-01-03). "Daniel Hannan: If we learned anything during the pandemic, it is that our bureaucracies should never be allowed to run the show". Conservative Home. Retrieved 2024-01-23.
  3. PR Week
    . Retrieved 26 May 2011.
  4. ^ a b "Mark Littlewood on the EU referendum". Institute of Economic Affairs. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  5. ISSN 0261-3077
    . Retrieved 2024-01-05.
  6. ^ Wheeler, Brian (11 February 2008). "The campaign group: No2ID". BBC News. Retrieved 26 May 2011.
  7. .
  8. ^ Steve Connor (13 March 2012). "The PM, his pro-smoking aide, and a dirty war over cigarette packaging". The Independent.
  9. ^ Dale, Iain (2 October 2017). "Iain Dale's 100 most influential people on the Right 2017. May tops it. Davis is second. And Davidson third". Conservative Home. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  10. ^ Dale, Iain (3 October 2016). "Iain Dale's 100 most influential people on the Right". Conservative Home. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  11. ^ Dale, Iain (1 October 2018). "Iain Dale's Top 100 Most Influential People on the Conservative Right". Conservative Home. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  12. ^ Booth, Robert (2018-08-30). "Rightwing UK thinktank 'offered ministerial access' to potential US donors". The Guardian. Retrieved 2019-09-19.
  13. ^ "How the IEA teamed up with US donors to push for environmental deregulation post-Brexit". Unearthed. 2018-07-30. Retrieved 2019-09-20.
  14. ^ Helen Catt & Sean Seddon (25 March 2023). "Liz Truss resignation honours list criticised by ex-aides". BBC News. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
  15. ^ Rayner, Gordon (29 December 2023). "Liz Truss rewards loyalists and Brexiteers in resignation honours list". The Telegraph. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  16. ^ "Mark Littlewood to Step Down as IEA Director General and Successor Search Begins". Institute of Economic Affairs. Retrieved 5 August 2023.
  17. ISSN 0261-3077
    . Retrieved 2024-02-07.

External links